UnitedHealth ( UNH ) is one of the important participants in the field of medical insurance and is scheduled to announce its financial results for the third quarter of 2026 before the opening market on Tuesday, October 13th. The market generally expects the company's earnings per share to reach $4.12, which is higher than the $2.92 from a year ago. Revenue is expected to be $111.31 billion, which is lower than the $113.20 billion of the previous quarter.

The options market indicates a 7.15% volatility following the financial report.

Option traders are pricing in a two-way fluctuation of 7.15% for UnitedHealth after the release of its third-quarter financial report on October 13, which is approximately equivalent to $27.12. What is reflected here is the expected range of stock price fluctuations after the financial report, not whether the stock price will rise or fall.

For reference, after the last four financial reports, the stock price fluctuation range of UNH ranged from a decrease of 19.61% to an increase of 6.96%. Calculated in absolute terms, the average fluctuation was about 7.06%, which is close to the current implied volatility of the options. This indicates that traders expect the market reaction to be generally consistent with the historical performance seen in recent financial reports.

Investors will pay attention to the revenue and medical costs of UnitedHealth to assess the company's operational performance. The company's description of its annual performance guidance may also affect the stock price reaction after the financial report is released.

Analysts' Views Before the Financial Report

Before the financial report was released, Piper Sandler analyst Jessica Tassan reiterated his buy rating on UNH, and lowered the target price from $475 to $463, which still represents a 22% upside potential from the current level. The firm stated that UnitedHealth's Medicare Advantage star rating indicates resilience, yet its stock price does not fully reflect these opportunities. The analyst wrote, "We will buy this stock before the release of third-quarter results in 2026."

Similarly, analyst Ryan Langston has lowered the target price of UnitedHealth from $430 to $402, while maintaining a 'hold' rating. He stated that the consensus expectations of the market for medical costs and profits in the third quarter are 'highly likely to be realized', and expects the adjusted earnings per share to be $4.12.

Langston believes that Optum Health could potentially bring upward room for growth. The market consensus on the operating profit of this business is $299 million, which is higher than the management's guidance of around $150 million. However, he warns that a lower Medicare Advantage star rating could result in $1.5 billion in revenue headwinds in 2028.

UNH is it worth buying?

On TipRanks, UNH has a consensus rating of "strong buy," based on 17 buy ratings and 4 hold ratings given in the past three months. The average target price for UnitedHealth is $485.00, which indicates there is still a potential for an increase of 27.87% from the current level.

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