Amid the fog of budget cuts and regulatory uncertainty in the healthcare industry, valuations across the sector are under pressure. However, UnitedHealth (UNH), a blue-chip giant, is leveraging its vast membership base and the synergies of its Optum platform to carve out a path of efficiency gains in adversity.

Core Positive: Value-Based Care Delivers Results, Revenue Supports Growth Confidence

To assess the strength of a healthcare giant, performance is always the best litmus test. Setting aside regulatory policies, UNH's 2025 fiscal year report card is enough to prove its strong risk resilience. $UnitedHealth (UNH)$

In fiscal 2025, the company's total revenue grew 12% year-over-year to $447.6 billion, marking its15th consecutive quarter of year-over-year revenue growth and the third straight quarter of double-digit growth around 12%—against the backdrop of widespread budget cuts and regulatory uncertainty in the industry, such growth momentum can be described as "breaking through against the odds."

More noteworthy is the effectiveness of the strategic transformation: value-based healthcare contributed over half of total revenue, reaching $270.6 billion. This means UNH has long moved away from the traditional "fee-for-service" model to "outcomes-focused" value-based care, which is the current global trend in healthcare transformation.

What is value-based care? Simply put, it no longer bills based on "how many patients were seen or tests were ordered" but focuses on "patient health improvement," emphasizing preventive care, cost control, and patient experience, ultimately achieving a win-win of "better outcomes at lower costs."

Data shows that about 90% of Americans prefer to forgo in-person visits after experiencing telemedicine, while 47% are using health-tracking devices. The shift toward "proactive prevention and online convenience" in healthcare models is inevitable. And UNH is leading this transformation.

Key Engine: Optum Drives Profit Margin Reversal

If value-based care is UNH's long-term strategic direction, then the Optum segment is the core engine for executing this strategy and the key lever for improving profitability.

Some investors may wonder: Why is Optum, with its revenue expected to drop to $257.5 billion in the outlook, still viewed favorably? The answer is simple: Behind the revenue adjustment lies active margin optimization.

Thanks to the 2025 "strategic restructuring," Optum's profit margin will rise from 3.5% in fiscal 2025 to 5.1%, driven by cost control and business structure optimization. On one hand, Optum has significantly improved operational efficiency through AI—by 2026, AI alone is expected to save the company about $1 billion in costs while reducing patient healthcare costs by 15%-30%. On the other hand, its diversified service matrix continues to strengthen competitiveness.

For example, OptumHealth's House Calls program provides preventive home care for elderly members, not only eliminating the need for follow-up visits for 75% of seniors within 90 days but also achieving a 99% satisfaction rate, successfully attracting a large elderly demographic to opt for proactive healthcare. Optum RX (pharmacy services) and Optum Savings IQ (financial assistance services) further enhance user stickiness by lowering out-of-pocket costs and improving care accessibility, truly embedding the value-based care philosophy at the terminal.

Remember, the core formula of value-based care is "healthcare value = clinical outcomes × patient experience / healthcare cost," and all of Optum's actions are precisely boosting the numerator and reducing the denominator of this formula, making long-term competitiveness a non-issue.

Short-Term Profit Pressure, Long-Term Valuation Reasonable

After discussing strategy and operations, let’s look at the financials and valuation that investors care about most. We objectively assess short-term pressures while recognizing long-term potential.

First, revenue resilience: 2025 revenue grew 11.81% year-over-year from $400.3 billion in 2024 to $447.6 billion. Even factoring in the potential loss of 2.8 million members, 2026 revenue is still projected at $439 billion (a slight 1.91% decline year-over-year)—this isn’t a sign of weak growth but a strategic choice to focus on margin improvement, with the medical care ratio (MCR) expected to drop from 89.1% in 2025 to 88.8% in 2026, signaling sustained profitability improvements.

Valuation-wise: As of February 5, 2026, UNH's market cap stands at $243.263 billion, with a P/S ratio of 0.54x and a P/E of 20.3x—both in undervalued territory.

Conclusion: Pullback Offers a Window, Long-Term Bullish Thesis Intact

Overall, UNH's short-term stock volatility reflects concentrated releases of sector sentiment and near-term headwinds, not a shakeup of its core strengths—value-based care aligns with industry trends, Optum's execution continues to deliver, revenue resilience is strong, profit reversal is expected, and market leadership remains solid. $Nasdaq (.IXIC)$$S&P 500(.SPX)$

For medium- to long-term investors, the current pullback offers a favorable entry window: Against widespread sector pressures, UNH combines defensiveness (15 straight quarters of revenue growth) and growth (value-based care + AI cost savings), making it a rare high-quality pick.