NEW YORK, July 16, 2026, 14:23 (EDT). U.S. markets open.
- The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA: XLV) rose 2.2% to $161.81. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust NYSEARCA:SPY fell 0.5%.
- Abbott gained 10.9% after a modest earnings beat. UnitedHealth Group NYSE:UNH rose 2.6% after a much larger beat.
Abbott Laboratories NYSE:ABT jumped 10.9%, lifting the XLV healthcare benchmark on Thursday. Managed-care shares moved in both directions.
Abbott’s reaction was unusually large relative to its earnings beat. It reported adjusted EPS of $1.31 against $1.28, a 2.3% beat. UnitedHealth posted $6.38 against $4.90, about 30% above consensus. Its shares gained only 2.6%.
The stock moves suggest investors had placed the bigger fear on medtech demand. Expiring pandemic-era Affordable Care Act subsidies had raised concern about weaker procedures.
| Security | Price | Day move | Fresh result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA: XLV) | $161.81 | +2.2% | Outpaced SPY by 2.8 percentage points |
| SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust NYSEARCA:SPY | $750.71 | -0.5% | Broad market declined |
| Abbott Laboratories NYSE:ABT | $98.99 | +10.9% | EPS beat 2.3%; guidance midpoint rose 0.8% |
| UnitedHealth Group NYSE:UNH | $429.53 | +2.6% | EPS beat 30.2%; cost ratio beat by 177 basis points |
| Elevance Health NYSE:ELV | $375.91 | -3.7% | 2026 profit floor raised by 25 cents Wednesday |
Prices reflect trades around 14:08 EDT. EPS comparisons use published analyst consensus. Guidance percentages use company ranges.
Abbott raised its 2026 adjusted EPS range to $5.45-$5.60 per share. The midpoint increased 0.8% from the earlier company range. Its shares rose more than 10%.
The quarter supplied the reassurance. Medical-device sales rose 9% to $5.85 billion. Reported diagnostics sales climbed 42% to $3.09 billion after the Exact Sciences purchase.
On Abbott’s comparable basis, diagnostics growth was 2.9%. Chief Executive Robert Ford called the coverage read-through a “flawed assumption.” He said chronic-disease patients were less likely to forgo insurance. Abbott MediaRoom
Johnson & Johnson NYSE:JNJ gave a similar read Wednesday. “Procedure volumes continue to be stable,” medtech executive Tim Schmid said. Its device sales still missed estimates by about $40 million. Reuters
UnitedHealth’s report addressed medical-cost pressure. Its medical-cost ratio was 86.7%, or 177 basis points better than consensus. The ratio was 89.4% a year earlier.
UnitedHealth raised adjusted EPS guidance to $19.50-$20.00 per share. Its previous outlook called for more than $18.25. Optum operating income rose 29% to $4.0 billion.
The insurer also shed members. UnitedHealthcare served 48.5 million people, down 525,000 sequentially. Medicare Advantage enrollment fell 965,000 since year-end.
Elevance fell 3.7% during Thursday trade. Humana NYSE:HUM lost 2.8%. CVS Health NYSE:CVS gained 1.1%.
Elevance raised its annual profit floor by 25 cents Wednesday. The shares still slid. Baird analyst Michael Ha said investor expectations had been elevated.
Abbott’s nutrition sales fell 3.1%, posing a clear risk. UnitedHealth’s membership declines may restrain revenue growth. Further coverage losses could still reach procedure volumes. Thursday’s prices remain intraday.
Thursday’s trade favored companies that removed a specific earnings risk. Abbott eased procedure concerns. Managed-care stocks still depended on each company’s cost ratio and membership trend.
