ATEC
Alphatec Holdings, Inc.
ATEC offers stronger fundamentals, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
UNH
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated
UNH has the edge over ATEC overall, supported by lower modeled downside and stronger modeled upside.
ATEC Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Stable | |
| Under pressure | |
| Weak |
ATEC's revenue is currently healthy, and its profitability is stable, but its cash flow and balance sheet are under pressure.
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.
ATEC PE Valuation
ATEC 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.
ATEC Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
ATEC 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.
ATEC Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $0.50 | — |
| Q3 2026 | -$0.56 | +$0.47 |
| Q2 2026 | -$0.72 | +$0.40 |
| Q1 2026 | -$0.83 | +$0.31 |
| Q4 2025 | -$0.96 | +$0.17 |
| Q3 2025 | -$1.03 | +$0.24 |
| Q2 2025 | -$1.12 | +$0.22 |
| Q1 2025 | -$1.14 | +$0.34 |
| Q4 2024 | -$1.13 | +$0.41 |
ATEC is still losing money, but far less than before: $0.56 per share over the past year, against $1.67 at its worst in early 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 ATEC on earnings quality, reporting a profit while its opponent remains loss making.
ATEC Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $221.2M | +13% |
| Q2 2026 | $213.5M | +15% |
| Q1 2026 | $192.1M | +14% |
| Q4 2025 | $212.9M | +20% |
| Q3 2025 | $196.5M | +30% |
| Q2 2025 | $185.5M | +27% |
| Q1 2025 | $169.2M | +22% |
| Q4 2024 | $176.8M | +28% |
ATEC has the edge over UNH on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 1.5% | +9.6 points |
| Q2 2026 | -0.9% | +6.2 points |
| Q1 2026 | -12% | +14 points |
| Q4 2025 | -4.1% | +9.3 points |
| Q3 2025 | -8.1% | +14 points |
| Q2 2025 | -7% | +17 points |
| Q1 2025 | -26% | +5.1 points |
| Q4 2024 | -13% | +19 points |
ATEC's operating margin was 1.5% last quarter, up 9.6 points from the same quarter a year ago, near the top of its range since 2019.
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 ATEC on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
ATEC Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $5.6M | +16% |
| Q2 2026 | $582K | -89% |
| Q1 2026 | -$10.8M | +$4.2M |
| Q4 2025 | $7.7M | -9.7% |
| Q3 2025 | $4.8M | +$26M |
| Q2 2025 | $5.2M | +$50.7M |
| Q1 2025 | -$15M | +$54.8M |
| Q4 2024 | $8.5M | +$59.3M |
ATEC has the edge over UNH on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
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 still generates free cash flow, though less than at its 2022 peak: $22.8B over the past year.
ATEC Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.5% | +801K shares |
| 1 year | +3.9% | +6M shares |
| 3 years | +29% | +34.9M shares |
| 5 years | +58% | +57.8M shares |
| Available history | +201% | +105M shares |
ATEC has 157M diluted shares, up 3.9% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q4 2021 | — |
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 ATEC 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.
ATEC Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 12.1x | High |
| Q2 2026 | 27.3x | High |
| Q1 2026 | 64.7x | High |
ATEC's net debt is about 12 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA).
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 has the edge over ATEC on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
ATEC Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 35.7 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 6.9 | Oversold |
ATEC's weekly RSI is 36 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 7 (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).
ATEC PE vs Healthcare Sector
ATEC 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.
ATEC Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $9.24 | 24% below |
| 20 week MA | $9.35 | 24% below |
| 50 week MA | $11.7 | 39% below |
| 100 week MA | $12.3 | 43% below |
| 200 week MA | $12.4 | 43% below |
ATEC is in a downtrend: it's below all five of its weekly moving averages, and 43% 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 ATEC on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
ATEC Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $7.09 | $14.1 | +99% |
| 2021 | $14.1 | $12.4 | -12% |
| 2022 | $12.4 | $11.7 | -5.4% |
| 2023 | $11.7 | $15.1 | +29% |
| 2024 | $15.1 | $9.19 | -39% |
| 2025 | $9.19 | $21.0 | +128% |
| 2026 YTD | $21.0 | $7.06 | -66% |
ATEC has finished lower in three of the last six years. It's down 66% 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 ATEC on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.