Shares of UnitedHealth Group Inc.
UNH,
jumped 2.7% in premarket trading Friday, to bounce off a 19-month low, after the health care services and insurance company beat second-quarter earnings expectations and lifted its full-year outlook, citing “strong and well-balanced” growth. Net income rose to $5.47 billion, or $5.82 a share, from $5.07 billion, or $5.34 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share of $6.14 beat the FactSet consensus of $5.99. Total revenue grew 15.6% to $92.90 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $90.75 billion, as UnitedHealthcare revenue rose 13.0% to $70.2 billion and Optum revenue increased 24.8% to $56.3 billion. Medical care ratio of 83.2% compared with 81.5% a year ago, and was just above the FactSet consensus of 83.1%. For 2023, the company lifted its adjusted EPS guidance range to $24.70 to $25.00 from $24.50 to $25.00. The stock, which closed Thursday at the lowest price since December 2021, has dropped 12.5% over the past three months through Thursday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
has tacked on 1.5%.
