What Happened?
Shares of health insurance company Oscar Health (NYSE: OSCR) jumped 4% in the morning session after Stephens & Co. initiated coverage on the stock with an "Equal-Weight" rating and a $17 price target.
While an "Equal-Weight" rating suggests the stock was expected to perform in line with the sector, the start of coverage itself can be viewed positively as it brings more analyst attention to the company. The move also followed a recent upgrade from another firm. In late November, Piper Sandler raised its rating on Oscar Health to "Overweight" from "Neutral" and increased its price target to $25 from $13. At the time, Piper Sandler's analyst expressed confidence that the company could grow its market share and profitability.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $16.31, up 4.1% from previous close.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Oscar Health’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 61 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 10 days ago when the stock dropped 6% on the news that investor concerns over rising medical costs and the expiration of healthcare subsidies fueled bearish market activity.
The negative sentiment was reflected in the options market, where there was a higher demand for bets that the stock price would fall. This pressure came from fundamental challenges facing the company. Oscar Health, like other insurers, experienced a rise in its medical loss ratio because of increased use of services by its members. This trend contributed to the company posting a quarterly operating loss of around $129 million. Furthermore, the expiration of pandemic-era subsidies for individuals was expected to reduce the number of people paying for insurance, potentially leading to fewer customers for Oscar Health in the future.
Oscar Health is up 20.3% since the beginning of the year, but at $16.31 per share, it is still trading 27.4% below its 52-week high of $22.47 from October 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Oscar Health’s shares at the IPO in March 2021 would now be looking at an investment worth $468.53.
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