NEPH
Nephros, Inc.
NEPH has the edge over UNH overall, supported by stronger valuation and stronger fundamentals.
UNH
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated
UNH has lower modeled downside risk, despite its lower overall score.
NEPH Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Healthy | |
| Under pressure | |
| Strong |
NEPH's revenue, profitability and balance sheet are currently healthy, but its cash flow is 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.
NEPH PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 14x | $3.31 | — |
| Current | 18x | $3.31 | — |
| Cheap | 27x | $4.78 | +44% |
| Fair | 34x | $6.13 | +85% |
| Expensive | 50x | $8.99 | +172% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
NEPH 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.
NEPH Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
NEPH 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.
NEPH Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $0.23 | +30% |
| Q3 2026 | $0.18 | +29% |
| Q2 2026 | $0.16 | +23% |
| Q1 2026 | $0.07 | -12% |
| Q4 2025 | $0.11 | +1000% |
| Q3 2025 | $0.14 | +$0.23 |
| Q2 2025 | $0.13 | +$0.26 |
| Q1 2025 | $0.08 | +$0.22 |
| Q4 2024 | $0.01 | +$0.16 |
NEPH 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.
NEPH Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $5.6M | +18% |
| Q2 2026 | $6M | +36% |
| Q1 2026 | $5.2M | +6.9% |
| Q4 2025 | $4.7M | +22% |
| Q3 2025 | $4.8M | +35% |
| Q2 2025 | $4.4M | +36% |
| Q1 2025 | $4.9M | +38% |
| Q4 2024 | $3.9M | +19% |
NEPH has the edge over UNH on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 8.9% | +2.3 points |
| Q2 2026 | 20% | +15 points |
| Q1 2026 | 1.9% | -9.8 points |
| Q4 2025 | 0.4% | -7.8 points |
| Q3 2025 | 6.6% | +0.7 points |
| Q2 2025 | 5.6% | +15 points |
| Q1 2025 | 12% | +17 points |
| Q4 2024 | 8.2% | +28 points |
NEPH 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.
NEPH Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 2026 | -$1.7M | -619% |
| Q4 2025 | $230K | -82% |
| Q1 2025 | $322K | +$994K |
| Q4 2022 | -$195K | +$140K |
| Q3 2022 | -$170K | +$753K |
| Q2 2022 | -$1.2M | -$1.1M |
| Q1 2022 | -$1.8M | -$1.8M |
| Q4 2021 | -$335K | +$1.2M |
NEPH has the stronger cash trend. Its trailing FCF is up 58% versus its history, compared with UNH at up 5.2%.
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.
NEPH Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.8% | +91.3K shares |
| 1 year | +1.5% | +163K shares |
| 3 years | +7.1% | +743K shares |
| 5 years | +12% | +1.2M shares |
| Available history | +49% | +3.7M shares |
NEPH has 11M diluted shares, up 1.5% 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 NEPH 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.
NEPH Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -2.3x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -2.7x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -5.0x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | -4.2x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | -3.3x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -3.4x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2025 | -4.5x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | -26.7x | Net Cash |
NEPH 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.
NEPH Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 45.4 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 13.1 | Oversold |
NEPH's weekly RSI is 45 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 13 (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).
NEPH PE vs Healthcare Sector
| Metric | NEPH | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 18x | 26x | 29% below |
| PE % | 1 | 29 | 28 pts below |
NEPH 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.
NEPH Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $3.48 | 4.9% below |
| 20 week MA | $3.80 | 13% below |
| 50 week MA | $3.82 | 13% below |
| 100 week MA | $3.46 | 4.3% below |
| 200 week MA | $2.69 | 23% above |
NEPH has fallen below most of its moving averages, though it's still 23% above 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 NEPH on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
NEPH Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $10.1 | $8.08 | -20% |
| 2021 | $8.08 | $6.00 | -26% |
| 2022 | $6.00 | $1.05 | -83% |
| 2023 | $1.05 | $3.46 | +230% |
| 2024 | $3.46 | $1.49 | -57% |
| 2025 | $1.49 | $4.93 | +231% |
| 2026 YTD | $4.93 | $3.31 | -33% |
NEPH's yearly returns have swung widely, from +231% in 2025 to −83% in 2022. It's down 33% 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 NEPH on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.