The earnings call presented a mixed outlook, highlighting significant revenue growth and strategic advancements in AI and value-based care while also addressing serious challenges such as increased care costs due to coding intensity, Medicare rate cuts, and the Change Healthcare cyberattack.

Company Guidance

During UnitedHealth Group's Q3 2024 earnings call, the executives provided a comprehensive outlook on various performance metrics and strategic initiatives. UnitedHealth Group reported revenues of $101 billion for the quarter, marking a growth of over 9% year-over-year. Optum Health contributed significantly with revenues nearing $26 billion, while Optum Rx and OptumInsight also showed substantial growth, with revenues exceeding $34 billion and $5 billion, respectively. The company affirmed its full-year 2024 earnings outlook within the previously stated range, despite navigating challenges such as the CMS Medicare rate cuts, Medicaid member redeterminations, and an accelerated prescribing of high-cost specialty medications. UnitedHealth Group highlighted its commitment to a long-term growth objective of 13% to 16%, driven by continued investments in value-based care and innovation, including the launch of a national Gold Card program expected to reduce prior authorizations by 500,000 annually. The company also emphasized its strategic focus on leveraging artificial intelligence to enhance operational efficiency and consumer experience, with AI facilitating tens of millions of consumer interactions and contributing to improved Net Promoter Scores (NPS). Looking to 2025, UnitedHealth Group anticipates maintaining its growth momentum, albeit with a cautious outlook due to concurrent CMS cuts and Inflation Reduction Act impacts, initially projecting an upper earnings range around $30 per share.

Strong Revenue Growth

Revenues of $101 billion grew more than 9% over the prior year, with strong growth again at both Optum and UnitedHealthcare.

Optum Health Expansion

Optum Health revenues grew by over $2 billion and are approaching $26 billion, driven by an increase in both the number and type of care services offered and the patients served.

Optum Rx Growth

Optum Rx revenues grew by over $5 billion to more than $34 billion, driven by strength in pharmacy care offerings and growth in pharmacy benefits management from new customers and expanding specialty services.

Medicaid Expansion

UnitedHealthcare's Medicaid expansion and retention performance remains strong, including recent awards in Massachusetts, Colorado, Rhode Island, Florida, and Michigan.

AI and Innovation

AI is being used to improve consumer interactions, enhance technology engineering, and reduce friction in the health system, reflected in higher NPS scores.

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UnitedHealth (UNH) Earnings, Revenues Date & History

The upcoming earnings date is based on a company’s previous reporting, and may be updated when the actual date is announced

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UNH Earnings History

Report Date	Fiscal Quarter	Forecast / EPS	Last Year's EPS	EPS YoY Change	Slides	Play Transcript
Jul 17, 2018	2018 (Q2)	- / 3.14	2.46	27.64% (+0.68)	―	―
Oct 16, 2018	2018 (Q3)	- / 3.41	2.66	28.20% (+0.75)	―	―
Jan 15, 2019	2018 (Q4)	- / 3.28	2.59	26.64% (+0.69)	―	―
Apr 16, 2019	2019 (Q1)	- / 3.73	3.04	22.70% (+0.69)	―	―
Jul 18, 2019	2019 (Q2)	- / 3.60	3.14	14.65% (+0.46)	―	―
Oct 15, 2019	2019 (Q3)	- / 3.88	3.41	13.78% (+0.47)	―	―
Jan 15, 2020	2019 (Q4)	- / 3.90	3.28	18.90% (+0.62)	―	―
Apr 15, 2020	2020 (Q1)	- / 3.72	3.73	-0.27% (>-0.01)	―	―
Jul 15, 2020	2020 (Q2)	- / 7.12	3.6	97.78% (+3.52)	―	―
Oct 14, 2020	2020 (Q3)	- / 3.51	3.88	-9.54% (-0.37)	―	―

The table shows recent earnings report dates and whether the forecast was beat or missed. See the change in forecast and EPS from the previous year.

Beat

Missed

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UNH Earnings-Related Price Changes

Report Date	Price 1 Day Before	Price 1 Day After	Percentage Change
Oct 15, 2024	$603.09	$554.16	-8.11%
Jul 16, 2024	$511.59	$544.84	+6.50%
Apr 16, 2024	$440.49	$463.48	+5.22%
Jan 12, 2024	$531.36	$513.47	-3.37%

Earnings announcements can affect a stock’s price. This table shows the stock's price the day before and the day after recent earnings reports, including the percentage change.

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