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UnitedHealth stock has lost nearly half its value in the last 12 months
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Key Takeaways

• UnitedHealth Group's stock got an upgrade to "outperform" from Raymond James analysts, who suggest its recent slump could leave the stock poised for a rebound.
• The analysts said they see more room for UnitedHealth to cut costs and improve margins.

UnitedHealth Group's stock has taken a big hit lately. One group of analysts says that could leave it poised for a rebound.

Analysts from Raymond James upgraded their rating for UnitedHealth (UNH) stock to "outperform" Wednesday with a price target of $330, which would suggest they see a return to where it started the year. The consensus price target of analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha is even higher at $364.

Though the stock added about 1% to close near $274 Wednesday amid a broader market rally, it's dropped 17% in 2026 so far, and nearly 50% over the past 12 months after a series of scandals.

The stock's recent struggles have created an "attractive entry point" for investors, according to the Raymond James analysts, who said they see substantial room for the health insurance giant to improve its margins, trim its general and administrative (G&A) expenses by using AI tools to modernize its operations, and further integrate some of its acquisitions.

Why This Matters to Investors

The upgrade from Raymond James could boost sentiment around UnitedHealth's prospects after a rough stretch for the stock.

UnitedHealth shares have been pressured for much of the last year by a number of concerns, including reports of investigations into the company's Medicare Advantage billing practices and an unexpected CEO change last May. The insurer's quarterly results have also disappointed investors as it grapples with high healthcare costs.

Investors will get their next look at UnitedHealth's finances when the company posts its first-quarter earnings before the opening bell on April 21.

Jerome Powell and his colleagues at the Fed may have a hard time wrangling supply-side inflation.
Credit: Mel Musto / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• The surge in oil prices is causing a wave of "supply-side" inflation that the Federal Reserve may be unable to counter with its main inflation-fighting tool.
• The Fed usually raises its fed funds rate to curb "demand-side" inflation stemming from consumers holding more cash, but that is thought to be ineffective against inflation driven by supply shortages.
• The Fed may raise rates after all if the shock continues for a long time, leading the public to expect higher inflation in the future.

The Iran war is causing a surge in energy prices that's likely to stoke inflation in the coming months, and the Federal Reserve's monetary policy playbook may be helpless to stop it.

With average gas prices up more than $1 a gallon so far because of the Iran war, economists say other prices are likely to follow suit and lead to a general uptick in inflation. Forecasters at Bank of America, for example, said they expect consumer prices as measured by Personal Consumption Expenditures to rise nearly 4% over the year in the second quarter, up from their pre-war estimate of 3% annual inflation.

The Federal Reserve, tasked by Congress with managing inflation, would normally raise its key interest rate to counteract the uptick. But the kind of inflation we're experiencing may not be the type the Fed can control with its monetary policy, according to Fed Chair Jerome Powell and some economists.

If Fed officials view their policy as ineffective against the current wave of inflation, they're more likely to hold the central bank's key interest rate steady in the coming months even if prices start rising significantly. The federal funds rate influences borrowing costs on all kinds of loans: raising it tends to discourage spending, while lowering it can promote spending and boost the economy and the job market.

Why Rate Hikes Might Not Be The Answer To Today's Inflation Problem

Economists generally view inflation as arising from one of two main causes: demand or supply.

In demand-side inflation, consumers have lots of money in their pockets and spend more freely, so demand for goods rises, but supply is not enough. The Fed can curtail demand by raising the fed funds rate, making loans more expensive.

In supply-side inflation, some important item becomes scarce, leading customers to bid up prices. The restriction of oil and other supplies from the Middle East is causing a supply-side shock to prices for energy and some other key resources such as fertilizer and aluminum.

What This Means For The Economy

The Fed may "look through" the energy price shock and keep interest rates steady for some time rather than reacting by raising rates. Higher rates would discourage spending and slow the economy.

