HQY
HealthEquity, Inc.
HQY has the edge over UNH overall, supported by stronger fundamentals and stronger valuation.
UNH
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated
UNH has slightly lower modeled downside risk, despite its lower overall score.
HQY Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Healthy |
HQY's profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are currently healthy, and its revenue is 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.
HQY PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 20x | $103 | — |
| Current | 37x | $103 | — |
| Cheap | 41x | $112 | +9% |
| Fair | 87x | $242 | +135% |
| Expensive | 1,293x | $3,580 | +3374% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
HQY has the edge over UNH in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
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.
HQY Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
HQY 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.
HQY Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $5.23 | +89% |
| Q3 2026 | $2.77 | +68% |
| Q2 2026 | $2.67 | +95% |
| Q1 2026 | $2.46 | +126% |
| Q4 2025 | $2.18 | +100% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.65 | +38% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.37 | +49% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.09 | +70% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.09 | +221% |
HQY 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.
HQY Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $350.7M | +7.6% |
| Q2 2026 | $354.6M | +7.2% |
| Q1 2026 | $334.6M | +7.3% |
| Q4 2025 | $322.2M | +7.2% |
| Q3 2025 | $325.8M | +8.6% |
| Q2 2025 | $330.8M | +15% |
| Q1 2025 | $311.8M | +19% |
| Q4 2024 | $300.4M | +21% |
HQY's revenue has grown year over year for 21 quarters in a row: $351M last quarter, up 7.6% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 28% | +0.6 points |
| Q2 2026 | 29% | +3.9 points |
| Q1 2026 | 21% | +7.7 points |
| Q4 2025 | 24% | +18 points |
| Q3 2025 | 28% | +7.9 points |
| Q2 2025 | 25% | +11 points |
| Q1 2025 | 14% | -1.3 points |
| Q4 2024 | 6.5% | -5.9 points |
HQY has the edge over UNH on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
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's operating margin was 5.8% last quarter, up 2 points from the same quarter a year ago.
HQY Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $135.2M | +0.1% |
| Q2 2026 | $97.2M | +50% |
| Q1 2026 | $117.6M | +56% |
| Q4 2025 | $137.8M | +53% |
| Q3 2025 | $135.1M | +26% |
| Q2 2025 | $64.7M | -0.1% |
| Q1 2025 | $75.4M | -1.4% |
| Q4 2024 | $90.3M | +60% |
HQY 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.
HQY Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -1.2% | -992K shares |
| 1 year | -4.3% | -3.7M shares |
| 3 years | -2.7% | -2.3M shares |
| 5 years | +0.6% | +533K shares |
| Available history | +19% | +13.5M shares |
HQY has the edge over UNH on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $107.7M |
| Q2 2026 | $123.3M |
| Q1 2026 | $81M |
| Q4 2025 | $92.4M |
| Q3 2025 | $66.7M |
| Q2 2025 | $59.1M |
| Q1 2025 | $63M |
HQY spent $404M buying back its own shares over the past year.
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 902M diluted shares, down 0.7% from a year ago, with $5B in buybacks over the past year.
| 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.
HQY Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 1.3x | Healthy |
| Q2 2026 | 1.4x | Healthy |
| Q1 2026 | 1.3x | Healthy |
| Q4 2025 | 1.5x | Healthy |
| Q3 2025 | 1.8x | Healthy |
| Q2 2025 | 2.1x | Moderate |
| Q1 2025 | 2.3x | Moderate |
| Q4 2024 | 2.4x | Moderate |
HQY 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.
HQY Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 59.9 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 73.0 | Neutral |
HQY's weekly RSI is 60 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 73 (neutral).
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).
HQY PE vs Healthcare Sector
| Metric | HQY | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 37x | 26x | 44% above |
| PE % | 13 | 29 | 16 pts below |
HQY is trading at 37x earnings, a 44% premium to the Healthcare sector's median of 26x.
UNH PE vs Healthcare Sector
| Metric | UNH | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 23x | 26x | 11% below |
| PE % | 47 | 29 | 18 pts above |
UNH has the edge over HQY on valuation relative to its sector.
HQY Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $97.0 | 6.2% above |
| 20 week MA | $97.9 | 5.3% above |
| 50 week MA | $90.3 | 14% above |
| 100 week MA | $93.5 | 10% above |
| 200 week MA | $83.2 | 24% above |
HQY has the edge over UNH on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
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.
HQY Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $74.0 | $68.3 | -7.7% |
| 2021 | $68.3 | $44.9 | -34% |
| 2022 | $44.9 | $61.6 | +37% |
| 2023 | $61.6 | $66.3 | +7.6% |
| 2024 | $66.3 | $96.3 | +45% |
| 2025 | $96.3 | $93.5 | -2.9% |
| 2026 YTD | $93.5 | $103.1 | +10% |
HQY has finished lower in three of the last six years. It's up 10% 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 HQY on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.