markets

J. Edward Moreno & Luke Kawa

8/14/25

UnitedHealth Group jumps after Berkshire Hathaway discloses stake

UnitedHealth Group soared in after-hours trading after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway revealed that it purchased and held 5 million shares of the embattled healthcare giant as of the end of the second quarter, a new position for the conglomerate.

That was a roughly $1.6 billion position as of June 30 — but less now, even after the stock popped nearly 8% higher on this announcement.

It’s been a rough year for health insurers in general, but especially for UnitedHealth. This is a rare highlight during a year to forget. The company cratered after reporting Q1 earnings, saw its CEO leave and pulled guidance shortly thereafter, then fell out of bed again after posting disappointing second-quarter results at the end of July. Oh, and it’s also facing a probe from the Department of Justice into its Medicare Advantage practices.

All this bad news has pushed the company’s stock price down 46% year to date as of Thursday’s close, but that also may have been what made it attractive to a value-oriented shop like Berkshire.

At the end of the second quarter, UNH’s forward price-to-earnings multiple was about 13.1x, versus a trailing five-year average of 19.2x.

Since the end of Q2, its valuation has risen, but for a bad reason: its earnings estimates keep getting chopped.

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markets

9/5/25

Robinhood, AppLovin, and Emcor pop on announcement of addition to S&P 500

Shares of Robinhood Markets, AppLovin, and Emcor are all rallying in post-market trading on Friday upon news that they’re being added to the S&P 500.

Shares of the brokerage popped 7.2%, the adtech company rose 7.8%, and the construction company was up a more modest 2.7% in the minutes following the announcement.

(Robinhood Markets, Inc. is the parent company of Sherwood Media, an independently operated media company subject to certain legal and regulatory restrictions.)

Strategy, another stock rumored to be in the running for inclusion in the benchmark US stock index that has been passed over, sank 2.5% in postmarket trading.

Nia Warfield, Luke Kawa

S&P 500 falls as rate-cut optimism fizzles

The S&P 500 gave up early gains to close down 0.3%, while the Nasdaq 100 eked out a 0.1% advance and the Russell 2000 outperformed, rising 0.5%.

Brown bear on a rock

markets

9/5/25

Kenvue plunges after reports suggest RFK Jr. may try to link prenatal Tylenol use to autism

Kenvue sank 15% Friday after a WSJ report said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may attempt to link prenatal Tylenol use to autism in an upcoming government report.

Kenvue, the maker of Tylenol and formerly a division of Johnson & Johnson prior to a 2023 spin-out, pushed back, saying the science shows “no causal link” between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and autism, and pointed to FDA and medical groups that agree on the drug’s safety.

The FDA itself has found no “clear evidence” of harm but advises pregnant women to consult providers before taking OTC meds.

The report is also expected to float a folate-derived therapy as a potential treatment.

Tylenol is just the latest well-established medication to face scrutiny under Kennedy, who has already stirred controversy by reshaping vaccine policy and amplifying doubts about mRNA shots.

Kenvue shares are now down over 18% year-to-date.

RFK Jr., HHS to Link Autism to Tylenol Use in Pregnancy and Folate Deficiencies

RFK Jr.

The FDA itself has found no “clear evidence” of harm but advises pregnant women to consult providers before taking OTC meds.

The report is also expected to float a folate-derived therapy as a potential treatment.

Tylenol is just the latest well-established medication to face scrutiny under Kennedy, who has already stirred controversy by reshaping vaccine policy and amplifying doubts about mRNA shots.

Kenvue shares are now down over 18% year-to-date.

markets

9/5/25

Lucid surges following 6 days of losses after headlines misidentify Cantor Fitzgerald’s lower split-adjusted price target as a good thing

It’s been a shortened week, but still a rough one for Lucid. Investor blowback to the luxury EV maker’s 1-for-10 reverse stock split has sent shares to all time lows this week.

After six straight days of closing lower, Wall Street appears to have decided enough is enough and is loading up on Lucid shares on Friday, sending them up 13% in recent trading. As of 2:10pm eastern, Lucid trading volumes were at more than 240% of their 30 day average.

Some of the move could be attributed to traders reading headlines that don’t take into consideration Lucid’s reverse split. Cantor Fitzgerald on Friday slapped a new price target on Lucid of $20, compared to its previous target of $3. Some news outlets (not us!) presented that as an increase. The problem: With the 1-for-10 reverse split in effect, a comparable price target would have been $30. The new $20 target is actually... a cut.

Palantir slips under 50-day moving average, amid momo reversal

What goes up, doesn’t always keep going up.

Palantir CEO Alex Karp PLTR insane valuation

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