“We’ve got more work to do,” Connor said. “This has been a heavy lift and we’re going to continue that work.”
CEO Andrew Witty said on the conference call that United has so far helped providers to the tune of more than $6 billion to help offset the hack’s disruption. (The company’s early response on that front met with criticism from a number of healthcare stakeholders, including the American Hospital Association.) Despite the scale of the breach—Witty noted that Change would have been “extremely challenged to come back” had it still been a stand-alone entity—the initial cost estimates came in below most observers’ estimates.
That helped United beat analysts’ projections for adjusted profits during the quarter, when the company also booked a roughly $7 billion charge related to the sale of its operations in Brazil. Operating earnings during the quarter clocked in at $7.9 billion, down from $8.1 billion in the first three months of last year. Revenues climbed to $99.8 billion from $91.9 billion in early 2023.
Shares of United (Ticker: UNH) jumped on the earnings report and ensuing commentary. In afternoon trading April 16, they were up more than 5 percent to roughly $469 on heavy volume. They are, however, still down 10 percent since mid-February, a move that has shrunk the company’s market capitalization to about $434 billion.
