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Despite the tragic death of UnitedHealthcare CEO, UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) continues demonstrating financial resilience, reported higher-than-expected results of fiscal year 2024.
UNH posted an 8% year-over-year revenue increase to $400.3 billion, beating consensus estimate of $398.7 billion. The company reported adjusted earnings of $34.4 billion, and earnings from operations were $32.3 billion.
Operating cash flows were $24.2 billion or 1.6x net income coverage. Adjusted earnings per share was $24.97, higher than analyst estimates of $24.85.
UnitedHealthcare added 2.1 million domestic consumers in 2024 that contribute to a significant portion of overall revenue growth. And Optum as a diversified health service arm from UnitedHealth also added 600,000 patients to its care program.
Challenges come from rising medical care ratio to 85.5%, up from 83.2% only in 2023, reflecting rising medical costs due to CMS Medicare funding cuts and Medicaid redeterminations.
For 2025 outlook, UnitedHealth is optimistic and projecting revenues to fall between $450-455 billion with adjusted net earnings of $29.50-30.00 per share.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.