SYK
Stryker Corporation
SYK has the edge over UNH overall, supported by stronger fundamentals and stronger valuation.
UNH
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated
UNH offers stronger modeled upside, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
SYK Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Healthy |
SYK'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.
SYK PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 20x | $312 | — |
| Current | 33x | $312 | — |
| Cheap | 37x | $344 | +10% |
| Fair | 43x | $402 | +29% |
| Expensive | 51x | $480 | +54% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
SYK 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.
SYK Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Moderate | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for SYK, with profitability holding steady.
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.
SYK Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $15.99 | +70% |
| Q3 2026 | $9.39 | +23% |
| Q2 2026 | $9.65 | +28% |
| Q1 2026 | $8.64 | +17% |
| Q4 2025 | $8.40 | +8.2% |
| Q3 2025 | $7.61 | -18% |
| Q2 2025 | $7.55 | -16% |
| Q1 2025 | $7.40 | -16% |
| Q4 2024 | $7.76 | -5.9% |
SYK 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.
SYK Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $6.5B | +7.6% |
| Q2 2026 | $6.6B | +9.4% |
| Q1 2026 | $6B | +2.6% |
| Q4 2025 | $7.2B | +11% |
| Q3 2025 | $6.1B | +10% |
| Q2 2025 | $6B | +11% |
| Q1 2025 | $5.9B | +12% |
| Q4 2024 | $6.4B | +11% |
SYK has the edge over UNH on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 16% | -2.9 points |
| Q2 2026 | 25% | +6.7 points |
| Q1 2026 | 16% | +1.3 points |
| Q4 2025 | 25% | +16 points |
| Q3 2025 | 19% | -1 points |
| Q2 2025 | 18% | -0.9 points |
| Q1 2025 | 14% | -4.3 points |
| Q4 2024 | 9% | -13 points |
SYK 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.
SYK Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.2B | -9.5% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.1B | +14% |
| Q1 2026 | $415M | +227% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.9B | +13% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.4B | +3.8% |
| Q2 2025 | $928M | +93% |
| Q1 2025 | $127M | +243% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.7B | +20% |
SYK 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.
SYK Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.3% | -1.3M shares |
| 1 year | -0.5% | -2M shares |
| 3 years | +0.2% | +700K shares |
| 5 years | +0.5% | +2M shares |
| Available history | +1.3% | +4.8M shares |
SYK has 385M diluted shares, down 0.5% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q2 2021 | — |
| Q1 2021 | — |
| Q4 2020 | — |
| Q3 2020 | — |
| Q2 2020 | — |
| Q1 2020 | — |
| Q4 2019 | — |
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 SYK 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.
SYK Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 1.7x | Healthy |
| Q2 2026 | 1.6x | Healthy |
| Q1 2026 | 1.8x | Healthy |
| Q4 2025 | 1.8x | Healthy |
| Q3 2025 | 2.6x | Moderate |
| Q2 2025 | 2.9x | Moderate |
| Q1 2025 | 3.1x | Elevated |
| Q4 2024 | 2.1x | Moderate |
SYK 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.
SYK Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 50.4 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 51.7 | Neutral |
SYK's weekly RSI is 50 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 52 (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).
SYK PE vs Healthcare Sector
| Metric | SYK | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 33x | 26x | 29% above |
| PE % | 9 | 29 | 20 pts below |
SYK is trading at 33x earnings, a 29% 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 SYK on valuation relative to its sector.
SYK Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $294.6 | 6% above |
| 20 week MA | $309.1 | 1.1% above |
| 50 week MA | $327.6 | 4.6% below |
| 100 week MA | $352.1 | 11% below |
| 200 week MA | $333.6 | 6.4% below |
SYK has bounced recently, but its long-term trend is still down: it's above its 8- and 20-week averages, but 6.4% 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 SYK on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
SYK Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $210.6 | $237.1 | +13% |
| 2021 | $237.1 | $268.3 | +13% |
| 2022 | $268.3 | $242.8 | -9.5% |
| 2023 | $242.8 | $299.5 | +23% |
| 2024 | $299.5 | $367.1 | +23% |
| 2025 | $367.1 | $354.2 | -3.5% |
| 2026 YTD | $354.2 | $312.4 | -12% |
SYK has finished higher in four of the last six years. It's down 12% 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 SYK on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.