By revenue, UnitedHealth Group is the nation's largest publicly traded managed care company. It operates through two business segments, UnitedHealthcare and Optum. UnitedHealthcare provides healthcare benefits through four membership groups: Employers & Individual, Medicare & Retirement, Community & State, and International. Optum segment is a health services business that serves payers, care providers, employers, governments, life science companies, and consumers. The Optum Health business provides care delivery in primary and specialty care, care management, wellness programs, and offers consumer engagement services. OptumInsight uses advanced data analytics and technology to help optimize the performance of clients. OptumRx provides pharmacy benefit management services (PBM).

Tesla, Alphabet Report Corporate earnings reports continue to pour in this week, with CEOs offering views about how tariffs will impact their individual businesses. Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.1%, the S&P 500 was up 0.3%, and the Nasdaq fell 0.6%. All three indices are negative for the year, as the DJIA has declined 8%, the S&P 500 is down 10%, and the Nasdaq has lost 16%. The earnings calendar features some big tech and pharmaceutical names this week. On Tuesday, Tesla, GE Aerospace, Verizon, and Lockheed Martin report; on Wednesday, Philip Morris, IBM, AT&T, and Boeing; and on Thursday, Alphabet, Intel, Procter & Gamble, Merck, Bristol Myers Squibb, and PepsiCo. Consensus estimates for 1Q25 EPS growth range from about 3%-8%. This follows 17% growth in 4Q24 EPS and 9% growth in 3Q24, according to LSEG. Leading sectors for 1Q25 are expected to be Healthcare and Information Technology. Growth from the Mag 7, at about 18% collectively, is expected to outpace overall growth. On the downside, earnings from the Energy sector are expected to decline 15%. On the economic calendar, this is a quiet week. But there are two under-the-radar releases that could offer a valuable read on possible Fed policy and whether layoffs might tip the economy into a recession. On Wednesday, the release of the Beige Book will offer investors a look at some of the same information the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will review before the members meet to set monetary policy on May 6 and 7. The Beige Book is a summary of anecdotal information on current economic conditions. The information is collected by each of the 12 Federal Reserve districts before FOMC meetings. With elevated market volatility, declines in consumer and business confidence, and few signs of trouble in the 'hard data,' the information in this Beige Book may carry extra weight. On Thursday, the Labor Department will release an important, but little followed, unemployment rate along with weekly jobless claims. The Economic Call of the Week from Argus' Chief Economist Chris Graja, CFA, is for the Insured Unemployment Rate to remain very low, at 1.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis. The rate measures the percentage of individuals covered by unemployment insurance who are actively receiving unemployment benefits. Chris offers the following thoughts. 'One reason we want to highlight this particular unemployment rate is because it is used in the new Scavette-O'Trakoun-Sahm-style (SOS) Recession Indicator, which recently appeared in the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond's Economic Brief. We will write about the weekly SOS Indicator in an upcoming report. It is not currently sending a recession signal, but it could offer an early warning if government job cuts and signs of a slowing economy become enough to trigger a recession.' Elsewhere, the Atlanta Fed GDPNow measure now forecasts a decline of 2.2% for 1Q, signally contraction. We have lowered our forecast for GDP, and now expect expansion of 1.4% in 1Q and 1.3% for all of 2025. The Cleveland Fed Inflation Nowcast forecasts a 2.4% rate for CPI for April, in-line with the March rate. Mortgage rates rose 21 basis points last week, with the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage now at 6.83%, according to FreddieMac. Gas prices fell seven cents to an average of $3.17 per gallon for regular gas. Looking ahead, the next Fed rate decision is on May 7 with odds at 13% for a rate cut, according to the CME FedWatch rate tool. After that, the next meeting is on June 18 when odds jump to 61% for a cut.

UnitedHealth Group is one of the largest private health insurers and provides medical benefits to about 51 million members globally, including 1 million outside the US as of December 2024. As a leader in employer-sponsored, self-directed, and government-backed insurance plans, UnitedHealth has obtained massive scale in medical insurance. Along with its insurance assets, UnitedHealth's Optum franchises help create a healthcare services colossus that spans everything from pharmaceutical benefits to providing outpatient care and analytics to both affiliated and third-party customers.

UnitedHealth Group is one of the largest private health insurers and provides medical benefits to about 51 million members globally, including 1 million outside the US as of December 2024. As a leader in employer-sponsored, self-directed, and government-backed insurance plans, UnitedHealth has obtained massive scale in medical insurance. Along with its insurance assets, UnitedHealth's Optum franchises help create a healthcare services colossus that spans everything from pharmaceutical benefits to providing outpatient care and analytics to both affiliated and third-party customers.