UnitedHealth Q1 Adjusted EPS And Revenues Top Expectations, Guides Full Year Above Consensus

UnitedHealth Group Inc UNH reported earnings from operations of $3 billion for the first quarter, up 15.4 percent from $2.6 billion in the year-ago quarter. Its earnings for the quarter advanced 17 percent to $1.81 a share and topped the Street analysts' expectations by $0.09 a share. Its net earnings also grew 14 percent to $1.61 billion or $1.67 per share from $1.41 billion or $1.46 a share in the comparable period.

According to UnitedHealth, revenue jumped 24.5 percent to $44.53 billion from $35.76 billion in the previous year quarter. Street analysts' estimated the company to generate $43.96 billion revenue.

The company's CEO, Stephen Hemsley, reacted to the results by stating "Our commitment and determination to constantly improve how we serve customers and consumers in health benefits and services is reflected in consistent, market-leading organic growth and strong levels of customer retention in the first quarter."

For the first quarter, the company added two million more people domestically in the last one-year period including 1.2 million in the March quarter. Its cash flows from operations were $2.3 billion in the first quarter.

Moving ahead, United Health now sees its current earnings between $7.75 and $7.95 a share on revenues of about $182 billion for the full year 2016. This was ahead of the Street earnings consensus of $7.73 a share on revenue of $181.42 billion. The company attributed the increase in the outlook for adjusted net earnings of $0.15 per share to changes in the expected income tax rate and intangible amortization. The company also affirmed its guidance for strong cash flows from operations of a maximum of $10 billion.