UNH

Image source: The Motley Fool. Thursday, July 16, 2026 at 8:00 a.m. ET Chairman and Chief Executive Officer - Stephen Hemsley Tim Noel Patrick Conway Wayne DeVeydt Dan Kueter Sandeep Krista Operator: Good morning, and welcome to the UnitedHealth Group second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. A question and answer session will follow UnitedHealth Group's prepared remarks. As a reminder, this call is being recorded. Here is some important introductory information. This call contains forward-looking statements under U.S. federal securities laws. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical experience or present expectations. A description of some of the risks and uncertainties can be found in the reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the cautionary statements included in our current and periodic filings. This call will also reference non-GAAP amounts. A reconciliation of the non-GAAP to GAAP amount is available on the Financial and Earnings Reports section of the company's investor relations page at www.unitedhealthgroup.com. Information presented on this call is contained in the earnings release we issued this morning and in our Form 8-K dated July 16th, 2026, which may be accessed from the investor relations page of the company's website. I will now turn the conference over to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of UnitedHealth Group, Stephen Hemsley. Stephen Hemsley: Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Our second quarter results and updated full year 2026 outlook demonstrate continuing progress toward delivering more consistent and dependable performance. They are a sign of stronger broad-based performance disciplines taking hold in each of our businesses and a restless desire to drive mission-aligned change across the enterprise and advance our social impact. UnitedHealthcare has improved performance in its Medicare businesses through thoughtful benefit planning and design, all while remaining respectful of persistently elevated medical costs. Our Medicaid business is in line with expectations as we continue to work with states on ensuring appropriate rates. Our commercial benefits business, consistent with the broader and more diverse commercial market it serves, continues to experience higher than expected...

Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will release earnings for its second quarter before the opening bell on Thursday, July 16. Analysts expect the company to report quarterly earnings of $4.85 per share, up from $4.08 per share in the year-ago period. The consensus estimate for UnitedHealth’s quarterly revenue is $110.82 billion. It reported $111.62 billion last year, according to Benzinga Pro. Ahead of quarterly earnings, Keybanc analyst Matthew Gillmor maintained UnitedHealth with an Overweight rating on Tuesday and raised the price target from $400 to $475, while Truist Securities analyst David Macdonald maintained the stock with a Buy and raised the price target from $440 to $480. Don’t Miss: The Average Family’s Finances Are More Complicated Than Ever. These Tools Aim To Make Them Easier To Manage. Think Your ‘Safe’ Stocks Protect You? You’re Ignoring the Real Growth Triggers — Here’s What to Add Now With the recent buzz around UnitedHealth, some investors may be eyeing potential gains from the company’s dividends too. As of now, UNH has an annual dividend yield of 2.18%, which is a quarterly dividend amount of $2.32 per share ($9.28 a year). To figure out how to earn $500 monthly from UnitedHealth, we start with the yearly target of $6,000 ($500 x 12 months). Next, we take this amount and divide it by UNH’s $9.28 dividend: $6,000 / $9.28 = 647 shares. So, an investor would need to own approximately $275,098 worth of UnitedHealth, or 647 shares to generate a monthly dividend income of $500. Assuming a more conservative goal of $100 monthly ($1,200 annually), we do the same calculation: $1,200 / $9.28 = 129 shares, or $54,850 to generate a monthly dividend income of $100. Trending: Caught With Nothing Saved for Retirement? These 5 Game‑Changing Tips Could Still Save You Note that dividend yield can change on a rolling basis, as the dividend payment and the stock price both fluctuate over time. The dividend yield is calculated by dividing the annual dividend payment by the current stock price. As the stock price changes, the dividend yield will also change. For example, if a stock pays an annual dividend of $2 and its current price is $50, its dividend yield would be 4%. However, if the stock price increases to $60, the dividend yield would decrease to 3.33% (...

The health insurer raised its forecast after a solid quarter, but investors focused on the one business so broken it’s forcing a strategic retreat. If you just glanced at the headline numbers from Elevance Health (ELV), a solid beat on revenue and a bigger one on earnings, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a good day. Management even raised its full-year profit forecast. But the stock told a different story, plunging 8.5% by the closing bell. What gives? The market looked straight past the beat and saw a five-alarm crisis in one of the company’s biggest divisions: Medicaid. For a current owner, the quarter puts the company’s “diversified strength” narrative to the test. For a prospective buyer, it raises a critical question: Is the damage in one core segment too deep to ignore, no matter how well the rest of the company is doing? On paper, the results looked fine. Elevance reported adjusted earnings per share of $7.45, sailing past the $6.27 consensus estimate. The company felt confident enough to raise its 2026 adjusted diluted earnings per share guidance to “at least $27.” Other segments are pulling their weight, particularly Medicare Advantage, which is on a path to hit an operating margin of “at least 2% this year.” This is the picture management wants you to see: a well-oiled machine firing on most cylinders. But the market is fixated on the cylinder that has completely seized. The company’s full-year Medicaid operating margin outlook remains a stunningly negative “-1.75%.” More concerning than the loss itself is its stubbornness. Management noted that rate updates from states were actually coming in better than expected, which should have provided some relief. Yet, the forecast didn’t budge. As one analyst on the call essentially asked, “Why isn't there a lift if rates are coming in better?” The silence on that front was deafening, suggesting underlying cost pressures are either worse than acknowledged or simply not under control. When you can’t fix a problem, you get away from it. Elevance announced it “reached a mutual agreement with the District of Columbia to exit the D.C. Medicaid market.” More alarmingly, that’s not a one-off. Management stated they “expect to exit additional Medicaid markets over the next 12-18 months where we do not see a path to sustainable performance.” This action goes beyond trimming the edges, representing a strategic...

