Analyst Skepticism on UnitedHealth

Today's biggest winners and losers in the stock market.

On this episode of Stock Movers, we take a look at some of the biggest gainers and decliners of the week: 

- Palantir (PLTR) saw its shares sink this week amid a broader selloff in software related stocks. On Thursday, the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF, ticker IGV, fell 3.9%, closing at its lowest level since November 2023. It has dropped more than 27% this year. An index of software-as-a-service stocks shed 4.8%, bringing its week-to-date decline to 9% and its 2026 drop to almost 40%. The year’s selloff stems from investor concern that AI offerings will sap demand for services from legacy providers, weighing on their growth and pricing power going forward. The proliferation of so-called AI agents, designed to complete multi-step processes without human interference, has been viewed as a particular challenge for software-as-a-service stocks. Michael Burry, made famous by 'The Big Short' has argued that Anthropic is winning the race for enterprise AI spending, which also led to Palantir shares taking a hit.

- Intel (INTC) shares rallied over the week. On Thursday, the company said that Alphabet's Google committed to using future generations of its Xeon processors and other chips. Intel shares rallied nearly 20% over the week. The shares have also benefited from an announcement that the chipmaker will help Elon Musk’s long-shot effort to develop semiconductors for Tesla Inc., SpaceX and xAI.

- UnitedHealth (UNH) shares ticked higher over the week, signaling a potential comeback for the company. Most of the nearly 10% rally took place Tuesday, following a 2.48% increase to payments for Medicare Advantage in 2027, instead of an initial US government proposal that rates be left little changed. The final payment policy from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services was mostly seen as a reprieve for profit-squeezed health insurers. Medicare Advantage has powered insurers’ growth for more than a decade, but the business has become less profitable in recent years as medical costs rise and government funding dwindles. It was a shot in the arm for battered UnitedHealth, the nation’s biggest provider of private Medicare plans. The firm recently forecast a decline in 2026 revenue — its first annual contraction in more than three decades — and said it expects shrinking enrollment across all its major segments, including commercial health plans, Medicare and Medicaid.

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