UnitedHealth Group Inc. UNH, the bellwether of health insurance companies, boasts of significant benefits of scale and diversification, which positions it well to drive growth in a dynamic market backdrop.

UnitedHealth stands apart from its peers as it has focused on growing the less regulated business that is the health services segment named as Optum. This health service segment is like a jewel in the crown for the company and is expected to make increasing contribution to the group’s overall revenues going forward.  

The company has also exited on most of the public exchanges in a bid to save itself from losses occurring from business conducted on these exchanges.

UnitedHealth’s impressive results  so far this year and strong guidance for 2017 point to growth. Improving commercial pricing, growing Medicare Advantage enrollment, Medicaid contract wins, stable medical costs and continued growth at Optum are likely to drive revenues.

UnitedHealth has a pretty good earnings track record with the company delivering positive earnings surprises in each of the last four quarters with an average surprise of 3.9%.

Currently, UnitedHealth has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here We have highlighted some of the key stats from this just-revealed announcement below:

Earnings Beat: UnitedHealth beat earnings by 1.9%. Our consensus called for EPS of $2.07 and the company reported EPS of $2.11.

Revenues Beat: UnitedHealth posted revenues of $47.5 billion, compared to our consensus estimate of $46.8 billion and grew 9% year over year.
    
Key Stats: Revenues from UnitedHealthcare segment came in at $37.9 billion up 15.5% year over year while the other segment – Optum posted revenue of $22.2 billion up 1.4% year over year.

Total medical membership at the end of the reported quarter was 48.59 million up from 46.4 million in the year ago quarter.

Guidance for 2017 – UnitedHealth affirmed its 2017 guidance. It estimates revenues of $197 billion to $199 billion, net earnings of $8.75 to $9.05 per share, adjusted net earnings of $9.30 to $9.60 per share, and cash flows from operations of $11.5 billion to $12 billion.

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated Price and EPS Surprise

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated Price and EPS Surprise | UnitedHealth Group Incorporated Quote

Check back later for our full write up on this UnitedHealth earnings report later!

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