UnitedHealth finishes the year with strong profits, again
AP Health Writer | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years, 5 months AGO
UnitedHealth Group’s net income surged 16% in the fourth quarter, but shares slipped in early trading after it also reported revenue that missed analyst expectations.
The nation’s largest insurer said Wednesday that its top line grew 4% to $60.9 billion in the final quarter of 2019.
Analysts were expecting, on average, about $60.96 billion, in revenue according to FactSet.
The insurer, a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, normally tops Wall Street expectations for both earnings and revenue every quarter.
UnitedHealth brought in more than $47 billion in insurance premiums during the quarter, but its product sales tumbled 11% to $7.62 billion.
Product sales include the company’s pharmacy benefit management operation, which took a hit when it lost business from Cigna after the rival insurer bought its own PBM.
Overall, UnitedHealth earned $3.54 billion in the final quarter of 2019, with adjusted results of $3.90 per share.
That beat Wall Street forecasts. Analysts expected $3.78 per share, according to FactSet.
The Minnetonka, Minnesota, company covers more than 49 million people, including 5.7 million in its international business. Health insurance is UnitedHealth’s biggest business.
But most of its operating earnings in the fourth quarter came from its Optum segment, which runs a growing number of clinics and urgent care and surgery centers as well as the PBM business.
Optum pulled in $3 billion in operating earnings, compared to $2.1 billion from the insurance side. Optum’s operating margin topped 10%, which was more than twice as big as the insurance business.
UnitedHealth Group Inc. on Wednesday also reaffirmed profit expectations for 2020 that it first laid out at its investor conference last month. It expects adjusted earnings of between $16.25 and $16.55 per share in the new year.
Analysts expect per-share profits of $16.46 this year, according to FactSet.
Company shares slipped 46 cents to $287.50 in premarket trading Wednesday. The stock climbed 18% last year.
MORE IMPORTED STORIES
Another strong UnitedHealth quarter, 2019 profit at $13.84B
Columbia Basin Herald | Updated 5 years, 5 months ago
UnitedHealth tops quarterly profit expectations, again
Columbia Basin Herald | Updated 5 years, 5 months ago
UnitedHealth tops profit forecast, finally hikes outlook
Columbia Basin Herald | Updated 4 years, 8 months ago
ARTICLES BY AP HEALTH WRITER
He's fought COVID-19 for months. Can he ever really beat it?
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Larry Brown had been on a ventilator for 37 days. Nurses periodically turned the 45-year-old former Indiana State football player onto his stomach to help him breathe. Though sedated, he had tried to pull off the equipment keeping him alive, so his arms were strapped down.
He's fought COVID-19 for months. Can he ever really beat it?
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Larry Brown had been on a ventilator for 37 days. Nurses periodically turned the 45-year-old former Indiana State football player onto his stomach to help him breathe. Brown’s lungs were filling with fluid, and doctors didn’t expect him to last.
He's fought COVID-19 for months. Can he ever really beat it?
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Larry Brown had been on a ventilator for 37 days. Nurses periodically turned the 45-year-old former Indiana State football player onto his stomach to help him breathe. Brown’s lungs were filling with fluid, and doctors didn’t expect him to last.