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UnitedHealth says it’s working with feds on Medicare probe

UnitedHealth Group is responding to requests from the Department of Justice regarding its Medicare Advantage business, the company disclosed in a regulatory filing Thursday morning.

Before this, the company had proactively reached out to the government after The Wall Street Journal reported that it was being probed. UnitedHealth is now “complying with formal criminal and civil requests” from the DOJ.

“The Company is committed to maintaining the integrity of its business practices and serving as reliable stewards of American tax dollars,” it said in the filing.

The company’s insurance arm, UnitedHealthcare, offers Medicare Advantage, a program where those eligible for government healthcare can get it through a private company and the government reimburses most of the bill. But according to previous reporting from the Journal, which appears to have sparked the DOJ probe, the company often overdiagnoses patients on the program to trigger larger payments from the government.

UnitedHealth fell 4% in premarket trading. It’s down more than 40% for the year.

The confirmation of the investigation adds to UnitedHealth’s growing list of issues.

The head of its insurance arm, Brian Thompson, was killed in Manhattan in December in a high-profile shooting. The company ousted its CEO in May amid reports of increased scrutiny from the government. And the probes confirmed on Thursday are in addition to last year’s antitrust investigation into the company.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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