UnitedHealth Beats on Profit But Continues To Feel Effects of Cyberattack

UnitedHealth Group (UNH) shares advanced Tuesday after the big health insurance provider posted better-than-expected profit on higher revenue from its Optum health care unit, while adding that the costs associated with a February cyberattack would be greater than previously estimated.

The company reported second-quarter adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $6.80, more than anticipated. Revenue was up 6.4% year-over-year to $98.9 billion, in line with forecasts.

Revenue at the Optum division jumped 11.7% to $62.9 billion as it added more patients at Optum Health and increased the number of customers using its Optum Rx pharmacy service. 

Cyberattack Reduced EPS by $0.92

UnitedHealth noted that the cyberattack against its Change Healthcare division reduced EPS by $0.92, including $0.64 per share “to support direct response efforts such as the Change Healthcare clearinghouse platform restoration and increased medical care expenditures,” and $0.28 because of lost revenue and costs from the disruption of the business.

In February, the company announced that Change Healthcare’s information technology systems had been hit with “a suspected nation-state associated cyber security threat” that disrupted medical billing and care authorization portals.

UnitedHealth affirmed its full-year adjusted EPS outlook of $27.50 to $28.00 that it gave last November, even though the negative impact of the hack would be $0.60 to $0.70 per share, $0.30 more than its guidance of a $0.30 to $0.40 impact given in the first quarter.

UnitedHealth Group shares were up 5.9% to $545.65 as of 10:20 a.m. ET Tuesday to move into positive territory year-to-date.