CVS Healthvs.UnitedHealth
CVS vs UNH · both in Distribution & pharmacy infrastructure, part of the Medicine, pharma & life science value chain: Wholesalers, distribution and pharmacy chains that get medicines to patients.
UnitedHealth is about 3.0× larger than CVS Health by market cap; year to date, UnitedHealth leads (+13.9% vs +10.8%).
Side by side
| CVS | UNH | |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $112B | $335B |
| Price | $87.80 | $370.95 |
| Today | −0.2% | −1.3% |
| Return YTD | +10.8% | +13.9% |
| Return 1Y | +14.0% | +3.4% |
| Since July 2, 2026 | −16.2% | −12.8% |
| P/E | 23.0 | 23.7 |
| P/S | 0.3 | 0.7 |
| P/B | 1.4 | 3.2 |
Data as of 2026-10-08 · updates daily after U.S. close
Since July 2, 2026: the change in the closing price from the first session with a close for both companies. Sectivia records these closes itself, starting June 26, 2026.
The two companies
CVS HealthCVS
The retail pharmacies are the visible part. Behind them sit Aetna, the group's health insurance arm, and Caremark, its pharmacy benefit manager. The same company can dispense a prescription and insure the patient who receives it.
Full CVS profile →UnitedHealthUNH
Insurance is UnitedHealthcare's job. Optum is everything else: clinics on the ground, Optum Rx managing pharmacy benefits and a health data business behind both. Insurer and care provider sit under a single owner.
Full UNH profile →More CVS & UNH comparisons
Other head-to-heads in the Distribution & pharmacy infrastructure segment.