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Wall Street has cut its UnitedHealth EPS forecasts by >20% for each of the next 3 years

UnitedHealth has been rocked by negative headline after negative headline in the last five weeks, with yesterday’s latest — a report that alleged it coordinated with nursing homes to reduce hospitalizations — contributing to another 6% fall in the company’s stock. News that the regulator will increase its audits of Medicare Advantage, which broke late last night, is now putting further pressure on UnitedHealth, again in the red in premarket trading.

In the wake of the deluge of unfavorable news, management change, and no financial guidance for the coming year, Wall Street analysts have been slashing estimates for America’s largest healthcare insurance provider — and with little information to go off, they haven’t discriminated much between the next few years.

Data from FactSet reveals that the mean earnings-per-share estimate for 2025 has been slashed by 24% so far this year. The forecast for 2026 is down 22%, while the average evaluation of 2027 EPS also fell 23%.

Those are pretty huge cuts, but they haven’t kept pace with the stock’s decline, which has slumped 48% since April 16. That leaves the stock on just ~13x this year’s earnings, a significant derating since the market’s evaluation in mid-April, when it traded on ~19.5x price to earnings.

Related reading: Move over Tesla, UnitedHealth is the battleground stock for retail traders this week as options trading explodes

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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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