UnitedHealth under suspicion for possible Medicare fraud

In the USA, the Department of Justice is keeping a close eye on UnitedHealth Group $UNH (+4,71 %) as the company is the subject of a civil fraud investigation. The focus of this investigation is the recording of diagnoses that could potentially lead to UnitedHealth receiving higher payments under the Medicare program. Reports suggest that the company may have acted unlawfully, raising serious questions about its integrity and business practices. If the suspicions are confirmed, it could have far-reaching consequences not only for UnitedHealth, but also for the entire healthcare industry. Public attention to such incidents is high and the company faces the challenge of regaining its trust.

Cisco Systems benefits from AI initiatives and required network security!

The technology company Cisco Systems $CSCO (-1,29 %) published its financial results for the third quarter of financial year 2025 on May 14, 2025, exceeding analysts' expectations in terms of both revenue and profit. The strong momentum in the field of artificial intelligence has given the company a positive outlook. In after-hours trading, the share price rose by more than 3% to USD 63.14. This shows that Cisco is able to successfully adapt to the increasing demand for network security and innovative AI initiatives. The company remains a key player in the technology sector and proves that it can operate successfully in a rapidly changing market. These results underline Cisco's strengths and the importance of its solutions for businesses in an increasingly digital world.

Sources:

https://www.finanzen.net/nachricht/aktien/unitedhealth-unter-verdacht-wegen-moeglichen-medicare-betrugs-14488182

https://www.finanzen.net/nachricht/aktien/cisco-systems-profitiert-von-ki-initiativen-und-geforderter-netzwerksicherheit-solide-ergebnisse-im-3-quartal-gemeldet-14488221

First of all: Sorry for the formatting, I can't get it any better on my cell phone. Writing in bold doesn't work, and line breaks are sometimes more than strange. I'll try to change that.

Financial highlights ($CSCO (-1,29 %) )

Revenue: USD 14.1 billion, an increase of 11% compared to the previous year.

GAAP net income: USD 2.5 billion (USD 0.62 per share), an increase of 32% and 35% respectively.

Non-GAAP net income: USD 3.8 billion (USD 0.96 per share), an increase of 8% and 9% respectively.

Operating cash flow: USD 4.1 billion, an increase of 2%.

Business development

Product orders: Up 20% year-on-year; up 9% excluding Splunk.

AI infrastructure: Orders from Webscale customers exceeded USD 600 million and reached the annual target of USD 1 billion one quarter early.

Regional sales development:

Americas: +14 %

EMEA: +8 %

APJC: +9 %

Product categories:

Security: +54 %

Observability: +24 %

Networks: +8 %

Collaboration: +4 %

Margins and expenses

Gross margins (GAAP):

Total: 65.6 %

Products: 64.4

Services: 68.7 %

Gross margins (non-GAAP):

Total: 68.6

Products: 67.6

Services: 71.3 %

Operating expenses:

GAAP: USD 6.1 billion (42.9% of sales)

Non-GAAP: USD 4.8 billion (34.1% of sales)

Operating result:

GAAP: USD 3.2 billion (22.6% margin)

Non-GAAP: USD 4.9 billion (34.5% margin)

Outlook

Q4 FY2025 guidance:

Sales: USD 14.5-14.7 billion

GAAP-EPS: 0.62-0.67 USD

Non-GAAP EPS: USD 0.96-0.98

FY2025 overall forecast:

Revenue: USD 56.5-56.7 bn

GAAP-EPS: 2.53-2.58 USD

Non-GAAP EPS: USD 3.77-3.79

Dividend

Cisco has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, payable on July 23, 2025 to shareholders of record on July 3, 2025.

Presumably because the New York Times reports on the Pentagon's war plans against China, which Musk was apparently briefed on at the Pentagon today.

In a military conflict between the two economic powers USA and China, the first "Line of Contact" would be a digital one: cyber attacks.

And even if only hypothetical scenarios are reported, this will probably already lead to an intensification of the constant mutual cyber attacks. Information is key.