The problem for the Fed is that it views rate hikes as effective against demand-side inflation but less so when inflation is driven by shortages. The Fed can effectively create money out of thin air, but not crude oil. Powell addressed the issue this week during a Q&A session at Harvard.

"When you have a supply shock, our tool doesn't have meaningful shorter-term effects on supply," he said. "Energy shocks have tended to come and go pretty quickly. Monetary policy works with long and variable lags, famously. And so by the time the effects of a tightening in monetary policy take effect, the oil price shock is probably long gone and you're weighing on the economy at a time when it's not appropriate. So the tendency is to look through any kind of supply shock."

Powell's comments prompted traders to pare bets on a rate hike at some point this year. As of Wednesday, there was less than a 2% chance of a rate hike by December, down from an 18.5% chance a week ago, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, which forecasts rate movements based on fed funds futures trading data.

If the Fed overlooked the inflation uptick, it wouldn't be the first time. Economists at Goldman Sachs, analyzing speech transcripts, found no correlation between oil price shocks and intentions among Fed officials to raise the fed funds rate.

"The Fed typically does not tighten in response to oil shocks alone," Manuel Abecasis, an economist at Goldman, wrote in a commentary.

That could change, however, if the oil shock lasts long enough to cause consumers to expect future high inflation. Inflation expectations can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, according to the conventional economic wisdom, at which point the Fed might step in with rate hikes.

"You can have a series of these supply shocks and that can lead the public generally—businesses, price-setters, households—lead them to start expecting higher inflation over time," Powell said. "Why wouldn't they? At the end of a certain number of years, the inflation is now just higher, and that can happen. So you monitor that very, very carefully."

SpaceX's initial public offering could be the biggest in history.
Credit: Manuel Mazzanti / NurPhoto / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Elon Musk's SpaceX has submitted draft IPO paperwork to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bloomberg and other media outlets reported Wednesday.
• SpaceX, which combined with Musk's xAI earlier this year, could raise as much as $80 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal; the mega IPO would eclipse oil juggernaut Saudi Aramco's record debut of $29 billion.

Elon Musk's satellite, rocket, and artificial intelligence shop SpaceX just took one giant leap for investor kind.

SpaceX has submitted paperwork for what could be the biggest initial public offering in history in a confidential filing, according to a report from Bloomberg Wednesday citing people familiar. Though details remain scant, the company was said to be aiming to raise between $40 billion and $80 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. Even at the lower end of that range, the company's offering would eclipse that of oil juggernaut Saudi Aramco's record $29 billion raise.

The company did not immediately respond to Investopedia's emailed queries to confirm the reports of the confidential IPO filing.

Noteworthy

Elon Musk, the world's wealthiest man, is set to become even richer as one of his private startups prepares to go public.

SpaceX's debut is among a trio of hotly anticipated mega-IPOs expected this year—AI companies OpenAI and Anthropic are the other big-name potentials for 2026's crop. Musk's startup would now appear to be first in line, and stands to make the billionaire entrepreneur even wealthier, with the company fetching a valuation of $1.25 trillion earlier this year after combining with Musk's other startup, AI shop xAI.

That tie-up revived fresh chatter that Musk could bring Tesla (TSLA), the EV-maker turned robotics company, into the fold. Shares of the company were up 2% as of Wednesday afternoon, outpacing the gains of the benchmark S&P 500 index.

Meanwhile, Polymarket odds show that investors are increasingly optimistic that the SpaceX IPO will happen soon, with 62% betting that it will take place by June 30 and 89% expecting it before the end of September.

Intel stock has gained 30% so far this year with Wednesday's gains
Credit: Joan Cros / NurPhoto / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Intel shares surged Wednesday amid a broader rally in semiconductor and other tech stocks.
• The chipmaker said it is buying back a 49% stake in a joint venture controlling its Ireland chip fabrication plant that it sold to Apollo Global Management in 2024.

Intel led semiconductor and other tech stocks higher Wednesday.

