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UnitedHealth Group revealed it is facing a Justice Department criminal and civil investigation over its Medicare billing practices, adding to a string of setbacks for a company that owns America’s largest and most powerful private insurer.
UnitedHealth also said it has launched a third-party review of its business policies and performance metrics.
It comes after a tumultuous last year for UnitedHealthcare, the nation’s largest and most powerful private health insurer.

The UnitedHealth logo on a laptop arranged in New York, US, on Friday, July 7, 2023.
Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images

UnitedHealth Group revealed Thursday it is facing a Justice Department investigation over its Medicare billing practices, adding to a string of setbacks for a company that owns the nation’s largest and most powerful private insurer.
In a securities filing, the company said it has started complying with formal criminal and civil requests from the DOJ, and that it reached out to the department after reports of the probes surfaced. UnitedHealth also said it has launched a third-party review of its business policies and performance metrics.

The company told CNBC that it expects to complete that review towards the end of the third quarter.
In the filing, UnitedHealth said it “has full confidence in its practices and is committed to working cooperatively with the Department throughout this process.”
UnitedHealth Group shares dropped around 3% in premarket trading Thursday. The company’s executives will likely face questions about the probe during its second-quarter earnings call on July 29.
Jared Holz, Mizuho Securities health care strategist, said in an email to clients on Thursday that the announcement is “not shocking,” but noted that the company previously denied DOJ investigation claims. He said UnitedHealth’s decision to admit to the probe and cooperate with the department “all sounds logical as it moves forward with a new CEO.”
The company announced the abrupt departure of former CEO Andrew Witty in May.

UnitedHealth’s announcement on Thursday comes after the Wall Street Journal reported in May that the Department of Justice is conducting a criminal investigation into the health-care giant over possible Medicare fraud. In response at the time, the company said it stands “by the integrity of our Medicare Advantage program.”
In July, the Journal also reported that the DOJ interviewed several doctors about UnitedHealth’s practices and whether they felt pressured to submit claims for certain conditions that bolstered payments from the Medicare Advantage program to the company. 
That marked the second time this year that the insurer’s Medicare Advantage business has come under federal scrutiny. The Journal also reported in February that the DOJ is conducting a civil investigation into whether the company inflated diagnoses to trigger extra payments to its Medicare Advantage plans. 
But on Thursday, UnitedHealth said independent audits by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services “confirm” that the company’s practices are “among the most accurate in the industry.”
UnitedHealth also pointed to a special master’s recommendation in March in favor of the company in a yearslong legal battle with the DOJ that began with a whistleblower who alleged the company illegally withheld at least $2 billion through the Medicare Advantage program. The special master assigned to the case by a judge said the DOJ lacked evidence. 
UnitedHealthcare’s Medicare and retirement segment, which includes the Medicare Advantage business, is UnitedHealth Group’s largest revenue driver, raking in $139 billion in sales last year.
The update in the probe comes after a tumultuous last year for UnitedHealthcare. Shares of UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, are down more than 42% for the year after it suspended its 2025 forecast amid skyrocketing medical costs, announced the surprise exit of Witty and grappled with the reported probe into its Medicare Advantage business. 
The company’s 2024 wasn’t any easier, marked by a historic cyberattack and the torrent of public blowback after the murder of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO Brian Thompson.
— CNBC’s Bertha Coombs contributed to this report. More

American Airlines’ third-quarter profit forecast fell short of Wall Street expectations.
The carrier also issued lower guidance for the full year than it had previously projected.
American beat earnings and revenue estimates for the just-completed second quarter.

American Airlines shares slumped Thursday after the carrier’s third-quarter profit forecast fell short of Wall Street’s expectations and it reinstated its 2025 financial forecast well below its outlook at the start of the year.
CEO Robert Isom told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that the results are driven by consumer weakness, flat corporate travel demand that continued into the start of the summer and operational problems from a series of storms.