• Cyberark $CYBR (+0,49 %)
• Palantir Tech $PLTR (+0,57 %)
• Check Point Software Technologies $CHKP (+1,48 %)
• Crowdstrike $CRWD (+1,73 %)
• VeriSign $VRSN (+0,99 %)
• Zscaler $ZS (+2,15 %)
• Okta $OKTA (+2,75 %)
• Cloudflare $NET (+3,11 %)
• Fortinet $FTNT (+1,58 %)
• Cisco Systems $CSCO (-1,29 %)
• Palo Alto Networks $PANW (-0,13 %)
• Akamai Technologies $AKAM (+2,3 %)
• BlackBerry $BB (+2,02 %)
• NetScout Systems $NTCT (+0,92 %)
• CommVault Systems $CVLT (+0,62 %)

Sources:

• The Pentagon set up a briefing for Musk on plans for a potential war with China.
• NYTimes Liveblog: Trump Administration Live Updates: Trump Rejects Idea of Letting Musk See Secret Plans for War With China

#newyorktimes
#china
#usa
#trump
#pentagon
#elonmusk

Dear community,

I have been investing for almost exactly 3 years now and pursue a dividend strategy with a "core" of 3 monthly saved ETFs.

After a personally difficult year in 2024, I am trying to keep my savings rate at € 200-300 per month in 2025.

This will be divided as follows:

50-100€ FTSE

30-50€ Europe

20-30€ EM IMI

The remaining approx. 100€ goes into my dividend share portfolio. I don't usually make any really strategic choices there to continue saving... I just save the ones I want... As I want to keep all the shares, I perhaps don't see any real reason to make a critical selection.

Maybe you can still give me some tips.

I would like to add 6 more dividend payers to my dividend portfolio in the future.

$CAT (+0,96 %) , $CL (+2,63 %) , $BATS (+2,63 %) , $CSCO (-1,29 %) , $SIE (-0,96 %) , $WFC (+0,34 %)

Thank you for your attention.

As every Sunday, the most important news from the past week, as well as the most important dates for the coming week.

Also as a video:

https://youtube.com/shorts/qwz6dsaeNi4?si=uQ4zQHw4NJjDUFFf

Monday:

$MCD (+1,05 %) McDonalds delivers surprisingly poor figures. In the USA, sales fell by 1.4 % in the 4th quarter; experts had only forecast a fall of 0.4 %. Adjusted profit also fell by 5 % to USD 2.04 billion. However, McDonalds grew worldwide and surprised analysts positively.

https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/handel-konsumgueter/fastfood-mcdonalds-mit-ueberraschend-hohen-einbussen-im-us-geschaeft/100106947.html

Tuesday:

Turnover at the French luxury goods conglomerate $KER (+1,09 %) Kering declines significantly. The main reason for this is weak figures at the Italian subsidiary Gucci. Overall, turnover fell by 12% to 17.2 billion euros in 2024. The slump in consumption in China in particular is weighing on earnings. However, Pinault is seeing the first signs of recovery from China.

https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/industrie/geschaeftszahlen-im-newsblog-tui-erwirtschaftet-hoeheren-gewinn-jahresziele-unveraendert-/24098412.html

Wednesday:

$TMV (-0,97 %) TeamViewer shines with strong figures and is optimistic. Double-digit growth is planned again from 2027. The Göppingen-based company aims to generate sales of one billion euros as early as 2028. On balance, Teamviewer generated a profit of 123.1 million euros in 2024.

https://www.t-online.de/finanzen/boerse/ticker/teamviewer-will-mittelfristig-zurueck-zu-zweistelligem-wachstum/0DB4980021007F08/

US inflation data is somewhat hotter than expected, causing the markets to slump. Experts were expecting an inflation rate of 2.9% for January, which turned out to be 3.0%.

https://www.handelsblatt.com/finanzen/geldpolitik/verbraucherpreise-us-inflation-steigt-im-januar-ueberraschend-auf-drei-prozent/100106814.html

$CSCO (-1,29 %) Cisco raises its forecast and exceeds sales expectations. The reason for this is the high demand from companies for AI infrastructure. This is one of the reasons why Cisco is also increasing its dividend.

https://www.ariva.de/amp/ki-boom-hilft-netzwerkausruester-cisco-11534732

Thursday:

The world's largest and probably most controversial food company is growing again. $NESN (-0,3 %) Nestlé is planning a dividend increase. Sales increased by 2.2 % excluding exchange rate effects. Profit fell by 2.9 % to 10.9 billion Swiss francs.

