Like a soggy Biscoff cookie... United shares descended 4% for the week, after the airline revealed it lost $1.9B last quarter. United's sales plunged nearly 70% from a year earlier — and CEO Scott Kirby wasn't upbeat about a recovery anytime soon: Kirby said a “critical mass” of people need to be vaccinated before passengers return, and declined to estimate when the airline would stop losing money. Meanwhile, Delta is seeing the champagne glass half full: it lost $755M last quarter, but expects to be profitable this summer.
What's up, doc?... Bad week all around for companies called United. UnitedHealth's profit dropped to ~$400M last quarter, down from $2B+ in the same period a year earlier. Back in July, United posted its most profitable quarter ever, courtesy of your canceled doc visit: the insurance giant collected premiums while reducing payouts, as you postponed physical therapy. All those pent-up visits turned into "revenge visits" this fall, so United had a bigger bill.