What happened
Shares of UnitedHealth Group (UNH 0.30%) climbed as much as 3.6% early Friday, then settled to trade up around 2.3% as of 2:30 p.m. ET after the the healthcare benefits company announced strong quarterly results.
So what
UnitedHealth's third-quarter revenue climbed 14.2% year over year to $92.36 billion -- including double-digit percent growth from both its Optum and UnitedHealthcare segments -- translating to a 13.3% increase in adjusted (non-GAAP) earnings to $6.56 per share. Analysts, on average, were modeling lower adjusted earnings of $6.33 per share on revenue closer to $91.4 billion.
UnitedHealth also drove healthy cash flows from operations of $6.9 billion during the quarter, and has returned over $11.5 billion to shareholders through the first three quarters of 2023 through dividends and share repurchases.
Now what
Looking ahead to the remainder of the year, UnitedHealth also raised its outlook to call for full-year 2023 adjusted net earnings per share of $24.85 to $25 (up from its previous range of $24.70 to $25 per share).
In the end, this was a straightforward beat-and-raise performance from a leading healthcare stock that left little room for bearish investors to make their case. UnitedHealth's stock is responding in kind.
