UnitedHealth Profit Rises Above Expectations While Sales Grew In Line

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Inc. erased earlier premarket gains to trade down 0.5% Tuesday, after the health care coverage giant reported second-quarter profit that beat expectations while sales were in line. Net profit increased to $2.28 billion, or $2.32 a share, from $1.75 billion, or $1.81 a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to $2.46, above the FactSet consensus of $2.38. Revenue rose to $50.05 billion from $46.49 billion, compared with the FactSet consensus of $50.03 billion. Premium revenue rose to $39.6 billion from $36.4 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $39.4 billion, while products revenue fell to $6.4 billion from $6.6 billion, missing the FactSet consensus of $6.7 billion. Services revenue of $3.8 billion, up from $3.3 billion a year ago, topped expectations of $3.7 billion. For 2017, the company raised its adjusted EPS outlook to $9.75 to $9.90 from $9.65 to $9.85. The stock has rallied 16.4% year to date through Monday, while the SPDR Health Care Select Sector ETF has climbed 15.8% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 9.5%.