The chipmaker's stock climbed close to 9%, making it one of the biggest gainers in the S&P 500 Wednesday, amid a broader rally in semiconductor and other tech stocks. Intel (INTC) said it's buying back a 49% stake in its Fab 34 facility in Ireland for $14.2 billion that it sold to Apollo Global Management (APO) in 2024.

Intel CFO David Zinsner said the deal in 2024 "was the right structure at the right time and provided Intel with meaningful flexibility, enabling us to accelerate critical initiatives," and that Intel now has a stronger business.

Why This Matters to Investors

The move could help boost confidence in Intel's turnaround, and its efforts to bring more of its manufacturing footprint under its own control.

Intel said it plans to fund the transaction with cash on hand and about $6.5 billion in new debt, and that it expects the deal to add to its earnings starting in 2027.

Investors could hear more about the deal from Intel executives when the chipmaker reports its first-quarter earnings after the closing bell on April 23. In January, Intel said its supply would likely be at its lowest point in the first quarter before improving later this year amid an industry shortage of some hardware components.

With Wednesday's gains, Intel shares have added nearly a third of their value since the start of the year. The stock has more than doubled over the last 12 months.

UPDATE—This article has been updated since it was first published to reflect more recent prices.

ChatGPT maker OpenAI is widely expected to launch its initial public offering later this year
Credit: Thomas Fuller / NurPhoto / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Cathie Wood's ARK Invest said it's adding exposure to OpenAI through three of its flagship exchange-traded funds.
• The ETFs, which include the ARK Innovation ETF, ARK Blockchain & Fintech Innovation ETF and ARK Next Generation Internet ETF, could make it easier for investors to access pre-IPO shares.

There's a growing number of ways you could gain exposure to OpenAI, months ahead of its highly anticipated initial public offering.

The AI startup, which is widely expected to make its debut on public markets later this year, is joining three of Cathie Wood's flagship ARK Invest exchange-traded funds, including the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), ARK Blockchain & Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKW), and ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKF), according to a release Wednesday.

These funds, which hold a roughly 3% stake in OpenAI, don't require a minimum investment, and are offered through regular brokerages. That could make it easier for ordinary investors to gain exposure to one of the world's most valuable private startups, with an $852 billion valuation after its most recent funding round. Elon Musk's SpaceX, which has filed confidentially to go public according to a Wall Street Journal report earlier today, overtook OpenAI for the title of most valuable after its merger with xAI earlier this year.

Why This Matters to Investors

ARK's ETFs expand the number of ways ordinary investors can gain exposure to OpenAI, amid growing demand for access to America's hottest private startups.

In a webcast yesterday, OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said the company hopes to see broadening support from "true retail hands," thanks to the move.

There are a number of other ways you could get exposure to OpenAI ahead of its IPO, though some of them may come with higher hurdles. For example, you could buy them from existing shareholders through third-party platforms such as EquityZen, Hiive, or Forge. However, those platforms may limit participation to accredited investors meeting specific financial or professional requirements.

Another option would be private-market funds, which often have investment minimums and may be limited to accredited investors. A number of firms, including ARK, are also expanding their private offerings with lower barriers to entry to meet growing demand.

Nike shares have lost 30% of their value since the start of the year.
Credit: Zamek / VIEWpress / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Nike stock tumbled to its lowest level in more than 11 years on Wednesday after the shoe maker forecast declining sales in the current quarter, when analysts had expected growth
• Nike's turnaround effort is taking longer than Wall Street had expected.

The road to Nike's turnaround looks bumpier after its latest quarterly report.

Nike (NKE) shares plunged more than 15% to $14.63 on Wednesday, hitting their lowest level since October 2014, after the athletic apparel giant issued a disappointing sales outlook.

After the closing bell Tuesday, Nike reported fiscal third-quarter results that topped Wall Street expectations, but the company predicted that sales would decline 2% to 4% in the current quarter, while analysts had been projecting growth. Nike predicts that its sales in China will drop 20% in the fiscal fourth quarter, after a 10% decline last quarter, a slump that has offset gains in its North American business.

