NEW YORK, January 1, 2026, 10:48 ET — Market closed.
- UNH last closed down 0.62% at $330.11 in the final session of 2025.
- Managed-care peers were mixed, with Humana falling and Elevance rising.
- Focus now shifts to UnitedHealth’s Jan. 27 results and 2026 guidance, with medical-cost trends in focus.
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated shares fell 0.62% to $330.11 on Wednesday, Dec. 31, in the year’s final trading session. Humana slid 1.13% while Elevance rose 0.50%. 1
U.S. stock markets are closed on Thursday for the New Year’s Day holiday. Investors now turn to UnitedHealth’s full-year 2025 results and 2026 financial guidance on Jan. 27, which the company has scheduled for release before the market opens. 2
The stock’s move came as Wall Street ended 2025 with a late pullback, with the Dow down 0.63% and the S&P 500 off 0.74% in thin holiday trading. “I do not expect that the last few days will have so much bearing on the performance of the next year,” said Giuseppe Sette, co-founder and president of Reflexivity. 3
For insurers such as UnitedHealth, swings in interest-rate expectations can hit valuations because their earnings are often treated as steadier, “defensive” cash flows that investors price using long-term discount rates.
Company-specific focus has stayed on execution at Optum, UnitedHealth’s health-services business, and at OptumRx, its pharmacy benefit manager. UnitedHealth said outside audits would lead to operational changes, including more automation and more standardized internal processes, and it expects to share results from a review of its HouseCalls in-home assessment program in the first quarter of 2026; the company also disclosed it is cooperating with Justice Department investigations into Medicare Advantage billing practices. 4
Medicare Advantage is the privately run version of Medicare, and payments can hinge on how patient diagnoses are documented.
The next major swing factor is medical costs. Investors will watch the medical care ratio — the share of premium revenue spent on medical claims — for signs that utilization is stabilizing.
Optum’s margins are another focal point, especially at Optum Health, which delivers clinical services, and at OptumRx, which helps negotiate drug prices and manage prescription benefits for insurers and employers.
With UNH near $330, traders often treat that round-number zone as a near-term sentiment marker as liquidity returns in early January.
Before the next session, markets reopen on Friday, Jan. 2, with investors weighing the first burst of January data alongside company-specific catalysts.
The U.S. jobs report for December is due on Jan. 9, followed by the Consumer Price Index report on Jan. 13, both scheduled for 8:30 a.m. ET. 5
The Federal Reserve’s next policy meeting is scheduled for Jan. 27-28, potentially amplifying rate-sensitive moves around the same day UnitedHealth is due to report. 6
For UnitedHealth, the near-term test will be whether it can convince investors that cost trends are firming and that operational fixes at Optum translate into cleaner execution as it lays out 2026 targets on Jan. 27.
