Elevance Health vs UnitedHealth
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put Elevance Health and UnitedHealth side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- UnitedHealth is the larger business, with $447.6B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $199.1B for Elevance Health, about 2.2 times as much.
- Elevance Health grew revenue faster (12.5%, against 11.8%).
- UnitedHealth kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (4.2% operating margin, against 3.6%).
- UnitedHealth turned more of its sales into free cash flow (3.6% FCF margin, against 1.6%).
- Elevance Health earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (15.2%, against 11.2%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of UnitedHealth’s earnings: a P/E of 26.4x against 18.3x for Elevance Health.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 10 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
Elevance Health
ELV
6/10
Revenue growthNet marginReturn on capitalReturn on equityNet debt / EBITDAShare count change
UnitedHealth
UNH
4/10
5-year growthOperating marginFCF marginPiotroski F-score
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | ELV FY25 | UNH FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $93.9B | $372.1B |
| Revenue | $199.1B | $447.6B |
| Free cash flow | $3.2B | $16.1B |
| Net income | $5.7B | $12.1B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 12.5% | 11.8% |
| 5-year growth | 10.3% | 11.7% |
| Share count change | −3.6% | −1.9% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | 88.7% |
| Operating margin | 3.6% | 4.2% |
| Net margin | 2.8% | 2.7% |
| FCF margin | 1.6% | 3.6% |
| Return on capital | 15.2% | 11.2% |
| Return on equity | 13.3% | 12.2% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$3.3B | $50.3B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.4x | 2.2x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $4.1B | $13.5B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 18.3x | 26.4x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 7 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.