JPMorgan analysts downgraded their rating on Nike stock to neutral from "overweight," slashing their price target to $52 from $86. The analysts said they now expect Nike's operating margins to take longer to improve than they had previously expected, as Nike said it expects to see headwinds from its turnaround efforts through the end of this year.

Jefferies analysts kept their buy rating, but lowered their price target to $90 from $110 as they said Nike's current valuation offers limited downside, but noted that the "payoff likely requires patience" to at least fiscal 2028.

Why This Matters to Investors

The sharp decline in Nike shares suggests investors are concerned about how long Nike's recent struggles with growing competition, tariffs and slumping sales in China will take to turn around.

CEO Elliott Hill said some parts of the company's turnaround effort, which kicked off when he took over in late 2024, are "taking longer than I'd like," but said he believes Nike is heading in the right direction, per an AlphaSense transcript.

Analysts had said ahead of the report that Nike's outlook would likely draw more interest from investors than the third-quarter results, and said that investors would be looking for evidence that Nike's turnaround plan is working.

While ratings could change following the report, the ten analysts with current ratings tracked by Visible Alpha are currently split between one "sell," five neutral, and four "buy" ratings. The average price target among those analysts is $64.

With Wednesday's move, Nike shares have lost 30% of their value since the start of the year.

UPDATE: This article has been updated to reflect the price of Nike shares at the end of Wednesday's session.

RH shares were down more than 20% year-to-date heading into Wednesday's session.
Credit: Jason Kempin / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• RH stock plummeted on Wednesday after the luxury home furnisher's fourth-quarter earnings and 2026 outlook fell short of expectations.
• With Wednesday's declines, RH shares have lost more than one-third of their value since the start of the year.

RH had a weaker-than-expected fiscal 2025 fourth quarter. Its fiscal 2026 outlook doesn't look so great, either.

RH (RH) stock plunged 20% in early trading Wednesday, a day after the luxury home furnisher reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.53 on revenue that increased 3.7% year-over-year to $842.6 million. Analysts polled by Visible Alpha had expected $2.22 and $873.5 million, respectively.

The company said its revenue took a $30 million hit from tariff-related expenses and an additional $10 million from adverse weather at the end of the quarter.

Why This Matters

RH's soft results and outlook could signal a slowdown in demand among the higher-income consumers who, aided by a booming stock market, have played a key role in keeping the economy chugging in recent years.

In addition, the Corte Madera, Calif.-based furniture retailer guided for fiscal 2026 revenue growth of 4% to 8%. Visible Alpha consensus called for 8.9% growth.

"While we believe it's prudent to plan conservatively this year due to uncertainties around interest rates and inflation, and have planned revenue growth in the 4 to 8% range in 2026, we do expect growth to accelerate to 10 to 12% in 2027 and reach $5.4 to $5.8 billion by 2030," CEO Gary Friedman said in a video accompanying the earnings release.

RH shares entered the day down 22% since the start of the year.

News of the day for April 1, 2026

Major stock indexes closed out a rough month on a high note on Tuesday.
Credit: Spencer Platt / Getty Images

Stock futures are rising this morning after major indexes surged yesterday on hopes that the Iran war could end soon; stocks are coming off their worst quarter in four years amid concerns about the impact of the war and uncertainty about AI; Nike shares are plunging after the athletic apparel giant issued a weak sales forecast; Iran has threatened to attack over a dozen major American companies if the U.S. continues to assassinate Iranian officials; and investors are keeping close tabs on economic data ahead of the release of the jobs report later this week. Here's what you need to know today.

