SpaceX, AT&T, Delta, Humana, Apple, Avient, Lumentum moves

By Catherine Dunn Humana stock gained 11.56% Friday after the federal government released new ratings data on Medicare Advantage plans, showing that Humana increased its membership in four-star rated plans, a key metric closely watched by Wall Street. Shares ended the session at $431.87, Humana's highest close since Jan. 17, 2024, when they ended the day at $447.76, according to Dow Jones Market Data. After a sharp fall two years ago, the insurer was looking to make a comeback on the new 2027 ratings, which were anticipated this week. The ratings are tied to financial bonuses in the Medicare Advantage program, and Humana's results were expected to test the stock, which had already soared this year. It's now up more than 68% year to date, versus 14% for the broader market. Humana made big strides in the latest ratings round. The company said 95% of its members are now enrolled in plans rated four stars or higher, up from 45% earlier this year. In a securities filing Friday morning, Humana said it is "well positioned to deliver on its commitment of unlocking the earnings potential of the business by 2028." "Bottom Line: HUM...is the clearest positive big winner in our 2027 Stars analysis," Leerink Partners said in a client note. As seniors begin to shop for Medicare health coverage this month, the rating system is meant to help them compare the quality of plans, on a scale of one to five stars. For insurers and Wall Street, star ratings are an incredibly important metric because they determine quality bonus payments to insurers from the government. Plans rated four stars and above are eligible for the bonuses. This year alone, those bonus payments are expected to total more than $13 billion in aggregate. At Humana, "getting the quality bonus payment back on some of their large contracts is empirical to the margin recovery story," Leerink Partners analyst Whit Mayo told Barron's in an interview this week. "That's the primary investment thesis for investors." The challenge for Humana started two years ago, when the insurer saw a ratings drop, and went from having more than 90% of its members in a plan rated at least four stars, down to about 25%. At the time, Humana said it had narrowly missed thresholds on a small number of measures used to calculate stars. That reduction impacted Humana's ability to collect bonuses this year. When the 2026 ratings were announced last year, the results continued to show a gap between Humana and industry peers CVS Health and UnitedHealth Group, each with more than 80% of their members in plans with four or more stars this year, according to Leerink. On Thursday, both CVS Health and UnitedHealth Group saw some decline in that measure for 2027, with about 70% of each company's membership in a four-star or higher plan next year, a Leerink analysis found. A UnitedHealth spokesperson said the new star ratings "are in line with our expectations and reflect our continued investment in improving members' health