UnitedHealth (UNH) Stock Higher After Q2 Earnings Beat

UnitedHealth (UNH) stock is up on Tuesday morning after the health insurance giant posted solid earnings and revenue for the 2016 second quarter.
By Kaya Yurieff ,

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of UnitedHealth (UNH) - Get Report are advancing 0.5% to $141.40 on Tuesday morning after the health insurer posted better-than-expected results for the 2016 second quarter.

Before today's market open, the Hopkins, MN-based company reported adjusted earnings of $1.96 per share, above analysts' estimates of $1.89 per share.

Revenue jumped 28% to $46.49 billion year-over-year and was higher than Wall Street's forecasts of $45.04 billion.

UnitedHealthcare revenues grew 14% and revenues at its health-services unit Optum rose 52%, according to a statement.

But the company said it expects another $200 million more in losses this year on the individual insurance business created under President Obama's Affordable Care Act. UnitedHealth cited the program's high medical costs.

This is the third consecutive quarter where the company has booked expected losses for the program known as Obamacare, Reuters noted.

For 2016, UnitedHealth now sees adjusted earnings per share between $7.80 and $7.95 per share compared to its previous guidance of $7.75 to $7.95 per share.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings Team has a "Buy" rating with a score of A+ on the stock.

The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, growth in earnings per share, increase in net income, solid stock price performance and good cash flow from operations.

Recently, TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: UNH

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