Buffett’s $1.6B Bet Sends UnitedHealth Soaring in Biggest Jump Since 2020

UnitedHealth just got the Buffett bump — and Wall Street noticed.

Shares of the nation’s largest private health insurer rocketed 12% on Friday, their biggest one-day gain in five years, after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway disclosed it scooped up 5 million shares worth about $1.6 billion. The news lit up trading floors, instantly adding around 209 points to the Dow Jones Industrial Average at the open.

It wasn’t just Buffett piling in. “Big Short” legend Michael Burry and billionaire investor David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management also revealed sizable stakes in the troubled health care giant in separate SEC filings Thursday.

For a company that’s been hammered this year — losing nearly half its market value before Friday — the vote of confidence couldn’t have come at a better time. UnitedHealth has been under fire over soaring health care costs, a Justice Department investigation into its Medicare billing practices, and a leadership shakeup that saw CEO Andrew Witty step down in May. The insurer even yanked its annual earnings outlook earlier this year before offering a far lower forecast last month that disappointed Wall Street.

Buffett’s involvement is giving investors a reason to rethink the bearish narrative. “This is a big vote of confidence in UNH,” Deutsche Bank health care analyst George Hill told clients, adding that Berkshire’s move could create a “near-term trading floor” for the stock — and maybe even a rallying point for the whole managed care sector.

If Friday’s surge holds, UnitedHealth may have finally found its bottom. Whether it’s the start of a longer comeback or just a Buffett-fueled sugar high is the question investors will be watching next week.

The original story by Yun Li for CNBC.