Stocks Futures Rise Amid Optimism About Potential End to Iran War

Stock futures are pointing to a higher open Wednesday to kick off the second quarter after closing out a rough month on a high note yesterday. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were each up 0.7% recently, while Nasdaq futures climbed 1.1%. The major indexes had their best day since last May yesterday, as reports that President Trump was willing to end the Iran war without securing the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz sparked optimism that an end could be in sight. Late Tuesday, the White House said Trump will give a live address to the nation at 9 p.m. ET tonight with an update on the war. The hopes of an end to the war are also driving crude oil prices lower this morning, with WTI futures down nearly 3% at $98.50 per barrel. Gold futures were up 2% at $4,740 an ounce, while bitcoin traded at $68,600. up from an overnight low of $67,500. The 10-year Treasury yield, which affects all sorts of loans, notably mortgages, was at 4.29%, losing ground for the third straight day after moving as high as 4.44% on Friday amid the market volatility.

Stocks Kick Off Q2 After Worst Quarter in 4 Years

Investors are eager to put the first quarter behind them. The major indexes posted their biggest quarterly losses since 2022, with the Dow shedding 3.6% over the period, while the S&P 500 fell 4.6% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 7.1%. Market sentiment was bruised by uncertainty about how long the Iran war will last and what impact it will have on inflation, the broader economy and interest rate decisions from the Federal Reserve. Concerns over how AI could affect the software industry, as well as worries about overvaluation, have also hampered markets so far this year. Still, many analysts expect the stock market will recover and manage to post gains for 2026 once the conflict in Iran ends and other uncertainties are resolved.

Nike Stock Plunges on Weak Sales Outlook

Nike (NKE) shares are tumbling in premarket trading after the athletic apparel giant issued a disappointing sales outlook. After the closing bell Tuesday, Nike posted better-than-expected sales and earnings for its fiscal third quarter, but forecast a decline in fourth-quarter revenue when analysts had been projecting growth. CEO Elliott Hill said the company's turnaround effort, which kicked off when he took over in late 2024, is "taking longer than I'd like," citing tariffs and economic pressure in China, which are offsetting a recovery in Nike's business in North America. Analysts had said ahead of the report that Nike's outlook would likely draw more interest from investors than the third-quarter results. Nike shares were down 11% recently, trading at their lowest levels in 11 years.

Iran Threatens Tech Giants Including Nvidia, Apple

Iran has threatened to attack infrastructure belonging to a number of U.S. tech giants in the Middle East as soon as 12:30 p.m. ET today, according to several media reports. In a post reportedly sent via the messaging app Telegram, an account belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said any future assassinations of Iranian officials would be matched with an attack on an American company. The post listed 18 companies in total, including Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google, Tesla (TSLA), Intel (INTC), Oracle (ORCL) and others. The post advised employees of the companies to leave their workplaces. Earlier this month, Iranian forces attacked a pair of Amazon (AMZN) data centers in the United Arab Emirates, knocking some services offline in the country.

Economic Data in Focus Ahead of Friday's Jobs Report

Investors will get a number of new data points through the end of this week on the state of the U.S. economy. Early Wednesday, the ADP private payrolls report showed that 62,000 jobs were added in March, compared with the 39,000 that economists had estimated. Retail sales data for February is also due this morning, providing a snapshot of the health of the economy before the Iran war started. An update to the U.S. trade deficit is due out tomorrow along with weekly jobless claims numbers. The big data event of the week comes Friday, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics is slated to release the March jobs report. A separate BLS report on Tuesday showed that the hiring rate—that is, the number of hires as a percentage of total employment—hit its lowest level in February since the early days of the COVID pandemic.

Weak sales in China have offset gains in North America for Nike.
Credit: Costfoto / NurPhoto / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Nike shares tumbled after the athletic apparel giant gave a disappointing outlook that offset quarterly results that came in above Wall Street expectations.
• CEO Elliott Hill told investors Nike's turnaround is taking longer than expected.

Nike's stock is tumbling on signs of stumbling blocks in the company's turnaround.

Shares of Nike (NKE) were recently down 9% in extended trading Tuesday after the athletic apparel giant told investors it expects revenue to decline 2% to 4% in the current quarter, when analysts were calling for growth.

CEO Elliott Hill said during the company earnings call that its turnaround is "taking longer than I'd like," amid pressure from higher tariffs and headwinds in China that offset gains in North America.