“July’s been a tough month … because of the domestic consumer weakness,” Isom said.
Demand appears better in the coming months, he said, and American is scaling back its capacity growth.
Delta Air Lines and United Airlines earlier this month said travel demand has stabilized, though both carriers issued lower 2025 forecasts than at the beginning of the year.
American on Thursday forecast a 2025 adjusted per-share loss of as much as 20 cents or earnings of as much as 80 cents, down from adjusted earnings estimates of between $1.70 and $2.70 it made in January. American, along with other airlines, pulled its 2025 financial outlook in April as carriers grappled with on-again, off-again tariffs and weaker-than-expected domestic demand.

Read more CNBC airline news

For the third quarter, American said it expects an adjusted per-share loss of 10 cents to 60 cents, while analysts polled by LSEG estimated a 7-cent loss.

The airline said in an earnings release that it only expects the low end of its forecast if “there were to be macro weaknesses that are not seen today” and the high end if the domestic travel market continues to improve.
Domestic travel demand has been a weak spot this year, though many U.S. travelers have continued to fly abroad in droves to popular destinations like Japan and Italy. American’s passenger revenue per available domestic seat mile, a pricing power gauge, was down more than 6% in the second quarter, while it was up nearly 3% for international.
Here is how American performed in the second quarter compared with Wall Street estimates compiled by LSEG:

Earnings per share: 95 cents adjusted vs. 78 cents
Revenue: $14.39 billion vs. $14.3 billion expected

In the three months ended June 30, American’s revenue rose 0.4% to $14.39 billion, ahead of expectations, while net income dropped 16.5% to $599 million, or 91 cents a share. Adjusting for one-time items, American posted earnings of $628 million, or 95 cents a share, well ahead of analysts’ expectations.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the earnings per share for the second quarter.

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Eli Manning has invested in equipment maker XTech, which produces custom shoulder pads.
The former quarterback wore XTech during his playing days.
XTech has dominated the professional and college markets — they are now looking to capture the youth market.

Two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning may have hung up his shoulder pads, but he’s still taking interest in the gear.
The former New York Giants quarterback on Thursday announced he has invested in sports protective equipment maker XTech.

Manning, who wore XTech shoulder pads during his playing days, said he took a stake in the company because he believes in the product and wants to make sure that youth athletes have the same high-level safety equipment that NFL players have.
“They’ve [XTech] gone on to really dominate the NFL and the college market from the shoulder pad standpoint, and I want to help continue that journey as they explore into high school and expanding this business,” Manning told CNBC in an interview.
Manning did not announce the size of his stake, but he’s one of the top five investors in the company, XTech told CNBC.
Manning said he doesn’t just want to be a silent partner. He plans to help XTech as a spokesperson, by making introductions and by helping with big-picture corporate strategy.
Since his retirement in 2020, Manning has turned to investing in sports through his private equity firm Brand Velocity Group and through private investments. He is also a minority owner in the National Women’s Soccer League’s Gotham FC and TGL’s New York Golf Club.

XTech team from left to right: Jack Mara, Bob Broderick, Eli Manning, Joe Iovino.
XTECH | William Hauser

New York Giants beginnings

XTech dominates the college and professional football market. Founder Bob Broderick said that nearly 90% of NFL players have opted to wear the company’s custom-fitted shoulder pads that retail for about $599 each.
XTech, founded in 2012, has New York Giants roots.
Broderick got his start in the space as a Giants equipment assistant. It was there he learned the ins and outs of the gear business. Later, as he worked his way up to the Giants communications department, he watched as the focus on equipment moved toward helmets as awareness about the effects of concussions spread.
“All of the major manufacturers and players out there were focused on helmets — from the neck down, was kind of forgotten about,” Broderick said.
He was later introduced to equipment designer Ted Monica, who he calls “the Steve Jobs of shoulder pads.” Together, they sought to build a business.
Monica, whose background included another top equipment maker Riddell, designed a shoulder pad unit that XTech says is safer, lighter and allows more mobility. He also tried to design a sleeker and more attractive look than traditional shoulder pads.
With early backing from Super Bowl champion head coach Brian Billick, formerly of the Baltimore Ravens, the XTech team traveled locker rooms around the NFL and began fitting more and more players. That included Manning and current players Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills, Josh Jacobs of the Green Bay Packers and Fred Warner of the San Francisco 49ers.
Today, XTech is in all 32 NFL locker rooms.
“I felt with with these pads, I was getting the protection I needed, but also found with XTech, I had more mobility in my arm, where it didn’t feel any different throwing with pads to without pads,” Manning said.

