Q four United earnings out now: While their stock “stumbled” here is the breakdown: - Q4 revenue = $94.4b - Q4 profit = $22.4BILLION - 2023 revenue = $371.6b - 2023 profit = $22.4BILLION This was on a 83.2% MLR, which would’ve been lower had it not been for the recent respiratory surge. Double-digit growth in both Optum and Health Plan. Optum grew VBC patients by 900k to now over 4m and increased revenue by nearly 30% from its acquisition of Change Healthcare. The health plan side saw growth in commercial and MA but lost 700k Medicaid lives. 2024 projections = $400-403B, growing by 30+% and EPS of $27-28. But their stock still didn’t meet expectations and dropped today… What do you all think about this? Well-deserved? Price gouging growing monopoly? Something in between? https://lnkd.in/g8zASt4m
My 2 cents on if United’s profits are deserved. They have certainly perfected the strategy to catapult profits and get fat. For employer plans,they maximize profits using high prices, lack of transparency, and cost controls. For healthcare orgs, they max profits by denying claims using ever-changing or hidden rules, with documentation gotchas and icd-10 codes being their favorite tools of abuse; reducing reimbursements; and prior auth games. So in the same way that a gluttonous, rabid Godzilla “deserves” his full belly of eaten people who weren’t quick or strong enough to fight him off, yeah, United deserves its profits.
It just means one of the handful of rich white men who own virtually the entire stock market ate something they didn't like when they were reviewing United stock details #myguess
Physician Executive Leader | Strategy Transformation & Innovation | Designing and delivering impact at scale
7moWhat a great business to be in...30% growth YOY and record profits Y after Y. ;)