UnitedHealth Group surprised investors with what its CEO said was an 'unusual and unacceptable' quarterly earnings miss, and it lowered its outlook for the full year due to higher-than-expected medical costs, sparking a more than 20% selloff in shares that reverberated across the sector. The company's first earnings miss since 2008 and accompanying bleak forecast sent investors to the exits, as they were hoping the U.S. insurer would maintain its profit outlook on expectations that demand for medical services would be similar to 2024.
