On April 16, 2024, UnitedHealth Group reaffirmed its full-year adjusted earnings-per-share outlook of $27.50 to $28.00 after reporting first-quarter revenue of $99.8 billion and adjusted EPS of $6.91. But the outlook was not unchanged across every measure: the company lowered its GAAP net EPS outlook to $17.60 to $18.20 and estimated that the Change Healthcare cyberattack would reduce 2024 earnings by $1.15 to $1.35 per share.
What UnitedHealth reported for Q1 2024
UnitedHealth reported $99.8 billion in revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, nearly $8 billion more than a year earlier. Adjusted earnings were $6.91 per share. On a GAAP basis, the company reported a net loss of $1.53 per share. These figures describe different earnings measures: adjusted EPS excludes certain items, while net EPS reflects results under generally accepted accounting principles.
The April 16 release attributed $0.74 per share of first-quarter impact to the Change Healthcare incident: $0.49 per share in direct-response costs and $0.25 per share in business disruption. UnitedHealth’s Q1 Form 10-Q separately reported $593 million in direct-response costs and $279 million in business-disruption impacts for the quarter. Those dollar amounts and per-share estimates use different units and should not be treated as interchangeable. UnitedHealth’s Q1 2024 Form 10-Q.
Why “kept its outlook” applies to adjusted EPS, not every measure
UnitedHealth kept its adjusted EPS outlook for 2024 at $27.50 to $28.00 per share. It changed its GAAP net EPS outlook to $17.60 to $18.20 per share. The distinction matters: the headline referred to the adjusted range, not an unchanged forecast for all earnings measures.
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The company treated cyberattack effects differently in the two measures. Its April estimate put the incident’s full-year impact at $1.15 to $1.35 per share. Direct-response costs were excluded from adjusted EPS, while business-disruption effects were included. The range was an estimate made in April, not a final tally of the year’s cost. See the April 16, 2024 results release.
How the Change Healthcare attack affected operations
UnitedHealth’s Q1 filing says it identified threat actors’ access to certain Change Healthcare information technology systems on February 21, 2024, then isolated impacted systems. The disruption affected claims and payment operations, creating difficulties for care providers.
The filing describes two kinds of financial impact. Direct response costs included restoring the network and increased medical-care expenditures after the company suspended some care-management activities to help providers manage workflow. Business disruption at Optum Insight reflected lost revenue while the company maintained readiness of affected services. The filing said initial data sampling found files containing protected health information or personally identifiable information, and that the investigation was ongoing; it did not establish a final count of affected individuals.
To support providers, UnitedHealth said in its April release that it had provided more than $6 billion in advance funding and interest-free loans. Its filing reported approximately $3.9 billion through March 31 and more than $6.5 billion through April 30, reflecting the later as-of date. Both are company-reported figures; the April release’s rounded amount and the filing’s later total describe different points in time.
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How the 2024 outlook changed after April
The April outlook was one point in a year of updates, not UnitedHealth’s final 2024 guidance. The company later raised its estimated cyberattack impact and adjusted its earnings ranges.
| Report date | Adjusted EPS outlook | GAAP net EPS outlook | Estimated full-year cyberattack impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 16, 2024 (Q1) | $27.50–$28.00 per share | $17.60–$18.20 per share | $1.15–$1.35 per share |
| July 16, 2024 (Q2) | $27.50–$28.00 per share | $15.95–$16.40 per share | $1.90–$2.05 per share |
| October 15, 2024 (Q3) | $27.50–$27.75 per share | $15.50–$15.75 per share | not stated in the cited Q3 release |
The ranges are those UnitedHealth reported at each dated update; the cyberattack estimates are not final actual costs. The July 16 Q2 release kept the adjusted range but increased the estimated attack impact. The October 15 Q3 release narrowed the adjusted range and lowered the net EPS range.
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