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UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, is in need of some bed rest this week. The companys stock price (NYSE: UNH) has been knocked off its feet again after the American insurance giant reported disappointing quarterly results and offered 2025 earnings guidance that was significantly below investor expectations. Heres what you need to know. UnitedHealth Groups Q2 2025 earnings Today, UnitedHealth Group reported its second-quarter 2025 resultsand they didnt live up to investor expectations. For the quarter, the company reported an adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $4.08. It reported revenue of $111.62 billion for the quarter. As noted by CNBC, analysts surveyed by LSEG had expected UnitedHealth to report revenue of $111.52 billion for the quarter, meaning the company slightly outperformed expectations. However, those same analysts also expected UnitedHealth to report an adjusted EPS of $4.48. At an actual adjusted EPS of $4.08, UnitedHealth came in significantly below expectations. The company may have beaten on revenue, but it made less profit than expected because of rising healthcare costs. Those rising healthcare costs are partly attributed to older customers now having surgery and other medical procedures that they put off during the pandemic years, notes CNBC. These include non-emergency procedures such as hip and other joint replacements. Yet it wasnt UnitedHealth Groups Q2 results that gave investors the shivers. The company also updated its previously suspended 2025 full-year outlook. Investors werent happy about that either. UnitedHealth Group says it expects revenue of between $445.5 billion and $448 billion for fiscal 2025 and adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of at least $16. As CNBC notes, investors had anticipated fiscal 2025 revenue of $449.16 billion and adjusted EPS of $20.91 per share. As a result of the lackluster quarter and poorer-than-expected 2025 forecast, UnitedHealth Group shares are dropping in premarket trading this morning as of this writing. Todays results have seemed to have rattled health insurance industry investors, especially considering that UnitedHealth Group, as CNBC notes, is often seen as the bellwether for Americas private healthcare industry. In sickness and in health It’s not just UnitedHealth Groups latest Q2 results and underwhelming fiscal 2025 forecast that have rattled the companys investors as of late. Since the beginning of the summer, the company has seen bad news pile up. In early May, UnitedHealth Groups then-CEO, Andrew Witty, announced he was stepping down for personal reasons. Witty had been highly criticized for his perceived tone-deaf response to the anger that Americans expressed against the company after the killing of Brian Thompson, CEO of the company’s UnitedHealthcare unit, in December. Along with announcing Wittys departure, UnitedHealth Group also announced it was suspending its 2025 full-year fiscal outlook due to medical costs that were increasingly higher than expected. The companys chairman, Stephen Hemsley, was announced as the new CEO. But a few days after Hemsley became UnitedHealth Groups new CEO, the Wall Street Journal reported that UnitedHealth was under investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) over possible Medicare fraud. This news, which UnitedHealth Group called misinformation, sent UNH shares tumbling. Then, just last week, UnitedHealth Group confirmed on Thursday that it was indeed under federal criminal and civil investigations involving its Medicare business. Americans angered by private insurance While investors may be fretting over UnitedHealth Groups woes, few Americans are likely to feel sympathy for the private insurance giant. After the murder of Thompson, social media users in the United States exploded not with sadness or outrage, but with glee. What the reaction to the killing revealed was that there is a widespread, deeply rooted anger by Americans across the political spectrum against the countrys private healthcare system. As Americas largest private health insurer, UnitedHealth Group is a focal point for this angerand Americans didnt hold back. As Fast Company reported at the time, social media was flooded with Americans venting their horror stories and frustrations in dealing with UnitedHealthcare and the other for-profit health insurance companies that have so much control over their health and financial lives. My copay for thoughts and prayers is $100,000; I heard his condition was pre-existing; My ability to care was denied; My sympathy requires a referral; Submitted claim for condolences was denied, a user on Bluesky said. This pent-up anger against UnitedHealth wasnt helped by Wittys response to the outcry, which some labeled tone-deaf. UNH shares have had a bad 2025 As of the time of this writing, UNH shares are down about 1.11% to $279, driven by the companys poor Q2 2025 results and disappointing fiscal 2025 guidance. But UNH shares depression is nothing new this year. Since the start of 2025, UNH shares had already fallen more than 44% as of yesterdays close of markets, primarily due to the rising costs of healthcare. Over the past 12 months, UNH shares have collapsed more than 50% as of yesterdays market close.
