UnitedHealth results exceed expectations, but stock falls

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UnitedHealth

The shares sold their gains on Tuesday after the company announced that it was beating the earnings guidance for the first quarter of its fiscal year.

The story back. Health actions have recently been under pressure due to uncertainties about the future of the industry. While the S & P 500 index rose 9.4% in 2019, the health care sector is lagging behind with just under 4.8%.

Shares of UnitedHealth (ticker: UNH) fell 7.6% this year and closed Monday at $ 230.20. Shares fell by $ 247.34 last week, as drug pricing reform and Medicare-for-All took center stage in early primary democratic platforms.

The company, which has nearly 50 million members, has generated sales of more than $ 225 billion in 2018.

What's up. UnitedHealth has announced positive results and raised its guidance for fiscal year 2019 on Tuesday.

Earnings per share exceeded Wall Street consensus estimates of 13 cents. At $ 3.73 per share, EPS was up 23% from the same quarter last year. Revenues increased 9% to $ 60.3 billion from the previous year.

The current range of management EPS for this year ranges from $ 14.50 to $ 14.75, compared to $ 14.65 per year.

The UnitedHealth stock fell 3.2% in morning trading, to 222.74 USD after opening day day.

Look forward. Please Leerink analyst Ana Gupte In a note to customers, he writes that this quarter was "a modest beating".

"The quarter is strong and confirms the stability of the fundamentals, and the consistent growth prospects are not worthy of interest, which could be desired afterwards, given the scrutiny of the group and of UNH printing by investors, the media and DC, "wrote Gupte.

Gupta noted that the consolidated ratio of medical claims, a key measure of the health plan, was better than expected at 82%.

Health care stocks seem vulnerable. As Jack Hough wrote this weekend's edition of BarronIt's time to buy CVS stock because the company "has the right assets and has an upstream plan to take advantage of disruptions in health care, rather than go bankrupt."