LGND
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated
LGND offers stronger fundamentals, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
UNH
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated
UNH has the edge over LGND overall, supported by stronger modeled upside and lower modeled downside.
LGND Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Under pressure | |
| Stable | |
| Strong | |
| Weak |
LGND's cash flow is currently strong, and its profitability is stable, but its revenue 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.
LGND PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 25x | $62.36 | -80% |
| Forward | 29x | $316 | — |
| Fair | 42x | $106 | -67% |
| Expensive | 67x | $170 | -46% |
| Current | 125x | $316 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
LGND's PE is in its expensive range at 125x, but its recent earnings include one-off gains. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 29x next year's earnings, in its cheap range.
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 LGND in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
LGND Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
LGND 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.
LGND Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $10.93 | +330% |
| Q3 2026 | $2.54 | +26% |
| Q2 2026 | $9.65 | +$13.71 |
| Q1 2026 | $7.67 | +$14.85 |
| Q4 2025 | $6.13 | +$6.35 |
| Q3 2025 | $2.01 | -21% |
| Q2 2025 | -$4.06 | -273% |
| Q1 2025 | -$7.18 | -234% |
| Q4 2024 | -$0.22 | -107% |
LGND 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.
LGND Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $78.7M | -32% |
| Q2 2026 | $63.7M | +34% |
| Q1 2026 | $51.7M | +14% |
| Q4 2025 | $59.7M | +39% |
| Q3 2025 | $115.5M | +123% |
| Q2 2025 | $47.6M | +15% |
| Q1 2025 | $45.3M | +46% |
| Q4 2024 | $42.8M | +52% |
LGND has the edge over UNH on sales, with stronger typical year-over-year growth.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -20% | -68 points |
| Q2 2026 | 13% | -4.2 points |
| Q1 2026 | 34% | +114 points |
| Q4 2025 | 23% | +46 points |
| Q3 2025 | 48% | +42 points |
| Q2 2025 | 18% | +64 points |
| Q1 2025 | -80% | -90 points |
| Q4 2024 | -23% | -11 points |
LGND's operating margin was −20% last quarter, down 68 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 LGND on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
LGND Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$27.7M | -312% |
| Q2 2026 | $24M | +54% |
| Q1 2026 | $48.5M | +$74.1M |
| Q4 2025 | $45.9M | +65% |
| Q3 2025 | $13.1M | -64% |
| Q2 2025 | $15.6M | +21% |
| Q1 2025 | -$25.7M | -238% |
| Q4 2024 | $27.8M | +263% |
LGND usually generates cash, though not every quarter: the latest was −$28M, but it generated $91M over the past year.
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.
LGND Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -8.6% | -1.9M shares |
| 1 year | -3.2% | -667K shares |
| 3 years | +15% | +2.6M shares |
| 5 years | +16% | +2.8M shares |
| Available history | +16% | +2.7M shares |
LGND has the edge over UNH on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | — |
| Q4 2025 | — |
| Q4 2021 | — |
| Q3 2021 | — |
| Q2 2021 | — |
| Q1 2021 | — |
| Q4 2020 | $4.7M |
| Q3 2020 | — |
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.
LGND Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 18.2x | High |
| Q2 2026 | 0.9x | Very low |
| Q1 2026 | -0.9x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | -2.3x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | -2.7x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -104.6x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | -5.7x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2024 | -3.3x | Net Cash |
LGND's net debt is about 18 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), after holding more cash than debt a year ago.
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 LGND on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
LGND Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 64.7 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 80.9 | Overbought |
LGND's weekly RSI is 65 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 81 (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).
LGND PE vs Healthcare Sector
| Metric | LGND | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 125x | 26x | 382% above |
| PE % | 100 | 29 | 71 pts above |
LGND is trading at 125x earnings, a 382% premium to the Healthcare sector's median of 26x, though its recent earnings include one-off gains.
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 LGND on valuation relative to its sector.
LGND Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $306.3 | 3.2% above |
| 20 week MA | $299.3 | 5.7% above |
| 50 week MA | $247.3 | 28% above |
| 100 week MA | $191.1 | 66% above |
| 200 week MA | $135.3 | 134% above |
LGND 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.
LGND Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $66.7 | $66.2 | -0.8% |
| 2021 | $66.2 | $100.6 | +52% |
| 2022 | $100.6 | $67.3 | -33% |
| 2023 | $67.3 | $71.4 | +6.1% |
| 2024 | $71.4 | $109.2 | +53% |
| 2025 | $109.2 | $195.8 | +79% |
| 2026 YTD | $195.8 | $316.3 | +62% |
LGND 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.