SGRY vs UNH: How Surgery Partners and UnitedHealth Group Compare (2026)

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: UNH is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. SGRY and UNH share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined SGRY and UNH exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Surgery Partners owns or operates a network of about 180 surgical facilities across roughly 30 states, made up of around 161 ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and about 19 short-stay surgical hospitals, plus anesthesia services and affiliated physician practices. Only about 122 of those facilities are consolidated for financial reporting, because the model is a joint venture: physicians, and in some markets health systems, own meaningful stakes in the individual centers alongside Surgery Partners. Revenue comes from orthopedics, spine, ophthalmology, gastroenterology, ENT and other high-volume specialties that can be done safely without an overnight stay, and growth comes from three levers stacked on top of each other: same-facility case volume, higher revenue per case as more complex procedures migrate into the ASC setting, and recruitment of new physicians into existing centers.

Full SGRY guide

UnitedHealth Group is the largest US health insurer and one of the largest healthcare companies in the world. It runs through two main engines. UnitedHealthcare is the insurance arm, providing employer, individual, Medicare Advantage, and Medicaid health plans to tens of millions of members. Optum is the faster-growing health-services arm: Optum Health (physician groups and care delivery, including value-based care), Optum Insight (healthcare data, analytics, and technology), and Optum Rx (one of the largest pharmacy benefit managers in the country). The combination lets UnitedHealth manage both the financing and the delivery of care, capturing margin across the system and using vast claims data to manage costs. Headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, UnitedHealth is a Dow component and one of the largest companies in the S&P 500 by revenue. Its scale, vertical integration, and Medicare Advantage leadership define its competitive position.

Full UNH guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• SGRY drivers: Migration of surgery into the outpatient setting; Physician recruitment into existing centers.
• UNH drivers: Optum growth engine; Medicare Advantage scale.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Leverage is the dominant risk: with total debt near $3.7 billion, cash near $182 million and quarterly interest expense around $69 million, a modest shortfall in adjusted EBITDA moves the equity a great deal more than it moves the enterprise. For UNH, unitedHealth faces a difficult medical-cost environment: rising utilization (especially in Medicare Advantage) can spike the medical loss ratio and compress margins, as the company has experienced.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick SGRY if you believe its drivers more; UNH if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the SGRY and UNH guides.

SGRY. First quarter 2026 revenue was about $810.9 million, up roughly 4.5%, with adjusted EBITDA of about $102.3 million and a margin near 12.6%, down from about 13.4% a year earlier, and a net loss attributable to shareholders of about $35.9 million. Full year 2026 guidance of $3.35 billion to $3.45 billion in revenue and at least $530 million in adjusted EBITDA was reaffirmed in May and again alongside the Idaho Falls announcement in July. Because adjusted EBITDA is presented after the portion attributable to physician and health system partners, the multiple looks reasonable on an operating basis while the equity remains a small residual behind a large debt stack. Second quarter 2026 results were scheduled for August 10, 2026.

UNH. UnitedHealth's revenue is enormous but its insurance margins are thin by design, so earnings hinge on the medical loss ratio and Optum's higher-margin growth. The valuation reflects scale and integration but has been pressured by cost inflation, regulatory uncertainty, and reputational headwinds. The market weighs Optum's durable growth against insurance-cycle and political risk.

Headline figures (approximate, August 2026): SGRY shows revenue (ttm) ~$3.33 billion, fy2025 revenue ~$3.30 billion (up ~6.2%), fy2025 adjusted ebitda ~$526 million, fy2025 net loss attributable to shareholders ~$77.9 million; UNH shows revenue (ttm) ~$400 billion, operating margin ~6-8%, net income (ttm) ~$15-22 billion (sensitive to medical costs), medical loss ratio ~85-89%.

SGRY and UNH are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined SGRY and UNH exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.