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E-Commerce
Mauro Porcini became the worlds first chief design officer at 3M, before taking the role at PepsiCo and, now, Samsung. But despite defining what it means for a designer to take a seat in the C-suite, he admits that, for a few decades now, hes ceased to fit anywhere perfectly. Designers see me as a business person. The business people see me as a designer. Im there in the middle between the two worlds, like I’m Italian and American. I’m both of them, laments Porcini, before flipping this self-critique on its head. [But that means] I’m exotic in Italy, and I’m exotic in America. Now I’m exotic in Korea. Porcini captures these dualities in the way he styles himself. With roots in Varese, Italy, he grew up alongside the Missoni family, and into his early 20s, he became friends with many of Italys most prominent voices in fashion. To this day, he has a penchant for Italian luxury brands like Gucci, Prada, and Valentino. But he insists that hes not afraid to mix them with drops from Zara. A longtime collector of fine footwear, his latest obsession is a Gucci x Adidas collab, which he owns in six colors. (He recently added their gold-clad loafer to his collection.) The pieces showcase the materials and silhouettes of Gucci, but with the three stripes of Adidas. Its an unexpected mashup that adds a signature to just about anything Porcini wears these days. The shoe has always been very powerful, because you can go crazy with the shoes. You can be really different. And for a man, its an easy accent, says Porcini. But then you go into these boardrooms, and you need to pitch investments of millions of dollars, or hundreds of millions of dollars, so rebalancing that with a jacket or blazersomething that reminds them that you’re still part of that [business culture is essential]. So you’re not going there with just a T-shit and sneakers. [Photo: Samsung (portrait)] Porcini adores a double-breasted wool coat, and his latest is a custom commission from Golden Goose, embroidered with cities from his life: Milan, Dublin, Minneapolis, New York, and Seoul. The overall effect is that Porcini has been mixing classic suit silhouettes with hints of sport (Ive even seen him mix trousers with a track pant piping into his look). Its perpetually surprising without being heavy-handed; intentional without feeling try-hard. Each of us has different ways of dressing, but show that you have an original point of view. Because this is what designers do, says Porcini. They look at reality, they look at their world, and have a unique and original point of view on what they need to do. So through your dress, communicate that kind of original point of view. And communicate the confidence of sharing it. For Porcini, dressing well is a tool to be taken seriously as a creative in business, but its base is about self-acceptance, love, and expression. As he learned as a teenager reading the 1926 allegory One, No One, and One Hundred Thousand by Luigi Pirandelloin which a man becomes so obsessed with the shape of his nose that it ultimately destroys his lifeyou cannot let peoples perception of you dilute who you are. You need to have the peace of mind and the awareness that people will judge you, not on the basis of just what you do, but on the basis of who they are, says Porcini. And you need to be okay with it. Describe your style in a sentence. A mix of creativity, confidence, self-love, but also love for the world. Whats the one piece in your closet youll never get rid of? There is a trouser that I painted when I was, I think I was 17, and I still have it, even if, obviously it doesn’t fit anymore. I have more than one, but there is one that I really love. I started to paint on clothing, and I started to sell this clothing to make a little bit of money. I paid for my driving school in this way. When I was 18, I even sold one to my teacher who was giving me driving lessons. [Photo: courtesy of Porcini] How long does it take you to get dressed in the morning? Super quick. Between the time I wake up and leave, its 45 minutes. And that includes emails, breakfast, shower, and getting dressed. What do you wear to a big meeting? I try to have a touch of creativity that creates surprise in the room and talks about my belonging to the creative community. But then I blended with a code that is more accepted by the audience, the business community. I try to create that comfort and discomfort together. What’s the best piece of fashion advice you’ve ever gotten? It was not articulated in one sentence, but it’s literally, be yourself and be unique. Dont be a slave to fashion. Your pieces dont need to be the latest. They need to be something that makes sense for you and makes sense for what you want to project to the world.
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E-Commerce
Today, Salehe Bembury is one of the most in-demand designers in sneakers, who has collaborated with brands including New Balance, Crocs, Versace, Moncler, and Vans. With an aesthetic rooted in a combination of an outdoor lifestyle and funky, organic shapes, Bembury has reimagined streetwear as something as biological as it is mechanical. But its almost impossible to centrifuge Bemburys fashion aesthetic from his own brand, and thats in part by design and what it means to be a creative in the era of social media. We’re all kind of like cartoon characters in this space . . . we’re all just like kids in high school in the hallway, comparing outfits and competing and all that shit, Bembury says ahead of the release of his first career retrospective. It’s like, fucking Bart Simpson or Doug Funnie opening up their closet and seeing all blue shorts and orange T-shirts. So I would say that that’s what exists with my current selection of clothing, is that it just all fits within this cartoon character consistency. Bembury says his fashion sense was originally born from mimicryNike ads and other influences that informed his style. But as he grew older, he learned, as we all do, what works on his bodyand he began considering his own signature look. Roughly a decade ago, he started carrying a wooden briefcase everywhere he went. That was me shouting Im an individual! he laughs. Beanies, too, were almost always in the mix. But a move to L.A. led him to ditch the beanie, and an evolving aesthetic led him to retire the briefcase. His personal style became grounded in comfort, wearing high cinched Satoshi Nakamoto pants most days, any matter of tee, and maybe a Boro stitch (Japanese repaired denim) jacket up top. Handkerchiefs, a cycling cap, and wraparound shades often complete the look. Grounding it all is an anchor in comfort. Take it back to childhood, I just remember what it felt like to go to church, and I hated that feeling, and I also thought that that feeling was representative of what it meant to have a job, says Bembury. Entering the professional space . . . when I first got a job at Cole Haan, and like, what I was wearing back then. It was in an effort to try to hold on to some level of individuality, but then also be a working professional. Id wear a plaid button down and Dickies. Is that professional? I’m not really sure, but like, that was my attempt at it. Now, Bembury has evolved from wearing Uniqlo, to tailored off-the-shelf garments, to more bespoke pieces. That comes down to a combination of education and resources, he says. And while he knows thats a privilege, he does wish to remind the public that they dont need to settle for the fit off-the-rack. [Photo: Chaymin Jay Barut (portrait)] Actually, I get a lot of messages where people are simply curious how I get my pants like that. I think that’s also displaying maybe just a lack of understanding of simple tailoring, he says. I don’t even think a lot of people see that even as an option. But if you just taper these pants or crop them, they become a different pant! Describe your style in a sentence. Comfortable, utilitarian, with a dash of Japan. Whats the one piece in your closet youll never get rid of? Proleta re Art made me a boro fabric North Face Supreme jacket. A$AP Rocky has a quote, “we don’t rock clothes, we rock pieces.” And that is a piece. How long does it take you to get dressed in the morning? Not long (a few minutes). The longest investments may be around Paris Fashion Week. What do you wear to a big meeting? It doesnt change. What’s the best piece of fashion advice you’ve ever gotten? It’s probably the most said one, but it’s just like, “the best version of yourself you can be is yourself.” With the uniform that I’ve achieved, and with what I wear, it is myself to the fullest.
Category:
E-Commerce
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