ALIGNMENT HEALTHCARE, INC. vs UnitedHealth Group Incorporated, two Managed Care stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
The growth story belongs to the small one, the earnings to the big one: Alignment Healthcare is a $5B Medicare Advantage insurgent running a 1.3% operating margin while it builds membership, UnitedHealth a $389B incumbent earning 8.1% across insurance, clinics, and pharmacy benefits even mid-crisis. UnitedHealth trades at 32.2 times earnings with a 2% dividend; Alignment has no multiple to quote, and its 9.6% return on equity leans on 1.56 turns of debt. The 5.1% against 4.6% free-cash yields both carry float caveats. A buyer here is pricing the same industry at two life stages: the startup needs everything to go right to become a small UnitedHealth, and UnitedHealth needs only to stop going wrong.
Comparison updated 2026-07-10.
| Metric | ALHC | UNH |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $23.15 | $427.44 |
| Market cap | $4.9B | $389.0B |
| Sector | Managed Care | Managed Care |
| Stage | Growth | Mature |
| P/E | — | 32.2 |
| P/B | 23.85 | 3.74 |
| P/S | 1.16 | 0.86 |
| EV/EBITDA | 68.6 | 18.9 |
| Revenue growth | +42.5% | +9.8% |
| Operating margin | 1.3% | 8.1% |
| Net margin | 0.5% | 2.7% |
| Return on equity | 9.6% | 11.6% |
| Return on assets | 1.6% | 3.9% |
| Return on invested capital | 6.7% | 8.4% |
| FCF yield | 4.6% | 5.1% |
| Dividend yield | — | 2.0% |
| Debt / equity | 1.56 | 0.75 |
| Current ratio | 1.58 | 0.80 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 5.51 | 3.02 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 7 / 9 | 6 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.