Unitedhealth (UNH) Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] (2009 - 2026)
Unitedhealth's Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] was 12.24% in Q3 2026, down 1.18 percentage points from 13.42% a year earlier but up 1.37 percentage points from the prior quarter.
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Analysis
Unitedhealth (UNH) Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] (2009 - 2026) Analysis & Trends
For FY2025, Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] at Unitedhealth came in at 10.03%, down 7.69 percentage points from FY2024.
- Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] has now declined for three consecutive years, with a five-year change of -9.77 percentage points (FY2020 to FY2025).
- In earlier years, Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] was 17.72% in FY2024 (-2.42 pp), 20.14% in FY2023 (-0.21 pp), 20.35% in FY2022 (+1.40 pp) and 18.96% in FY2021 (-0.84 pp).
- Quarterly Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] has moved between 9.56% (Q1 2026) and 19.96% (Q3 2022) over five years.
- Compared with a year earlier, Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] has declined for 14 straight quarters, with an average year-over-year change of -3.61 percentage points over the last eight quarters.
- The best year-over-year quarter for Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] over five years was Q3 2022 (a gain of 3.35 percentage points); the worst was Q1 2026 (a drop of 8.00 percentage points).
- Per Business Quant data, UNH's Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] in the three quarters before Q3 2026 was 10.87% (Q2 2026), 9.56% (Q1 2026) and 9.60% (Q4 2025).
Peer Set
Peer Comparison
| # | Company | Market Cap | Enterprise Value | Gross Profit (Qtr) | ROCE (Qtr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unitedhealth | 360.06 Bn | 240.69 Bn | 35.71 Bn | 12.24% |
| 2 | Mckesson | 127.13 Bn | 108.51 Bn | 3.96 Bn | 42.01% |
| 3 | Cvs Health | 112.93 Bn | 61.69 Bn | 47.21 Bn | 9.25% |
| 4 | Elevance Health | 92.11 Bn | -50.47 Bn | 13.65 Bn | 9.56% |
| 5 | Cigna | 76.91 Bn | 45.77 Bn | 15.09 Bn | 9.65% |
| 6 | Cencora | 68.64 Bn | 68.64 Bn | 3.60 Bn | - |
| 7 | Cardinal Health | 65.08 Bn | 48.24 Bn | 2.60 Bn | 22.31% |
| 8 | Humana | 53.29 Bn | -37.50 Bn | 4.83 Bn | 7.17% |
| 9 | Centene | 33.98 Bn | -40.15 Bn | 8.24 Bn | -17.85% |
| 10 | Molina Healthcare | 10.56 Bn | -24.45 Bn | 1.36 Bn | 2.04% |
Historic Data
Download Data
Historic Data
| Date | Value |
|---|---|
| Sep 30, 2026 | 12.24% |
| Jun 30, 2026 | 10.87% |
| Mar 31, 2026 | 9.56% |
| Dec 31, 2025 | 9.60% |
| Sep 30, 2025 | 13.42% |
| Jun 30, 2025 | 15.50% |
| Mar 31, 2025 | 17.57% |
| Dec 31, 2024 | 16.56% |
| Sep 30, 2024 | 16.85% |
| Jun 30, 2024 | 17.74% |
| Mar 31, 2024 | 18.45% |
| Dec 31, 2023 | 18.09% |
| Sep 30, 2023 | 18.91% |
| Jun 30, 2023 | 18.05% |
| Mar 31, 2023 | 19.95% |
| Dec 31, 2022 | 18.33% |
| Sep 30, 2022 | 19.96% |
| Jun 30, 2022 | 18.49% |
| Mar 31, 2022 | 18.81% |
| Dec 31, 2021 | 17.84% |
API Access
Unitedhealth Return on Capital Employed [ROCE] API
Pull this series into your own models, spreadsheets and apps with the Business Quant
Historical Metrics API. The request below matches the chart above — change the
frequency, period or values and it follows. Swap YOUR_API_KEY for your own key.
https://data.businessquant.com/historic?slug=return-on-capital-employed-%5Broce%5D&ticker=UNH&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEYimport requests
url = "https://data.businessquant.com/historic"
params = {"slug": "return-on-capital-employed-[roce]", "ticker": "UNH", "period": "max", "api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY"}
data = requests.get(url, params=params).json()const res = await fetch("https://data.businessquant.com/historic?slug=return-on-capital-employed-%5Broce%5D&ticker=UNH&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY");
const data = await res.json();