AQST
Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc.
AQST offers stronger fundamentals, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
UNH
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated
UNH has the edge over AQST overall, supported by lower modeled downside and stronger modeled upside.
AQST Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Under pressure | |
| Under pressure | |
| Unavailable |
AQST's revenue is currently stable, but its profitability and cash flow are under pressure. There isn't enough data to rate its balance sheet.
UNH Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Stable | |
| Healthy | |
| Healthy |
UNH's cash flow and balance sheet are currently healthy, and its revenue and profitability are stable.
AQST PE Valuation
AQST has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
UNH PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 18x | $405 | — |
| Cheap | 19x | $325 | -20% |
| Fair | 23x | $410 | +1.2% |
| Current | 23x | $405 | — |
| Expensive | 30x | $526 | +30% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
UNH's PE is in its fair range at 23x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 18x next year's earnings, in its cheap range.
AQST Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Losses steady | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
Analysts expect AQST's revenue to grow and its profitability to improve, with its earnings holding steady. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
UNH Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Stable | |
| Improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Low |
Analysts expect UNH's earnings to grow and its profitability to improve, with its revenue holding steady. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
AQST Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$0.64 | +$0.06 |
| Q2 2026 | -$0.65 | +$0.04 |
| Q1 2026 | -$0.61 | -$0.03 |
| Q4 2025 | -$0.78 | -$0.27 |
| Q3 2025 | -$0.70 | -$0.26 |
| Q2 2025 | -$0.69 | -$0.35 |
| Q1 2025 | -$0.58 | -$0.17 |
| Q4 2024 | -$0.51 | -$0.38 |
AQST is still losing money, but far less than before: $0.64 per share over the past year, against $2.63 at its worst in late 2019.
UNH Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $22.65 | +29% |
| Q3 2026 | $17.55 | -8.5% |
| Q2 2026 | $15.58 | -33% |
| Q1 2026 | $13.28 | -44% |
| Q4 2025 | $13.23 | -15% |
| Q3 2025 | $19.17 | +25% |
| Q2 2025 | $23.09 | +53% |
| Q1 2025 | $23.89 | +46% |
| Q4 2024 | $15.51 | -35% |
UNH has the edge over AQST on earnings quality, reporting a profit while its opponent remains loss making.
AQST Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $7.6M | -41% |
| Q2 2026 | $13.8M | +38% |
| Q1 2026 | $14.4M | +66% |
| Q4 2025 | $13M | +9.7% |
| Q3 2025 | $12.8M | -5.4% |
| Q2 2025 | $10M | -50% |
| Q1 2025 | $8.7M | -28% |
| Q4 2024 | $11.9M | -10% |
AQST's revenue is growing: $8M last quarter, down 41% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -191% | -102 points |
| Q2 2026 | -60% | +54 points |
| Q1 2026 | -29% | +193 points |
| Q4 2025 | -222% | -107 points |
| Q3 2025 | -90% | -28 points |
| Q2 2025 | -114% | -114 points |
| Q1 2025 | -222% | -148 points |
| Q4 2024 | -114% | -85 points |
AQST's operating margin was −191% last quarter, down 102 points from the same quarter a year ago.
UNH Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $112.7B | -0.4% |
| Q2 2026 | $112B | +0.4% |
| Q1 2026 | $111.7B | +2% |
| Q4 2025 | $113.2B | +12% |
| Q3 2025 | $113.2B | +12% |
| Q2 2025 | $111.6B | +13% |
| Q1 2025 | $109.6B | +9.8% |
| Q4 2024 | $100.8B | +6.8% |
UNH has the edge over AQST on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 5.8% | +2 points |
| Q2 2026 | 7.1% | +2.5 points |
| Q1 2026 | 8.1% | -0.3 points |
| Q4 2025 | 0.3% | -7.4 points |
| Q3 2025 | 3.8% | -4.8 points |
| Q2 2025 | 4.6% | -3.4 points |
| Q1 2025 | 8.3% | +0.4 points |
| Q4 2024 | 7.7% | -0.4 points |
UNH has the edge over AQST on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
AQST Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$7.6M | +$5.3M |
| Q2 2026 | -$9.7M | -$1.6M |
| Q1 2026 | -$14.9M | +$8.7M |
| Q4 2025 | -$8.6M | -$2.1M |
| Q3 2025 | -$12.9M | -$924K |
| Q2 2025 | -$8M | -$980K |
| Q1 2025 | -$23.5M | -$13.1M |
| Q4 2024 | -$6.5M | -$1.5M |
AQST has burned cash in almost every quarter: −$41M over the past year, against −$51M the year before.
