Q3 earnings beat drives up UnitedHealth's stock

UnitedHealth Group posted a $3.2 billion profit in the third quarter, a 28% jump from the same period a year ago, on $56.6 billion of revenue. The lofty numbers — driven by lower corporate taxes, relatively low medical claims in its health insurance arm, and growth in all of its Optum businesses — pushed the health care giant's stock higher on Tuesday.

By the numbers: UnitedHealth is now valued at roughly $260 billion, or more than twice as much as banks are saying Uber is worth. UnitedHealth's market cap is also almost seven times higher than what it was in 2010, when the Affordable Care Act went into effect.