UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) is said to have sold an interest in some of its Optum Health operations in Florida to private equity firm TPG, as the health-care conglomerate works to recover from a collapse in profits last year.
“We didn’t need the dollars, we have the dollars to invest, but we needed the focus and somebody that could actually work with us locally,” CFO Wayne DeVeydt said in an interview with Bloomberg News. Working with TPG will allow the business to grow faster than if UnitedHealth ran everything while also executing a broader turnaround, DeVeydt said.
The sale follows an unexpected profit disappointment last year, driven by failures at Optum Health, which runs medical clinics. The company replaced its chief executive officer and other leaders after the weak results. DeVeydt said Optum Health margins will be around 2% this year, higher than previously expected, because the company is rolling out programs more quickly. Margins should rise to around 4% in 2027 and 6% the following year.
UNH stock has risen 21% year-to-date. Over the past six months, the shares are up nearly 40%. In mid-2026, strong earnings and turnaround hopes sent UnitedHealth surging. Starting with a well-received first-quarter earnings release, the company kicked off an extended rally. Confidence in the turnaround remained a top focus and was key to the stock’s surge from $275 to as much as $461.62 between April and July 2026.
Analysts across Wall Street, including those at Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley, upgraded the stock, citing improving utilization trends and management’s comment that its $3 billion artificial-intelligence investment is already paying off two-to-one.
Since hitting a 52-week high in the summer, UnitedHealth shares have once again seen enthusiasm fade. The long-term positives remain. With the stock just below $400, has a “buy the dip” moment emerged? Maybe, maybe not. Worries about fundamentals, not just profit-taking, may be driving the stock’s weak post-earnings price action.
Even as favorable utilization trends and cost-cutting measures continue to boost the bottom line, management said on the second-quarter 2026 post-earnings call that independent dispute resolutions, as well as increased coverage of GLP-1 and anti-inflammatory drugs, remain key concerns for rising cost trends.
At 18 times estimated 2027 earnings, UnitedHealth looks reasonably valued compared with its historical valuation. Still, if management’s AI-driven turnaround pans out and drives expected earnings growth in the mid-to-high teens over the next three years, recent volatility could look like a hiccup in hindsight. As the company continues to release strong quarterly results, the stock appears to remain a solid long-term buy, even if recent volatility persists in the near term.
The valuation recovery, in short, remains a work in progress.
