ARDT
Ardent Health Partners, LLC
ARDT's outlook is improving, though it still trails on the overall score.
UNH
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated
UNH has the edge over ARDT overall, supported by stronger valuation and stronger modeled upside.
ARDT Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Stable | |
| Healthy | |
| Healthy |
ARDT's cash flow and balance sheet are currently healthy, and its revenue and profitability are stable.
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.
ARDT PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 6.5x | $6.75 | -62% |
| Fair | 9x | $9.25 | -48% |
| Forward | 15x | $17.68 | — |
| Current | 17x | $17.68 | — |
| Expensive | 20x | $20.97 | +19% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
ARDT's PE is in its expensive range at 17x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 15x next year's earnings.
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 has the edge over ARDT in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
ARDT Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Stable | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect ARDT's earnings to grow and its profitability to improve, with its revenue holding steady.
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.
ARDT Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $1.21 | +17% |
| Q3 2026 | $1.03 | -30% |
| Q2 2026 | $0.55 | -70% |
| Q1 2026 | $0.95 | -42% |
| Q4 2025 | $0.96 | -38% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.47 | +119% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.83 | +190% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.65 | +217% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.55 | +343% |
ARDT has the edge over UNH on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
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's earnings per share have fallen from their peak: $17.55 over the past year, against $23.89 in early 2025.
ARDT Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.6B | +3.1% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.6B | -1.4% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.6B | +7% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.6B | -0.1% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.6B | +8.8% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.6B | +12% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.5B | +4% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.6B | +19% |
ARDT's revenue grew through 2024 and has held roughly level since: $1.6B last quarter, up 3.1% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 5% | +5.1 points |
| Q2 2026 | 2.7% | -4.8 points |
| Q1 2026 | 4.7% | -0.3 points |
| Q4 2025 | 5.8% | -4.7 points |
| Q3 2025 | -0.1% | -4.1 points |
| Q2 2025 | 7.4% | +1.8 points |
| Q1 2025 | 5% | -0.3 points |
| Q4 2024 | 10% | -2.4 points |
ARDT's operating margin was 5% last quarter, up 5.1 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 ARDT 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 ARDT on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
ARDT Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $121.9M | -21% |
| Q2 2026 | $196.7M | +67% |
| Q1 2026 | -$60.2M | -$35.4M |
| Q4 2025 | $223.4M | +87% |
| Q3 2025 | $154.4M | +72% |
| Q1 2025 | -$24.8M | +$13.7M |
| Q4 2024 | $119.6M | +1090% |
| Q3 2024 | $89.7M | +41% |
ARDT generated $482M in free cash flow over the past year, up 31% from 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 ARDT on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
ARDT Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.9% | -1.3M shares |
| 1 year | +0.3% | +478K shares |
| 3 years | +0.5% | +741K shares |
| 5 years | +86% | +65.7M shares |
ARDT has 142M diluted shares, about the same as a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $11M |
| Q1 2024 | — |
| Q4 2023 | — |
| Q3 2023 | — |
| Q2 2023 | — |
| Q1 2023 | — |
| Q4 2018 | — |
| Q3 2018 | — |
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 ARDT 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.
ARDT Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q2 2026 | 1.0x | Healthy |
| Q1 2026 | 1.1x | Healthy |
| Q4 2025 | 0.9x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 1.0x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 1.0x | Healthy |
| Q1 2024 | 5.1x | High |
| Q4 2023 | 5.5x | High |
ARDT has the edge over UNH on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
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.
ARDT Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 82.1 | Overbought |
| Stochastic | 88.7 | Overbought |
ARDT's weekly RSI is 82 (overbought) and its Stochastic is 89 (overbought).
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).
ARDT PE vs Healthcare Sector
| Metric | ARDT | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 17x | 26x | 34% below |
| PE % | 75 | 54 | 21 pts above |
ARDT has the edge over UNH on valuation relative to its sector.
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.
ARDT Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $12.9 | 37% above |
| 20 week MA | $11.6 | 52% above |
| 50 week MA | $10.1 | 74% above |
| 100 week MA | $11.8 | 50% above |
ARDT has stronger trend alignment. ARDT is above 4 of 4 weekly averages versus UNH above 4 of 5.
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 bounced recently, but its long-term trend is still down: it's above its 8-, 20-, 50- and 100-week averages, but 9.3% below its 200-week average.
ARDT Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $17.3 | $16.9 | -2.3% |
| 2025 | $16.9 | $9.22 | -45% |
| 2026 YTD | $9.22 | $17.7 | +92% |
ARDT has the edge over UNH on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
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 finished three years in a row lower, and it's up 22% so far in 2026.