https://www.nzz.ch/wirtschaft/nestle-waechst-wieder-aus-eigener-kraft-ld.1870435

Friday:

The US economy 🇺🇸 suffered a double setback in January. Retail sales and industrial production were down. Retail sales fell by the most in two years. This was due to the low temperatures and customs duties. Industrial production fell, as economists had expected. The production of motor vehicles in particular was responsible for the decline.

https://de.tradingview.com/news/invezz:f6400bd08600c:0/

These are the most important dates for the coming week:

Monday: 00:50 GDP figures (Japan)

Wednesday: 20:00 FOMC minutes (USA)

Thursday: 08:00 Producer prices (DE)

Can you think of any other dates? Write it in the comments 👇

#bip
#japan
#fomc
#erzeugerpreise

Valentine's Day + Gamestop to invest in cryptocurrency + Coinbase Global Q4 earnings with revenue increase + Nestle raises dividend despite profit decline + Cisco raises full-year revenue forecast + Producer prices in the US rise more than expected

Meme stock giant Gamestop $GME (-0,68 %)considers investment in Bitcoin$BTC (+0,58 %)

• Gamestop is rumored to be exploring possible investments in bitcoin to expand its financial horizons, according to people with knowledge of the situation who spoke to CNBC.
• Stock rallies strongly.
• https://news.bitcoin.com/de/bericht-behauptet-dass-meme-aktienriese-gamestop-die-zuweisung-von-bitcoin-in-die-schatzkammer-in-erwaegung-zieht/

Coinbase Global $COIN (+7,99 %)Q4 earnings with revenue increase

• Coinbase Global (COIN) on Thursday reported fourth-quarter diluted earnings of $4.68 per share, up from $1.04 a year earlier.
• Analysts polled by FactSet had expected $2.11.
• Revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31 was $2.27 billion, up from $953.8 million a year earlier.
• Analysts polled by FactSet had expected $1.84 billion.
• The company said it expects first-quarter subscription and services revenue of $685 million to $765 million.
• Shares rose nearly 2% in after-hours trading.

Nestle $NSRGY (+0 %)increases dividend despite profit decline

• Nestle, the world's largest food manufacturer, wants to increase its dividend despite the recent difficult times.
• It is to be increased by five centimes to 3.05 francs, the producer of brands such as Kitkat and Nespresso announced in Zurich on Thursday.
• This will be the 29th consecutive increase in the dividend, despite a fall in sales and profits last year.
• The Group recently struggled with weak demand, high costs and the strong Swiss franc.
• Sales fell by 1.8 percent year-on-year to 91.4 billion Swiss francs in 2024.
• Adjusted for exchange rate changes and acquisitions and disposals of business units, however, Nestle grew by 2.2 percent compared to the previous year.
• The so-called organic growth is made up of price adjustments of 1.5 percent and volume increases (RIG) of 0.8 percent.
• Growth was therefore slightly better than experts had expected.
• The dividend is also a tad higher than expected.
• For 2025, the management continues to forecast an improvement in organic sales growth compared to 2024.
• The underlying operating profit margin is expected to be 16.0 percent or higher.
• In the medium term, Nestle wants to return to values of over 17 percent.
• Organic sales growth is expected to be "4 percent plus in a normal business environment".
• As already announced at the Investor Day in November, the Group intends to save around 2.5 billion Swiss francs by the end of 2027.
• The savings will be used to finance higher investments in marketing.

Cisco $CSCO (-1,29 %)raises sales forecast for the full year

• Cisco Systems raised its full-year revenue forecast on Wednesday, banking on higher demand for its cloud networking devices amid a boom in artificial intelligence technology.
• The company expects revenue of between $56 billion and $56.5 billion for fiscal 2025, compared with its previous forecast of $55.3 billion to $56.3 billion.
• Analysts on average expect 55.99 billion dollars, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Producer prices in the USA rise more than expected

