Jim Cramer’s Game Plan: 12 Stocks in Focus This Week

10. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 112

Cramer predicted that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) will report terrific earnings this week.

“The biggest health insurer UnitedHealth Group reports too. Now we know this company has been in the news sadly, after one of its highest-level executives was murdered. This group’s had strong earnings of late, including, really, I mean terrific. They just got some good news from Medicare too this very evening. So they’re no longer dealing with a post-Covid hangover, they’re getting better return from the government and you know what, I suspect UNH is gonna have an excellent quarter. So what can I say? These stocks, probably gonna work. ”

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) is a large, diversified healthcare company providing a wide range of services and products across various sectors. It has set a long-term growth target of 13% to 16%. For the full year 2024, the company’s net earnings guidance is between $15.50 and $15.75 per share. This forecast reflects factors such as the sale of its South American operations in the first half of 2024 and the impacts of a cyberattack on Change Healthcare.

Insurers have expressed concerns in recent years about rates being insufficient to cover growing medical costs, which have affected earnings and stock prices. Recently, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) suggested that Medicare Advantage plan payments could rise by an average of 4.3% in 2026, a more substantial increase than the current year as per BNN Bloomberg. When excluding changes in patient risk scores, which typically boost revenues, the payment rise would still be a healthy 2.2%.

This proposed hike would represent the largest increase in Medicare payments since 2023. Health insurance providers that offer private Medicare Advantage plans in the U.S., including UnitedHealth, are likely to see a significant increase in payments in 2026, should a proposed change by the incoming Trump administration be implemented.

The proposed adjustments would allocate an additional $21 billion to Medicare Advantage providers in 2026 compared to the previous year. UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) has a significant presence in the Medicare Advantage market, accounting for 29% of enrollment in 2024. In nearly 29% of U.S. counties, UnitedHealth held at least 75% of the Medicare Advantage enrollment, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation.