Diamonds and Dogs

10/18/16

UnitedHealth (UNH) is leading the Dow higher. The HMO giant is jumping 5% not far from a 52 week high following better than expected earnings.  The company beat earnings by 9 cents as revenues rose 11.6% year/year to $46.29 billion while also raising guidance for the full year. The company is still facing some headwinds, but buying out pharmacy-benefits manager Catamaran for $12 billion and merging it with their own pharmacy services unit, Optum is already paying dividends. Mizuho upgraded the stock with a $160 price target.

IBM feeling the blues. The blue chip giant beats estimates by 6 cent, beat on sales while the company reaffirmed 2016 guidance; however the stock is down 4% back to a three month low. The company's cloud, analytics, mobility and security divisions continue to demonstrate impressive growth up over 16% year to year, but overall sales remain flat. Still a work in progress.