UnitedHealth shares tumbled early Thursday after the company cut its 2025 forecast in the wake of a surprising rise in care use from its Medicare Advantage customers, leading to a worse-than-expected first quarter.

UnitedHealth Group surprised investors with what its CEO said was an "unusual and unacceptable" quarterly earnings miss, and it lowered its outlook for the full year due to higher-than-expected medical costs,

UnitedHealth Group Inc. plunged after the company cut its earnings outlook for the year and reported first-quarter earnings below estimates, citing heightened care needs in Medicare that were “far above” what it had planned for.