📉 UnitedHealth surprisingly lowers outlook. Shares fall!
UnitedHealth $UNH, the leader in health insurers, today significantly lowered its 2025 earnings outlook , leading the stock to fall by more than 20 %, the biggest drop in years. The response was swift and harsh: the entire health insurance sector went down.

The company now expects a profit 26 to $26.50 per share, whereas it had originally planned 29,50 to USD 30. The market estimate was 29,73 USD.

📊 What happened?
UnitedHealth is facing skyrocketing costs under its Medicare Advantage plans , which cover elderly and disabled Americans. Outpatient care, specialist visits and elective procedures are rising beyond expectations.

And it's not just one quarter. Company executives have admitted that costs are rising faster than any of their predictive models anticipated. So the company is responding with a massive outlook revision.

💬 CEO Andrew Witty said:
"UnitedHealth has grown to serve more people more comprehensively, but we have fallen short of expectations. We are now addressing the issues aggressively to prepare well for the years ahead."

🩺 A sector-wide view
Health insurers have been seen as a defensive option in recent months amid political and business changes.

⚠️ Complications on multiple fronts:
Rising costs and the onslaught on Medicare Advantage

Despite freshly increased state payments for the year 2026 the company is already facing high costs, creating an uncomfortable timing tension between expenses and future revenue.

Shares UnitedHealth have plunged, along with other insurers like CVS, Elevance and Centene.

What is your opinion of the healthcare sector? Do you like the current price tag $UNH?