Full Transcript: UnitedHealth Group Q2 2026 Earnings Call

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH ) reported second-quarter financial results on Thursday.

The transcript from the company's second-quarter earnings call has been provided below.

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The full earnings call is available at Summary UnitedHealth Group Inc reported strong Q2 financial performance with adjusted EPS of $6.38, a 55% YoY increase, and revenues of $112 billion.

Strategic initiatives include improvements in Medicare Advantage, focus on AI-driven modernization, and value-based care models, particularly within Optum Health.

The company updated its 2026 guidance, projecting earnings per share between $19.50 and $20, with a focus on maintaining growth through AI and operational efficiencies.

Operational highlights include reduction in prior authorization requirements and expanded care delivery models, contributing to improved patient satisfaction and operational performance.

Management remains committed to a long-term growth target of 13-16%, driven by technology and care model innovations, despite current challenges in commercial cost trends.

Full Transcript OPERATOR Here is some important introductory information.

This call contains forward-looking statements under US Federal securities laws.

These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical experience or present expectations.

A description of some of the risks and uncertainties can be found in the reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the cautionary statements included in our current and periodic filings.

This call will also reference non-GAAP amounts.

A reconciliation of the non-GAAP to GAAP amount is available on the Financial and Earnings Reports section of the Company's Investor Relations page at Information presented on this call is contained in the earnings release we issued this morning and in our Form 8-K dated July 16, 2026, which may be accessed from the Investor Relations page of the Company's website.

I will now turn the conference over to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of UnitedHealth Group, Stephen Hemsley.

Stephen Hemsley (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer) Thank you.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us.

Our second quarter results and updated full-year 2026 outlook demonstrate continuing progress toward delivering more consistent and dependable performance.

They are a sign of stronger, broad-based performance disciplines taking hold in each of our businesses and a restless desire to drive mission-aligned change across the enterprise and advance our social impact.

UnitedHealthcare has improved performance in its Medicare businesses through thoughtful benefit planning and design, all while remaining respectful of persistently elevated medical costs.

Our Medicaid business is in line with expectations as we continue to work with states on ensuring appropriate rates.

Our commercial benefits business, consistent with the broader and more diverse commercial market it serves, continues to experience higher than expected cost trends due to factors Tim Noel will discuss shortly.

At Optum, we're seeing building momentum from Optum Health as the business recenters back to its integrated value-based care delivery model.

This resulted in another quarter of improved care management and greater operating discipline.

OptumRx continues to perform to plan as transparency initiatives we announced earlier this year resonate well in the marketplace.

Optum Insight, also on plan, remains on a multi-year path of reinvestment and innovation as we bring modern intelligent technologies and services to the areas of greatest need in the health system.

We believe Optum Insight is exceptionally well positioned to help modernize and simplify the health system as it brings AI-enabled tools and services to market across the enterprise.

We're focused on serving consumers and care providers in ways that are reliable, affordable, and transparent.

That requires us to pay close attention to areas where the system isn't working well enough.

Areas including care approvals, accuracy of information and speed of response, access and scheduling, digital services, care path navigation, and more.

We are committed to making the health system work better for all stakeholders by simplifying processes, by being clearer, more consistent, and faster in the experience we offer, and by redesigning and modernizing that experience altogether.

AI technology is helping us move faster.

We're using it to improve service interactions, reduce administrative burden, and support better decision-making, always in service of improved experiences and outcomes for both patients and care providers.

UnitedHealth Group has a long history of evolving to meet the needs of a constantly changing US health system.

That evolution today includes a tech-forward view, actively and appropriately embracing an AI paradigm for our businesses, a management team with skills and vision to help in building a more advanced health system, and an ever-evolving organizational structure and culture aligned to that system.