Elevance Health raised its profit forecast and the stock promptly fell. Here’s the one number that explains why investors headed for the exits. On paper, Wednesday looked like a victory lap for Elevance Health (ELV). The company beat second-quarter earnings estimates and raised its full-year profit guidance. You’d normally expect a stock to rally on that kind of news. Instead, shares of ELV dropped 8.5% in a single session, badly lagging peers and the broader market. So what gives? Investors looked straight past the good news and fixated on a single, deeply troubled part of the business: Medicaid. What’s So Wrong With the Medicaid Business? While other segments performed well, management revealed a jarring forecast for its government program for lower-income Americans. The company is holding to its full-year Medicaid operating margin outlook of approximately -1.75%, meaning they expect to lose money on every dollar of revenue from a large part of their portfolio. Management called 2026 the “trough year for our Medicaid margin,” but the market wasn’t in a patient mood. How Bad Is It, Really? Bad enough that the company is starting to walk away. Elevance announced it had reached a “mutual agreement” to exit the D.C. Medicaid market. More pointedly, management stated they “expect to exit additional Medicaid markets over the next 12-18 months where we do not see a path to sustainable performance.” When a company starts shrinking a core business because it can’t find a way to make it profitable, investors get nervous. It signals the problems go beyond a temporary blip in costs to a more fundamental issue with state reimbursement rates and the viability of the business itself. But Didn’t Management Say Rates Were Improving? They did, and that’s the crux of the market’s skepticism. On the earnings call, analysts repeatedly tried to square the circle. One asked why, if state reimbursement rates are getting better, the company isn’t improving its negative margin outlook and is instead talking more about exiting states. The lack of a satisfying answer left a cloud over the entire report. The beat and raise in other areas, like Medicare Advantage, simply wasn't enough to offset the red flags waving over the Medicaid segment. Is this truly the bottom for Elevance’s Medicaid woes, or is shrinking the business the only path back to profitability? What Does The Options Mar...

Dow Jones futures: Taiwan Semiconductor and GE Aero fell despite strong earnings as the AI stock sell-off continues.

Today Earnings (a.m): UnitedHealth, GE Aerospace, U.S. Bancorp, Citizens Financial, Abbott Laboratories, State Street, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Earnings (p.m.): Netflix, Intuitive Surgical Economic data: Weekly jobless claims, Philadelphia Fed business-outlook survey, retail sales, pending home sales index, business inventories Fed speakers: Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson is expected to speak, as is Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan.

Thursday, July 16th, 2026Pre-market futures were mixed ahead of this morning’s group of economic reports — all of which were as good, or better, than expected. This follows gains across the board of major indexes Wednesday, from +0.3% on the blue-chip Dow to +0.6% on the tech-heavy Nasdaq. This morning, the S&P 500 has remained consistent, -40 points, and the Nasdaq has given back -320, but the Dow moved from +40 points after jobless claims, retail sales and Philly manufacturing data to -10 points currently. June Retail Sales reported in-line with expectations this morning, +0.2%, down from an upwardly revised +1.0% the previous month. Strip out big-ticket auto sales and this number flips to -0.2%, but back up to an in-line +0.4% when we subtract autos & gasoline sales. The Control number, which brings monthly retail tallies to overall monthly GDP, came in at a perfectly reasonable +0.5%, even if it is down -30 basis points (bps) from the May number.This headline pulls back from the average +1.0% in Retail Sales growth over the past four months, which is the strongest such run in four years. While June did see some relief at the gas pump in terms of pricing, the cumulative weight of inflation did appear under the hood in today’s report: gas station sales came in lower month over month but +20% year over year. Health and personal care sales dropped -0.8% in June. Welcome lower numbers on weekly jobless claims also greeted us this Thursday morning, with Initial Claims dipping -10K from expectations to +208K, following a slight upward revision the prior week to +216K. Continuing Claims, reported a week in arrears from new claims, shrank to +1.805 million from an upwardly revised +1.821 million from the week earlier.Jobless claims have remained remarkably consistent over the past year or so, especially on the longer-term side. While we’ve now spent the past five weeks above 1.8 million, this is still an historically very low number. Initial claims reached their lowest level since +199K reported in early May, but have bandied about the 210K level nearly every week of 2026 so far. Regional manufacturing survey Philly Fed this morning brought forth July numbers, with the headline coming in roughly 4x higher than expectations at 41.4. This is the strongest month for business for the region stretching from central Pennsylvania to New Jersey and Delaware since Novembe...

