UnitedHealth Group Earnings: Third Straight Quarter of PROFIT GROWTH

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH) reported net income above Wall Street’s expectations for the second quarter. UnitedHealth Group designs products, provides services and applies technologies that improve access to health and well-being services.

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UnitedHealth Group Inc. Earnings Cheat Sheet

Results: Net income for the medical-HMO rose to $1.34 billion ($1.27 per share) vs. $1.27 billion ($1.16 per share) in the same quarter a year earlier. This marks a rise of 5.5% from the year-earlier quarter.

Revenue: Rose 8% to $27.27 billion from the year-earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: UnitedHealth Group Inc. beat the mean analyst estimate of $1.19 per share. Analysts were expecting revenue of $27.34 billion.

Key Stats:

The company has now seen its net income rise for three quarters in a row. In the first quarter, net income rose 3.1% and in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year, the figure rose 20.6%.

The company has now topped analyst estimates for the last four quarters. It beat the mark by 15 cents in the first quarter, by 15 cents in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year, and by 5 cents in the third quarter of the last fiscal year.

Revenue has increased for four consecutive quarters. Revenue increased 7.3% to $27.28 billion in the first quarter. The figure rose 7.8% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year from the year earlier and climbed 6.8% in the third quarter of the last fiscal year from the year-ago quarter.

Looking Forward: The average estimate for the third quarter remains unchanged at $1.27 a share. For the fiscal year, the average estimate has moved up from $4.81 a share to $5 over the last ninety days.

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(Company fundamentals provided by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)

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