UnitedHealth Group reported $14.4 billion in 2024 profits as its UnitedHealthcare health insurance and Optum provider services overcame rising costs and a cyberattack.

UnitedHealth Group beat estimates for fourth quarter profit as the Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based health care giant released its first earnings report since the fatal ambush last month of top executive Brian Thompson in New York City.

But high medical costs contributed to results that disappointed Wall Street, and the company’s stock fell on the news that it had made less than analysts expected.

UnitedHealth Group has reported quarterly profits of $5.5 billion after tax in its first earnings release since the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City, which sparked a wider debate about the cost of health insurance and medication for the American public.

UnitedHealth posted a better-than-expected profit in the final quarter of 2024, but a nagging rise in medical costs and care utilization surprised Wall Street. Shares of the health care giant slid Thursday after it released its first financial report since the brazen shooting of one of its executives outside a New York City hotel touched a

UnitedHealth Group reported a fourth-quarter profit on Thursday that beat analysts' estimates as the healthcare conglomerate spent less on covering members' medical costs.