Why This Matters to Investors

Nike's weak outlook deals another blow to investor confidence, after what's already been a rough year for the stock.

CFO Matt Friend said Nike expects sales in China to fall 20% in its fiscal fourth quarter, after registering a 10% decline in the third quarter. Hill said that going forward, Nike plans to take a more localized approach to its operations in China, after becoming "clearer on the structural challenges" in the region.

Friend warned that disruptions in the Middle East, rising oil prices, and “other factors that could impact either input costs or consumer behavior” could also weigh on Nike's results this quarter.

Nike's forecast overshadowed its better-than-expected earnings. Nike posted earnings per share of $0.35 on roughly flat revenue of $11.3 billion for the fiscal third quarter, both of which topped analysts' estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.

Executives said Nike looks forward to offering more details on how its efforts and longer-term outlook later this year, at the company's investor day in the fall.

Shares of Nike were down about 17% for 2026 through Tuesday's close.

Buffett stepped down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of last year, but told CNBC he still makes investment decisions at the conglomerate.
Credit: Christopher Goodney / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Buffett called the current stock market sell-off "nothing" compared with prior crashes he's navigated, noting that markets are only about 5% to 6% cheaper than recent highs.
• He said he has no plans yet to employ Berkshire Hathaway's $373-billion pile of cash and Treasury bills.

Like the rest of us, Warren Buffett has watched major stock indexes slide into a correction in recent weeks. Others have grown alarmed. His verdict: nothing much to see here—yet.

"Three times since I’ve taken over Berkshire, it’s gone down more than 50%," Buffett told CNBC Tuesday. "This is nothing." (U.S. stocks rallied Tuesday to wrap up a volatile quarter in which major indexes posted their biggest losses since 2022.)

The 95-year-old chair of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) stepped down as CEO at the start of this year after six decades in the role but is still involved in investment decisions. He said a modest pullback doesn't change what Berkshire looks for: businesses worth owning indefinitely at prices that make sense.

"We aren't in it to make 5% or 6%,"Buffett said Tuesday, suggesting Berkshire's return expectations are more what the yield would be if the market returned to recent highs.

Not Anxious, But Not Buying Either

Berkshire held more than $373 billion in cash and Treasury bills at the end of 2025, and Buffett confirmed the company bought another $17 billion in T-bills at auction this week.

While having so much ready cash might make others itchy to make a move, Buffett said that pile isn't going anywhere until he sees a real opportunity. "If there is a big decline" in the market, Buffett said, "we will deploy."

That patience comes from Buffett's well-known investing discipline. He's waiting for prices low enough to justify long-term investing, just as he did decades ago with American Express (AXP) and Occidental Petroleum (OXY).

Buffett stayed away from suggestions that the market was in particular peril, but he did say too many investors don't give investments enough time—a perennial problem.

Buffett also described a central tension between the stability of the U.S. economy and the human desire to gamble. "You have this incredible cathedral called the American Economic System," he said. "But attached to it is a casino, and people are going to walk back and forth between the two."

"If [investors] just buy a stock and sit for 50 years, if they got a group of them, they're going to do fine," he said. "The American capitalist system works and betting against the house does not."

Concerned About the U.S. Dollar

Buffett said he's worried less about a recession than about the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency. The stability of the banking system, he said, matters far more than any single market move, recalling 2007–08 when even the largest firms stopped answering phones.

On inflation, he said the U.S. Federal Reserve probably kept rates too low for too long but was right to act fast in March 2020. He also expressed skepticism about the Fed's target inflation rate of 2%. "I wish they had a zero inflation target," he said. "Once you start saying you're going to tolerate 2%, that compounds pretty dramatically over time."

As for today's uncertainty—tariffs, the Iran war, the volatile first quarter—Buffett offered a prognosis similar to the one he's given for decades: "I have no idea what the stock market's going to do," he said, "and I don't think anybody else does either."