Expanding into high school sports

While the NFL has strict rules on what kind of helmets NFL players can wear, shoulder pads are left to the players and teams to choose. The teams pick up the cost of the shoulder pad unit for their players. XTech has a team of 5 salespeople who travel around the country personally fitting 40,000 athletes.
XTech says its shoulder pads are 100% American made, with manufacturing taking place in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company said this allows for quicker manufacturing and shorter turnaround times with online orders going out in one day. Competitors Douglas and Riddell can take from 4-8 weeks to process and ship.
Broderick said the company has sold about 100,000 shoulder pads units since its founding. XTech products are only available on the company’s website and Amazon. They are not found in big-box retailers.
XTech is now looking to break further into the youth sports market with a new youth-specific product it has in production, expected to launch next year. The youth line will be for players weighing 30-150 pounds and is expected to be priced in the low $200 range.
“90% of the overall market out there is high school and youth,” said Broderick.
He said XTech currently works with about 500 high schools, but there are more than 15,000 high schools that play football, representing a major market opportunity.
Manning said when he was in high school, he showed up for practice on the first day and was given a pair of used shoulder pads and a helmet and didn’t question it.
“Now, parents are more involved. They want to get their kids in the best stuff and the pads that are going to keep them safe and protect them and help them perform at a higher level,” he said. More

Southwest CEO Bob Jordan told CNBC last month that discounting was common this summer.
In April, Southwest had pulled its 2025 financial guidance, citing economic uncertainty.
Domestic coach-class travel demand has come in weaker than airline executives expected this year.

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 taxis at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on May 16, 2025.
Kevin Carter | Getty Images

Southwest Airlines on Wednesday posted second-quarter earnings and revenue that fell short of Wall Street’s estimates but said travel demand has stabilized, echoing other airlines in recent weeks.
The airline also announced a new $2 billion share buyback.

Here’s how Southwest performed in the second quarter compared with Wall Street expectations, according to consensus estimates from LSEG:

Earnings per share: 43 cents adjusted vs. 51 cents expected
Revenue: $7.24 billion vs. $7.3 billion expected

The carrier pulled its 2025 guidance in April, citing economic uncertainty in the U.S. Similar to other airlines, Southwest said it would cut flights during off-peak periods as carriers grappled with weaker domestic travel demand than expected at the start of the year. CEO Bob Jordan told CNBC last month that there has been more discounting this summer, which is generally the busiest travel period of the year.
Southwest expects its third-quarter unit revenue, a gauge of airlines’ pricing power, to range between a 2% drop to a 2% increase over the same July-through-September period of 2024.

Read more CNBC airline news

The airline has been overhauling its business model, getting rid of blanket policies such as two free checked bags for all customers and moving from open seating to assigned seats and new boarding orders, which the carrier announced Monday.
Southwest said sales of basic economy suffered on its website after it launched the restrictive new fares in May. It said they have since returned to “expected levels” but that it hurt its unit revenue in the second quarter by half a point and would hurt unit revenue by about a point in the third quarter.

Southwest posted net income of $213 million, or 39 cents per share, in the second quarter. That is down 42% over last year, on sales of $7.24 billion, 1.5% lower than a year earlier. Adjusting for one-time items, Southwest’s second-quarter earnings were $230 million, or 43 cents a share, down 38% from last year.
Passenger revenue per seat mile came in at $14.10, below the $14.19 Wall Street had expected, according to Street Account.

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