ARDX
Ardelyx, Inc.
ARDX offers stronger fundamentals, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
UNH
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated
UNH has the edge over ARDX overall, supported by lower modeled downside and stronger modeled upside.
ARDX Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Under pressure | |
| Under pressure | |
| Unavailable |
ARDX's revenue is currently healthy, 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.
ARDX PE Valuation
ARDX has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year. If it returns to profit as analysts expect, today's price would be 253x 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'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.
ARDX Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Returning to profit | |
| Growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
ARDX has the edge over UNH on the outlook, with more favorable revenue expectations.
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.
ARDX Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $0.01 | — |
| Q3 2026 | -$0.23 | +$0.01 |
| Q2 2026 | -$0.23 | +$0.01 |
| Q1 2026 | -$0.24 | -$0.01 |
| Q4 2025 | -$0.26 | -$0.09 |
| Q3 2025 | -$0.24 | +$0.06 |
| Q2 2025 | -$0.24 | +$0.03 |
| Q1 2025 | -$0.23 | +$0.05 |
| Q4 2024 | -$0.17 | +$0.13 |
ARDX is still losing money, but far less than before: $0.23 per share over the past year, against $1.13 at its worst in mid-2022.
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 ARDX on earnings quality, reporting a profit while its opponent remains loss making.
ARDX Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $127.7M | +16% |
| Q2 2026 | $120.9M | +24% |
| Q1 2026 | $94.5M | +27% |
| Q4 2025 | $125.2M | +7.8% |
| Q3 2025 | $110.3M | +12% |
| Q2 2025 | $97.7M | +33% |
| Q1 2025 | $74.1M | +61% |
| Q4 2024 | $116.1M | +238% |
ARDX has the edge over UNH on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 3.1% | -1.1 points |
| Q2 2026 | -10% | +4.5 points |
| Q1 2026 | -35% | +14 points |
| Q4 2025 | 4.1% | -2.9 points |
| Q3 2025 | 4.2% | +2 points |
| Q2 2025 | -15% | +3.9 points |
| Q1 2025 | -49% | +4.6 points |
| Q4 2024 | 7% | +88 points |
ARDX's operating margin was 3.1% last quarter, down 1.1 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's revenue has held roughly level: $113B last quarter, about level with the same quarter a year ago.
| 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 ARDX on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
ARDX Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $2.2M | +939% |
| Q2 2026 | -$6.4M | +$19.6M |
| Q1 2026 | -$32.3M | +$6.5M |
| Q4 2025 | $20.6M | +123% |
| Q3 2025 | $209K | -43% |
| Q2 2025 | -$26M | -$6.5M |
| Q1 2025 | -$38.8M | -$2.9M |
| Q4 2024 | $9.2M | +$18M |
ARDX has burned cash in most quarters: −$16M over the past year, against −$55M 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 ARDX on cash generation, producing positive trailing cash flow while its opponent burns cash.
ARDX Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.8% | +1.9M shares |
| 1 year | +3.3% | +8.1M shares |
| 3 years | +9.7% | +22.1M shares |
| 5 years | -30% | -108M shares |
ARDX has 250M diluted shares, up 3.3% 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 ARDX 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.
ARDX Net Leverage
ARDX'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.
ARDX Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 30.4 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 9.8 | Oversold |
ARDX's weekly RSI is 30 (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).
ARDX PE vs Healthcare Sector
ARDX 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.
ARDX Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $3.15 | 1% below |
| 20 week MA | $3.88 | 20% below |
| 50 week MA | $5.32 | 41% below |
| 100 week MA | $5.17 | 40% below |
| 200 week MA | $5.30 | 41% below |
ARDX is in a downtrend: it's below all five of its weekly moving averages, and 41% below 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 ARDX on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
ARDX Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $1.86 | $1.72 | -7.5% |
| 2021 | $1.72 | $1.18 | -31% |
| 2022 | $1.18 | $2.41 | +104% |
| 2023 | $2.41 | $6.20 | +157% |
| 2024 | $6.20 | $5.21 | -16% |
| 2025 | $5.21 | $5.74 | +10% |
| 2026 YTD | $5.74 | $3.12 | -46% |
ARDX has finished lower in three of the last six years. It's down 46% 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 ARDX on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.