Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. UNH scored 65.9, CVS scored 52.2 — UNH leads.
Compare another set
UNH
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated
Healthcare Plans · Quality-Growth
65.9
$379.30 · $340.5B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
13.7
UNH leads
CVS
CVS Health Corporation
Healthcare Plans · Quality-Growth
52.2
$86.16 · $110.2B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestCVS22.7x
Fastest growthUNH+11.8%
Strongest balance sheetUNH0.69
Highest qualityUNH62 / 100
Largest discount to fair valueCVS-61%
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
Growth against the P/E multiple. Up and to the right is cheaper and faster — the quality-growth idea in one picture. Points beyond the axis are pinned to the edge and marked off-scale rather than allowed to compress everything else.
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
UNH
stronger →← stronger
CVS
62
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
45
84
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
70
55
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
45
UNH is stronger on 3 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
UNH
CVS
$23.6bA
FCF
$11.8bA-
+11.8%B
Rev
+7.8%B
0.69C+
D/E
0.96C
23.9xB+
P/E
22.7xB+
1.01B+
PEG
0.21A
Winner per row is the stronger grade; where grades tie, the better figure breaks it. A true tie or a missing value shows no highlight.
Valuation · DCF cross-check
UNH
CVS
43% below
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
61% below
~-5%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~-15%/yr
+59%
1-yr DCF upside
+141%
+77%
5-yr DCF upside
+154%
+107%
10-yr DCF upside
+176%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
UNH
Why this score
Raising its dividend
CVS
No notable signals flagged.
The companies
UNHUnitedHealth Group Incorporated
Healthcare Plans · $379.30 · beta 0.61
Why now
Healthcare Plans · market cap $340.5b. 18% off the 52-week high of $461.62. Revenue growing +12%, comfortably above the S&P median. 25 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $481.72 (implying +27% upside).
Moat
ROE 14% meets the long-run market sustainable threshold — solid but not differentiated; the durability comes from elsewhere. FCF converts 167% of net income, helped by cash released from working capital ($7.3b) that doesn't repeat every year. $340.5b market cap places it among the largest companies in the sector — distribution, R&D, and customer-acquisition costs amortize across a base peers can't replicate.
Risk
Net margin 3.1% is thin — operating leverage cuts both ways; input-cost inflation or pricing pressure hits the bottom line first.
CVSCVS Health Corporation
Healthcare Plans · $86.16 · beta 0.60
Why now
Healthcare Plans · market cap $110.2b. Down 22% from 52-week high of $110.68 — deep drawdown territory. PEG 0.21 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 25 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $115.76 (implying +34% upside).
Moat
Free cash flow runs well ahead of reported net income, mostly because of depreciation and amortization ($4.5b) — non-cash charges that hold down reported earnings while cash generation stays strong. $110.2b market cap gives the company enough scale to absorb fixed costs that subscale competitors can't, without yet being so large that growth has to come from acquisition.
Risk
Net margin 1.2% is thin — operating leverage cuts both ways; input-cost inflation or pricing pressure hits the bottom line first. ROE 6% is below the long-run sustainable threshold of ~10% — capital efficiency would need to improve for the equity base to compound at the market rate.
Verdict — model-derived comparison
Generating verdict… typically 5–10 seconds
Not investment advice. The Bull Rankings publishes a quantitative ranking model and accompanying analysis for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security; nothing is personalized to your circumstances, risk tolerance, or tax situation. Investing carries the risk of loss — invest at your own risk and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before acting on anything you read here. See terms and methodology for full disclosures.
Where UNH and CVS diverge
On the headline score the gap is 13.7 points in favor of UNH. The widest single difference is Quality, where UNH leads by 17.5 points.
QualityUNH 62.4 · CVS 44.9UNH +17.5
GrowthUNH 83.9 · CVS 70.3UNH +13.6
ValueUNH 54.6 · CVS 45.1UNH +9.5
Pillars run 0–100. Value is judged against each company's own sector, so a Value score is a statement about a company relative to its own industry rather than to the other name here. A wide Value gap usually means the market already prices the difference in quality or growth — which is the trade-off this comparison comes down to.
Common questions
Is UNH or CVS the better stock?
UNH scores higher: UNH 65.9, CVS 52.2 out of 100 on the Bull Rankings quality-growth score, which blends business quality, growth and valuation into one number. A higher score means a stronger business at a more reasonable price — it is not a price target or a recommendation.
Where do UNH and CVS differ most?
The widest gap is quality, where UNH leads by 18 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. UNH leads all three pillars, so the gap is broad rather than a single-measure difference.
How are UNH and CVS scored?
Each carries the same 0–100 quality-growth score used everywhere on the site, built from three pillars — quality (profitability and returns on capital), growth (revenue and earnings), and value (what you pay for them) — combined as a geometric mean, so a weak pillar cannot be papered over by a strong one.
How current is this comparison?
The whole universe is re-scored every trading day after the US market close, so the scores and fundamentals here reflect the latest published edition.