The healthcare giant posts better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and hikes its full-year guidance.

US equity markets were mostly tracking in the red before the opening bell Thursday as traders await

US benchmark equity indexes were lower intraday amid a sell-off in certain chip-related stocks as in

The Q2 earnings season has gathered pace this week, with nearly 70 companies, including 29 S&P 500 members, set to report. The spotlight was on major banks, alongside bellwethers such as Netflix, Johnson & Johnson, UnitedHealth Group and United Airlines. S&P 500 earnings estimates continue to trend higher, supported by broadening sector strength. While Technology-led earnings upgrades over the past year, Energy and Basic Materials have recently joined the rally, aided by the Persian Gulf-driven surge in commodity prices. Utilities and Finance have also seen improving earnings expectations. Overall, S&P 500 companies are expected to post 23.8% year-over-year earnings growth on 11.3% higher revenues in Q2 2026, per the Earnings Trends. Earnings estimates have risen by nearly seven percentage points over the past three months, reflecting solid underlying business momentum despite elevated market expectations. The reporting season has already begun, with 18 S&P 500 companies having released results through July 10. So far, earnings have surged 143.3% year over year on 24.3% revenue growth. About 88.9% of companies have beaten EPS estimates, while 77.8% have topped revenue expectations, pointing to a strong start to the Q2 reporting season. All 16 Zacks Sectors are expected to have positive earnings growth in 2026. Seven sectors are expected to achieve double-digit earnings growth. These sectors are: Aerospace (+47.8%), Autos (+24.7%), Basic Materials (+48.1%), Industrial Products (+12.0%), Tech (+39.7%), Finance (+11.3%), and Oil/Energy (+63.6%), per Earnings Trends issued on July 8, 2026. Information Technology – Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF MAGS The information technology sector currently revolves around the AI boom, which is driven mainly by the “Magnificent Seven” stocks. Q2 earnings for the Magnificent 7 group of companies are expected to be up 28.5% from the same period last year, on 24.4% higher revenues. Total Tech sector earnings are expected to grow 48.5% in Q2 on 28% higher revenues, which follow earnings growth of 54.8% on 27% higher revenues in the preceding quarter (2026 Q1). Energy – State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF XLE A significant portion of the earnings upgrade momentum of the S&P 500 has come from the Energy sector this time around. The Middle East crisis has made the sector a rising star. The Energy sector is expected to post 12...

U.S. stock futures pointed in different directions Thursday morning, with chip stocks pulling the Nasdaq lower while a strong UnitedHealth earnings report lifted the Dow. Nasdaq 100 futures were off 0.7% and S&P 500 futures edged down 0.2%. Dow futures advanced about 145 points, or 0.3%, as UnitedHealth stock rose 4% following a better-than-expected earnings report. Oil prices held relatively steady, with Brent crude at $84.60 per barrel, down 0.4%. Chip stocks were among the hardest-hit sectors. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF gave up 2.2%, with Arm Holdings off 4% and Taiwan Semiconductor down 3.9%. The selling extended into Europe, as ST Microelectronics retreated 3%, Dutch firm ASMI lost nearly 2.9%, and Germany's Infineon Technologies declined 2.8%. The session's pressure originated in Asia, where SK Hynix cratered 11% in Seoul and the broader Kospi tumbled more than 6%. Taiwan Semiconductor's fifth consecutive quarter of record results offered little comfort to a sector already in retreat. Sandisk, Western Digital, and Micron were among the biggest decliners before the opening bell. Thursday's premarket pressure came after stocks broadly rallied on Wednesday. A U.S. producer price index report that came in below forecasts buoyed hopes that inflation is easing, and better-than-expected results from large banks gave investors further confidence in corporate profits. Easing Treasury yields made growth-oriented shares, particularly in technology, more attractive. Thursday brings additional data and corporate results. Retail sales figures and weekly jobless claims are due at 8:30 a.m. ET. U.S. Bancorp is also on the earnings calendar before markets open, with Netflix set to report after the close. The central question for markets remains whether economic momentum is decelerating sufficiently to restrain inflation without pushing the economy toward a sharper contraction. Michael Kantrowitz, chief investment strategist and head of portfolio strategy at Piper Sandler, said on CNBC's "Closing Bell: Overtime" that rates staying flat or falling is a prerequisite for a broader market rally. "In order for the market to broaden, I believe full stop that you need rates to either move sideways or decline," Kantrowitz said.