The corporate reporting period for Q4 2023 has begun. Over the past week, 8 companies from the S&P 500 index have already reported for the quarter ended December 31, 2023.
UnitedHealth Group showed the best results. The company’s revenue is $94.4B. It grew by +3.4% compared to the corresponding value for the previous quarter and exceeded analysts’ expectations by +2.5%. Let’s analyze the company’s business in more detail.
UnitedHealth Group is one of the largest health insurance companies in the United States. UnitedHealth has more than 150M customers and 440K employees worldwide. The company covers a wide range of services, from pharmaceuticals and outpatient care to analytics.
UnitedHealth Group’s revenue increased by +2.1% quarter-on-quarter and by +14.0% quarter-on-quarter, driven by an increase in the number of clients. Revenue from the main franchises of Optum and UnitedHealthcare increased by 4.9% and 1.2%, respectively, compared to the previous quarter. Also, during 2023, UnitedHealth returned $14.8B to shareholders in the form of dividends and buybacks by the company’s top management. This usually indicates the financial stability of the business, as well as the confidence of management in future prospects.
11% of the revenue structure is made up of manufacturing costs, and 89% is gross profit. Over the past quarter, the company earned a net profit of $5.6B. And its market capitalization is now $499B.
Following the publication of the report, UnitedHealth Group’s stock dropped by -4.4% to $521/share. In general, market participants are satisfied with the company’s current financial results, but reacted rather cautiously to the forecasts for the next quarter
*surprise – % ratio between actual and expected revenue
**growth – % ratio of the amount of revenue for the last 4 quarters compared to this value calculated for the previous quarter