• In the USA, producer prices have risen more strongly than expected.
• In January, the prices that manufacturers charge for their goods rose by 3.5 percent year-on-year, according to the US Department of Labor in Washington on Thursday.
• Economists had only expected 3.3 percent.
• The last time the rate was higher was in February 2023, when the core rate, which excludes volatile prices for energy and food, was 3.6 percent in January.
• Economists had expected just 3.3 percent.
• According to economists, the core rate better reflects the price trend.
• Compared to the previous month, producer prices rose by 0.4 percent.
• An increase of 0.3 percent had been expected here.
• The core rate rose by 0.3% month-on-month, as expected.
• Producer prices influence consumer prices, on which the US Federal Reserve bases its monetary policy.
• In January, the inflation rate in the US was 3.0%, above the Fed's inflation target of 2%.
• Inflation has recently proved to be stubborn.
• Economists therefore do not expect further interest rate cuts until the end of the year.

Friday: Stock market dates, economic data, quarterly figures

Valentine's Day, think of your loved ones and not just your shares :)

• ex-dividend of individual stocks
• Siemens EUR 5.20
• Shell 0.72 USD
• Eli Lilly 1.50 USD
• Chevron Corporation 1.71 USD
• 3M USD 0.73
• Amgen USD 2.38
• Starbucks USD 0.61

• Quarterly figures / Company dates USA / Asia
• Untimed: Moderna quarterly figures

• Quarterly figures / Company dates Europe
• 07:00 Safran annual results
• 08:00 Hermes International| Natwest Group annual results
• 11:00 Borussia Dortmund result 1H

• Economic data

11:00 EU: GDP (2nd release) 4Q Eurozone PROGNOSIS: 0.0% yoy/+0.9% yoy 1st release: 0.0% yoy/+0.9% yoy 3rd quarter: +0.4% yoy/+0.9% yoy

14:30 US: Retail Sales January FORECAST: -0.2% yoy previous: +0.4% yoy Retail Sales ex Motor Vehicles FORECAST: +0.3% yoy previous: +0.4% yoy

14:30 US: Import and export prices January import prices PROGNOSE: +0.3% yoy previous: +0.1% yoy

15:15 US: Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization January Industrial Production PROGNOSE: +0.3% yoy previous: +0.9% yoy Capacity utilization PROGNOSE: 77.7% previous: 77.6%

16:00 US: Inventories December FORECAST: -0.1% yoy previous: +0.1% yoy

20:15 US: Fed Dallas President Logan, speech at Southern Methodist University event

$CSCO (-1,29 %)

• Cisco Systems exceeded Wall Street's expectations in terms of profit and sales in the second quarter.

• The networking company reported earnings of 94 cents per share on sales of 14 billion US dollars. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of 91 cents per share on sales of 13.9 billion US dollars expected.

• Cisco's profit rose compared to the previous year's figure of 87 cents per sharewhile sales of 12.8 billion US dollars to 14 billion US dollars.

• The increase in turnover is attributable to the acquisition of the data platform Splunk which Cisco acquired last year. Without the contribution from Splunk, total sales would have fallen by 1 % compared to the previous year.

"Cisco's strong quarterly results were driven by increasing customer demand for our technology," said CEO Chuck Robbins in a press release. "As AI becomes more pervasive, we are well positioned to help our customers scale their network infrastructure, increase their data capacity requirements and implement world-class AI security."

• For the third quarter, Cisco expects revenue to be between 13.9 billion US dollars and 14.1 billion US dollarscompared to the analysts' consensus forecast of 13.88 billion US dollars.

• Expected earnings are between 90 cents per share and 92 cents per sharewhich is roughly in line with Wall Street estimates of 90 cents per share per share.

The technology company is also increasing its dividend by 1 cent per share to 41 cents.

Next week won't be boring either 🫡

There's something for everyone 😁

What numbers are you looking forward to? 🧐

$MCD (+1,05 %)
$VRTX (-0,05 %)
$KO (+0,9 %)
$SPGI (+0,81 %)
$VRT (+0,22 %)
$PANW (-0,13 %)
$CVS (+3,54 %)

$MEDP (+0,19 %)
$ACLS (-1,71 %)
$THC (+1,37 %)
$TTD (-1,93 %)
$CSCO (-1,29 %)
$APP (-1,21 %)
$HOOD (+1,03 %)
$DE (+3,12 %)
$AMAT (-0,59 %)
$ABNB (-0,04 %)