UNH Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $4.3B | -16% |
| Q2 2026 | $10.3B | +63% |
| Q1 2026 | $8.1B | +79% |
| Q4 2025 | $160M | -89% |
| Q3 2025 | $5.1B | -61% |
| Q2 2025 | $6.3B | +6.9% |
| Q1 2025 | $4.6B | +1037% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.5B | +$7.6B |
UNH has the edge over AQST on cash generation, producing positive trailing cash flow while its opponent burns cash.
AQST Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.4% | +555K shares |
| 1 year | +14% | +15M shares |
| 3 years | +94% | +60.9M shares |
| 5 years | +220% | +86.3M shares |
| Available history | +274% | +92M shares |
AQST has 126M diluted shares, up 14% from a year ago.
UNH Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.4% | -4M shares |
| 1 year | -0.7% | -6M shares |
| 3 years | -3.6% | -34M shares |
| 5 years | -5.5% | -53M shares |
| Available history | -6.6% | -64M shares |
UNH has the edge over AQST on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $3.4B |
| Q2 2026 | $1.6B |
| Q1 2026 | — |
| Q4 2025 | — |
| Q3 2025 | — |
| Q2 2025 | $2.5B |
| Q1 2025 | $3B |
| Q4 2024 | $5B |
UNH spent $5B buying back its own shares over the past year, down 52% from the year before.
AQST Net Leverage
AQST's operating earnings (EBITDA) were negative over the past year, so its debt can't be measured against them.
UNH Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 1.7x | Healthy |
| Q2 2026 | 1.7x | Healthy |
| Q1 2026 | 2.2x | Moderate |
| Q4 2025 | 2.3x | Moderate |
| Q3 2025 | 1.7x | Healthy |
| Q2 2025 | 1.5x | Healthy |
| Q1 2025 | 1.3x | Healthy |
| Q4 2024 | 1.4x | Healthy |
UNH's net debt is about 1.7 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), about the same as a year ago.
AQST Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 40.3 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 9.9 | Oversold |
AQST's weekly RSI is 40 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 10 (oversold).
UNH Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 56.4 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 60.0 | Neutral |
UNH's weekly RSI is 56 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 60 (neutral).
AQST PE vs Healthcare Sector
AQST has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
UNH PE vs Healthcare Sector
| Metric | UNH | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 23x | 26x | 11% below |
| PE % | 47 | 29 | 18 pts above |
UNH is trading at 23x earnings, a 11% discount to the Healthcare sector's median of 26x.
AQST Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $4.11 | 13% below |
| 20 week MA | $4.26 | 16% below |
| 50 week MA | $4.32 | 17% below |
| 100 week MA | $4.14 | 14% below |
| 200 week MA | $3.42 | 4.4% above |
AQST has fallen below most of its moving averages, though it's still 4.4% above its 200-week average.
UNH Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $394.2 | 2.8% above |
| 20 week MA | $400.5 | 1.2% above |
| 50 week MA | $361.2 | 12% above |
| 100 week MA | $376.0 | 7.8% above |
| 200 week MA | $446.6 | 9.3% below |
UNH has the edge over AQST on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
AQST Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $5.54 | $6.37 | +15% |
| 2021 | $6.37 | $4.03 | -37% |
| 2022 | $4.03 | $0.93 | -77% |
| 2023 | $0.93 | $2.02 | +117% |
| 2024 | $2.02 | $3.52 | +74% |
| 2025 | $3.52 | $5.99 | +70% |
| 2026 YTD | $5.99 | $3.57 | -40% |
AQST's yearly returns have swung widely, from +117% in 2023 to −77% in 2022. It's down 40% so far in 2026.
UNH Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $296.0 | $340.8 | +15% |
| 2021 | $340.8 | $495.4 | +45% |
| 2022 | $495.4 | $531.3 | +7.3% |
| 2023 | $531.3 | $526.5 | -0.9% |
| 2024 | $526.5 | $510.0 | -3.1% |
| 2025 | $510.0 | $331.8 | -35% |
| 2026 YTD | $331.8 | $405.1 | +22% |
UNH has the edge over AQST on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.