UnitedHealth Plummets, First Solar Rises, Super Micro Surges

• UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) plummeted as much as 18% following a report that the insurer was under criminal investigation for possible Medicare fraud, adding to an already tumultuous week. The Justice Department has had a probe into the company’s Medicare Advantage business since at least last summer, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. UnitedHealth shares dropped every day for the last eight trading sessions, including sinking more than 17% Tuesday when the company abruptly replaced its chief executive officer and suspended 2025 guidance. It has lost more than $110 billion in market value this week.
• Legislation that House Republicans call "one big, beautiful bill" would extend Inflation Reduction Act Section 45X credits to 2031 and tweak section 45Z. First Solar shares have surged about 30% since the bill's introduction, as it alleviates fears that the IRA would be fully repealed as some Republican lawmakers had called for. Should the 45X provision that was included in IRA be reversed, First Solar's gross margin would drop to about 25% vs. about 44% in 2024, based analysis from Bloomberg Intelligence, with peers facing similar pullbacks.
• Super Micro Computer shares jumped after Saudi Arabia-based data center company DataVolt signed a multi-year partnership agreement with the beleaguered US server company. The stock has rallied more than 40% this week, notching the best week since November. The agreement should “fast-track delivery of ultra-dense GPU platforms and rack systems for DataVolt’s hyperscale AI campuses in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the US,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

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