MDLN vs. UNH: Medline vs. UnitedHealth Stock Comparison

Company Profile

Medline (MDLN) and UnitedHealth (UNH) both fall under the Health Care Equipment & Services industry group, but MDLN is classified in Health Care Equipment & Supplies while UNH is classified in Health Care Providers & Services.

UnitedHealth (UNH) has been public since October 17, 1984, giving it decades of market history across multiple cycles, while Medline (MDLN) listed only on December 17, 2025 and lacks comparable through-cycle data.

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

Trailing Returns

Calendar-Year Returns

Performance Metrics

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

Return Distribution

Risk Metrics

Medline (MDLN) reports a negative beta of -0.93, suggesting inverse market sensitivity over the measurement window. That is uncommon for ordinary equities and can reflect commodity-linked or hedge-like exposure, but it can also come from statistical noise. UnitedHealth (UNH) has a non-negative beta of 0.52.

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

Both MDLN and UNH need 1-year volatility and 1-year return to plot risk-return positioning.

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Profitability

UnitedHealth (UNH) at 15.77% sits in the top ROE quartile, while Medline (MDLN) at 4.85% is closer to the peer norm — stronger capital efficiency for UNH.

Both Medline (MDLN) at 1.85% and UnitedHealth (UNH) at 3.53% keep about the typical share of revenue as profit for their industries — neither bottom line stands out from peers.

Both Medline (MDLN) at 5.22% and UnitedHealth (UNH) at 5.82% run core operations about as efficiently as their industries’ norm — neither stands out on operating profitability.

Profitability Metrics

Growth

Only one side can be read here: UnitedHealth (UNH) reports revenue growth of 11.81%, ranked against its industry; Medline (MDLN) has no revenue growth figure this period.

Medline (MDLN) at 117.38% clears its industry range for EPS growth, a much stronger earnings trajectory than UnitedHealth (UNH) at -14.70%, which is closer to a typical peer reading.

Growth Metrics

Financial Strength

Medline (MDLN) at 4.04 carries current ratio above its industry’s typical mid-range, while UnitedHealth (UNH) at 0.74 runs in the tighter-liquidity quartile — different working-capital profiles, both worth examining.

Both Medline (MDLN) at 0.65 and UnitedHealth (UNH) at 0.70 fund their balance sheets with roughly industry-typical debt-to-equity mixes.

Financial Strength Metrics

Dividends

Medline (MDLN) pays no dividend (yield 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile UnitedHealth (UNH) reports a yield of 2.29%, ranking against industry peers normally.

Medline (MDLN) pays no dividend (payout 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile UnitedHealth (UNH) reports a payout of 51.71%, ranking against industry peers normally.

Dividend Metrics

Valuation

UnitedHealth (UNH) at 22.50 is near its industry’s usual P/E ratio, while Medline (MDLN) at 90.09 sits above its peer range — an unusually expensive price for MDLN’s trailing earnings.

UnitedHealth (UNH) at 0.78 sits in the cheaper P/S ratio quartile while Medline (MDLN) at 1.70 prices around its industry’s middle — UNH costs less per dollar of sales, though read it alongside growth and margins.

On P/B ratio, both Medline (MDLN) at 2.95 and UnitedHealth (UNH) at 3.60 are valued close to their industries’ norm against book — neither stands out from peers.

Valuation Metrics