NEW YORK, December 31, 2025, 10:30 ET — Regular session
- Molina Healthcare shares rose about 2% in morning trading, outpacing a softer healthcare sector.
- Buying followed fresh attention from investor Michael Burry, who compared Molina to Berkshire Hathaway’s Geico.
- Molina set its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings release for Feb. 5 after the market close.
Molina Healthcare Inc shares were up 2.1% at $174.33 by 10:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, after trading between $170.03 and $176.33 earlier in the session.
The move matters because Molina has been highly sensitive to shifts in sentiment after cutting its 2025 profit outlook in October on higher medical costs, particularly in its Affordable Care Act marketplace business. “Approximately half of our underperformance is driven by the Marketplace business,” CEO Joseph Zubretsky said at the time. Reuters
Investors are now looking to the company’s next update for signs that medical-cost trends are stabilizing and that pricing is catching up with claims. Molina said it will publish fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results after the market closes on Feb. 5, 2026, and hold a conference call and webcast on Feb. 6.
Buying also followed fresh attention from Michael Burry, the investor portrayed in “The Big Short,” who compared Molina to Berkshire Hathaway’s Geico and floated the idea of acquiring the insurer if he had the capital, Business Insider reported. Business Insider
The renewed focus comes as managed-care investors stay fixated on profitability drivers that can swing quickly, including the medical loss ratio — the share of premium revenue paid out in medical claims.
Molina’s mix spans Medicaid, Medicare and state marketplace plans, leaving results exposed to utilization trends and the pace at which state and federal reimbursement updates filter through.
The stock’s rise also stood out against broader weakness. The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund was down 0.2%, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust slipped 0.3%.
Managed-care peers were mixed. Centene was up about 0.4%, while UnitedHealth was down about 0.4%; Elevance and Humana were marginally higher.
Analysts remain cautious overall. Data compiled by MarketWatch show an average recommendation of “Hold” and an average target price of about $173 for Molina. MarketWatch
For traders, the near-term focus is whether the stock can hold above Tuesday’s close of $170.66 and stay near the top of Wednesday’s intraday range, rather than slipping back toward the day’s low.
