These companies should benefit from a normalization of the healthcare market in 2026, making them cheap buys today.
It seems as though every industry outside of artificial intelligence (AI) is in the dumps. Even health insurance stocks had one of the wildest years in the sector’s history in 2025. Why? Because of an unforeseen rise in healthcare costs from multiple sources, which crushed insurance profitability.
This has led to declining values across the board for health insurance stocks. Giant healthcare provider UnitedHealth Group (UNH +3.17%) is down 53.6% from its highs, while technology-forward Oscar Health (OSCR 2.12%) is down over 60%. This is presenting investors with a buying opportunity, with profits set to rebound in 2026.
Here’s why these are two of the best stocks you can buy with $1,000 in February.
Image source: Getty Images.
A would-be health insurance disruptor
Oscar Health is a disruptive force in the health insurance market. The company was formed to make health insurance easier for individual payors, focused on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace. With better technology, reasonable prices, and happier customers, Oscar Health has been able to steal market share in the individual health insurance market.
Today’s Change
(-2.12%) $-0.29
Current Price
$13.42
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$3.6B
Day’s Range
$13.36 – $13.99
52wk Range
$11.20 – $23.80
Volume
7.4M
Avg Vol
10M
As of February of this year, Oscar Health boasts 3.4 million insurance members. That compares to just 400,000 at the end of 2020. So why is the stock down? Because of fears over expiring subsidies for lower-income payors in the ACA marketplace. These expired at the end of 2025, and it is unclear how much it will impact Oscar’s paying customers as we move through 2026. At the same time, the company’s healthcare costs rose significantly faster in 2025 than expected (as they did across the industry), leading it to start losing money.
This is a double-whammy of headwinds that killed Oscar’s share price. Despite this, it looks as if 2026 will be a year of recovery for the business. Due to price increases and better customer retention so far this year, Oscar Health is guiding revenue to grow from $11.7 billion in 2025 to as high as $19 billion in 2026, along with a range of $250 million to $450 million in operating earnings. For a stock with a market cap of just $3.6 billion and a strong history of growth, this looks like a steal at today’s stock price.
A legacy insurer set for a rebound
Many developments have been headwinds for UnitedHealth Group in 2025, including the two mentioned above that are also dragging down the company’s earnings. On top of these, the company had a cybersecurity incident, allegations of exaggerated health claims for Medicare patients, and even an antitrust lawsuit.
Today’s Change
(3.17%) $9.03
Current Price
$293.40
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$266B
Day’s Range
$284.65 – $293.46
52wk Range
$234.60 – $606.36
Volume
441K
Avg Vol
8.8M
Dividend Yield
2.98%
Health insurance is not the most beloved industry, but it is necessary for the private healthcare market to operate. In 2026, with rate repricings for customer premiums, UnitedHealth is expecting to generate $439 billion in revenue and $24 billion in operating earnings.
Today, the stock trades at a market cap of $260 billion, or barely over 10x these operating income assumptions. With rising healthcare inflation and an aging population in the United States, even a legacy insurer like UnitedHealth could continue to grow steadily over the next decade. Paying just 10x earnings for the stock today will look like a steal a few years from now.
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