Stock Market Today: UnitedHealth Selloff Drags on Dow

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Stocks ran into a wall Tuesday, with the main indexes retreating from record highs. There was little in the way of economic data to move the needle, so market participants focused on an earnings calendar featuring several blue chip stocks.

Goldman Sachs (GS, -0.04%), for one, handily beat top- and bottom-line expectations for its third quarter, highlighted by a more than 50% year-over-year increase in earnings per share.

The investment banking giant benefited from improved capital markets activity and strength in debt and equity underwriting, says CFRA Research analyst Kenneth Leon, who reiterated a Strong Buy rating on the financial stock.

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"Alternative investments remain a key focus area, with assets under supervision (AUS) in this category reaching $328 billion," he adds.

Walgreens has its best day since 2008

Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) was another notable post-earnings gainer, jumping 15.8% after the pharmacy retail chain reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that beat analysts' estimates. Management also announced a plan to close roughly 1,200 stores over the next three years in an effort to boost the bottom line.

The former Dow component – which was replaced by Amazon.com (AMZN) in the 30-stock index back in February – has had a rough ride in recent years, shedding 60% in 2024 alone. But today's gain was its biggest one-day advance since October 2008, according to MarketWatch.

UnitedHealth stock slumps after earnings

UnitedHealth Group (UNH), meanwhile, slumped 8.4% after earnings – making it the worst-performing Dow Jones stock today.

Although the health insurance company reported higher-than-anticipated third-quarter earnings and revenue, management trimmed the top end of its full-year profit forecast due to "business disruption impacts" from a Change Healthcare data breach earlier this year.

CFRA Research analyst Paige Meyer maintained a Hold rating on UNH after evaluating the company's results. While Meyer is upbeat about UnitedHealth's management and above-average earnings-per-share growth rate, she cautions that its rising medical care ratio reflects "CMS Medicare funding reductions, medical reserve development effects and business mix changes."

Boeing stock pops on cash-raising efforts

In non-earnings news, Boeing (BA) rose 2.3% after the aerospace company filed to raise up to $25 billion through a combination of stock and debt offerings.

Separately, the company announced that it had entered into a $10 billion supplemental credit agreement with lenders. Both moves are intended to shore up Boeing's balance sheet amid ongoing challenges.

As for the main indexes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8% to 42,740, the S&P 500 shed 0.8% to 5,815, and the Nasdaq Composite gave back 1.0% to 18,315.

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With over a decade of experience writing about the stock market, Karee Venema is the senior investing editor at Kiplinger.com. She joined the publication in April 2021 after 10 years of working as an investing writer and columnist at a local investment research firm. In her previous role, Karee focused primarily on options trading, as well as technical, fundamental and sentiment analysis.

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