Forget UnitedHealth: Two Stocks To Buy Now

1 week ago 19

Alex Sirois

Thu, May 14, 2026 astatine 12:13 PM CDT 4 min read

Quick Read

  • UnitedHealth Group (UNH) reported Q1 EPS bushed +9.38%, bouncing 31.24% successful 1 month, but full-year 2025 operating income collapsed 41.26%, nett income fell 16.31%, mislaid 965,000 Medicare Advantage members successful Q1, and faces CMS rate-flat proposals for 2027 that endanger to fastener its astir profitable conception portion the DOJ pursues ineligible actions and residual $799M cyberattack costs load the business. Procter & Gamble (PG) declared its 70th consecutive yearly dividend summation to $1.0885 quarterly portion delivering Q3 FY2026 halfway EPS of $1.59 connected $21.24B gross (+7.38% YoY) with $3.03B escaped currency flow, and Costco Wholesale (COST) generated $4.69B operating currency travel successful Q1 connected 13.6% rank interest income maturation to $1.35B with an 89.7% worldwide renewal complaint and $17.38B successful currency connected the equilibrium sheet.

  • Washington controls UnitedHealth’s pricing powerfulness connected its astir profitable business, making its regulatory vulnerability a structural disadvantage compared to the pricing stableness and currency procreation disposable astatine Procter & Gamble and Costco.

  • The expert who called NVIDIA successful 2010 conscionable named his apical 10 stocks and Costco wasn't 1 of them. Get them present FREE.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) is backmost successful each headline, riding a 31.24% one-month bounce disconnected a 9.38% Q1 EPS bushed that had Reddit cheering a "UnitedHealth +7% premarket" rally connected April 21.

But here's what you should really beryllium watching.

Why The UNH Bounce Looks Like a Trap

One 4th does not undo the damage. Full-year 2025 operating income collapsed 41.26% and nett income fell 16.31%. Management's ain 2026 guidance calls for gross of greater than $439 billion, a planned diminution tied to the strategical exit of 1.3 to 1.4 cardinal Medicare Advantage members. UnitedHealth mislaid 965,000 Medicare Advantage members successful Q1 alone, portion CMS rate-flat proposals for 2027 endanger to fastener the astir profitable enactment of concern successful neutral conscionable arsenic aesculapian outgo trends support moving hot.

The expert who called NVIDIA successful 2010 conscionable named his apical 10 stocks and Costco wasn't 1 of them. Get them present FREE.

Layer connected the DOJ ineligible actions connected Medicare programme participation, residual $799 cardinal cyberattack costs, and an Optum Health concern with gross down 3% connected structurally unprofitable contracts. At a guardant P/E adjacent 20, you are paying for a turnaround successful a concern wherever Washington holds the pricing pen. Retirees bash not request that fight.

Procter & Gamble: 136 Years of Boring Cash

Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) is simply a currency instrumentality you tin acceptable your ticker to. Three reasons it deserves the superior UNH holders are tempted to permission parked.

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