Munger Mode rating: 4 out of 5 — Buy. Our own rating from the research report below, on business quality first: moat durability and management, with price separating the top three.
We write this together, as we always did our best thinking — one of us talking, the other saying "no, that's stupid, try again." UNH requires exactly that kind of back-and-forth, because it is a company where the wonderful and the troubling live in the same house. The business is describable in one sentence: UnitedHealth collects premiums to insure Americans' health costs, and then — through its Optum arm — owns much of the machinery that delivers and prices the care those premiums pay for. Two businesses, four segments: UnitedHealthcare (~$344.9B revenue in 2025, ~50 million people served): the largest private health insurer in America, spanning employer coverage, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and individual exchanges. It earns a spread — the medical benefit ratio — between premiums taken in and medical costs paid out.
Recent filings analysed: 8-K (2026-09-08), 10-Q (2026-08-10), 8-K (2026-06-05), 8-K (2026-05-11).
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