UnitedHealth Group Inc. shares jumped after funds piled into the company, which has been hampered by a federal probe into its business practices and weakening results.
The investments were a welcome reprieve for a company that had seen its stock fall 46% this year. In premarket trading on Friday, the shares rose 10%, which would be the biggest increase since 2020.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. was among the investors, buying 5 million shares, according to a filing. David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management LP also invested, boosting its holdings of the health insurance giant by 2.3 million shares.
UnitedHealth is enduring a tumultuous period. In December, a top executive was murdered while in New York for an investor meeting.
Then in April, the company cut its financial outlook and a few weeks later replaced its chief executive officer with former CEO Stephen Hemsley.
Last month the health-care conglomerate offered fresh profit guidance that was far below its early projections and below all analyst expectations.
The major issue facing UnitedHealth is it didn’t anticipate Americans would use medical care at the rate they did when setting premiums. Meanwhile, some government programs are clamping down on eligibility for subsidized coverage, and changing payment formulas in ways that squeeze insurers.
Before everything unraveled in early 2025, UnitedHealth beat Wall Street expectations for more than 60 straight quarters. It’s on track for annual adjusted earnings per-share to drop for the first time in nearly two decades.
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