UNH Q1 results

UnitedHealth Group said Tuesday it beat Wall Street’s first-quarter estimates and raised its 2026 profit outlook. (unitedhealthgroup.com) The health insurer reported $111.7 billion in first-quarter revenue, up 2% from a year earlier, with adjusted earnings of $7.23 a share and reported earnings of $6.90 a share. The company said earnings from operations were $9.0 billion for the quarter ended March 31. (unitedhealthgroup.com) UnitedHealth raised its full-year 2026 outlook to more than $17.35 a share in net earnings and more than $18.25 a share in adjusted earnings. It also said it plans to buy back at least $2 billion of stock by the end of the second quarter. (unitedhealthgroup.com) Analysts had expected about $109.84 billion in revenue and $6.76 in earnings per share, according to MarketBeat’s compilation. The reported results topped both figures by roughly $1.81 billion in revenue and $0.47 a share in profit. (marketbeat.com) The report lands after months of pressure on managed-care companies over higher medical use, especially in Medicare Advantage, the privately run version of Medicare for older adults. CNBC reported UnitedHealth said it was managing those costs better and streamlining operations. (cnbc.com) UnitedHealth said its medical care ratio, the share of premium revenue spent on patient care, fell to 83.9% from 84.8% a year earlier. Lower ratios generally leave more room for insurer profit, though they can also reflect pricing, benefit design, or shifts in care use. (unitedhealthgroup.com) The company’s Optum businesses remained a major part of the quarter. UnitedHealth said Optum Health served 5.1 million value-based care patients, Optum Rx processed 408 million adjusted scripts, and Optum Insight revenue rose 6% to $5.1 billion. (unitedhealthgroup.com) Fierce Healthcare reported the company tied the stronger quarter to steps taken over the last several quarters to control costs and refocus operations. Chief executive Stephen Hemsley said the company was working to “simplify and modernize” care delivery and coverage. (fiercehealthcare.com) UnitedHealth’s results also lifted other managed-care stocks in early trading, according to market reports, after investors had treated the sector cautiously through 2025 and early 2026. The next test is whether other insurers report similar cost trends in their own quarterly results. (seekingalpha.com)