Start here if you're new
what it is
Chemed runs a hospice business and the plumber you call when your basement starts making threats.
how it gets paid
Last year Chemed made $1.5B in revenue. VITAS hospice care was the main engine at $0.95B, or 63% of sales.
what just happened
Chemed's last report missed estimates, with EPS at $6.42 versus the $7.03 consensus.
At a glance
A balance sheet — strong enough to weather a downturn
95/100 earnings predictability — you can trust these numbers
19.6x trailing p/e — priced about right
0.6% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
25.0% return on capital — every dollar works hard here
xvary composite: 81/100 — above average
What they do
Chemed runs a hospice business and the plumber you call when your basement starts making threats.
Chemed wins with two boring businesses you need fast: end-of-life care and emergency plumbing. VITAS was 63% of 2024 sales, and Roto-Rooter was 37%, according to company data summarized by. That mix matters because your pipes break in any economy, and hospice demand does not care what the S&P did this week.
How they make money
$1.5B
annual revenue
VITAS hospice care
$0.95B
+8.0%
Roto-Rooter plumbing
$0.28B
+6.5%
Roto-Rooter drain cleaning
$0.18B
+6.5%
Roto-Rooter water restoration
$0.10B
+6.5%
The products that matter
provides hospice care
Vitas Healthcare
largest operating focus
company revenue was $1.5B last year, and vitas appears to be the core driver of that base. if this segment slows, the whole CHE story slows with it.
core driver
handles plumbing and drains
Roto-Rooter
~$300M · about 20% of sales
this business contributes about $300M, or roughly 20% of revenue. it adds brand familiarity and service call volume, but it also makes CHE more exposed to consumer softness than a pure hospice name would be.
cyclical swing
Key numbers
95/100
earnings predictability
A 95 score says profits have been unusually steady. Plain English: this business usually does not swing wildly. So what: steadier profits often deserve a higher valuation.
25.0%
return on capital
Return on capital → profit earned on each dollar invested → so what: Chemed turns $1 into $0.25 of operating profit, which is strong.
19.6x
trailing p/e
P/E → price divided by past-year earnings → so what: you are paying about 19.6 years of last year's profit for the stock today.
0.6%
dividend yield
Dividend yield → cash paid to you each year as a percent of the stock price → so what: this is a small income stock, not a paycheck stock.
Financial health
A
strength
- balance sheet grade A — very strong financial position
- risk rank 2 — safer than 80% of stocks
- price stability 90 / 100
- net profit margin 12.2% — keeps 12 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 25% — $0.25 profit for every $1 investors have put in
A with balance sheet grade and risk rank standing out. your money faces less risk here than at most public companies.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in CHE 3 years ago → it's now worth $8,580.
The index would have given you $13,920.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
missed estimates
Chemed's last report missed estimates, with EPS at $6.42 versus the $7.03 consensus.
Yahoo Finance consensus shows an 8.68% miss. adds that margins have been under pressure from rising costs, inflation, and competition, which helps explain why the stock has been drifting lower.
$1.5B
ttm revenue
$6.42
last eps
22.0%
operating margin
the number that mattered
The key number was the 8.68% EPS miss, because this stock trades on steadiness and the market just got the opposite.
-
chemed’s stock has been moving lower of late.
-
the june quarter brought with it a revenue miss and a sharp drop in vs. prior year earnings, while september-period results were more in line with expectations.
-
still, share earnings in that window dropped vs. prior year, as well.
-
margins have been under pressure as costs rise, inflation takes a toll, and competition mounts.
-
all the while, che’s quotation has drifted south.
source: company earnings report, 2026
Get this snapshot in your inbox
This page, delivered free — plus weekly updates when the numbers change. plain english, no spam.
weekly updates
earnings alerts
plain english
no spam
What could go wrong
the #1 risk is vitas slowdown plus roto-rooter softness.
high
vitas volume or margin pressure
vitas appears to be the core business. if hospice demand or operating efficiency slips, the company-wide 13.1% net margin can compress quickly.
this risk hits the main earnings engine, not a side segment
med
roto-rooter cyclical slowdown
the snapshot attributes about $300M, or 20% of revenue, to roto-rooter. that is useful diversification until consumer service demand weakens.
roughly one-fifth of revenue is tied to this more cyclical stream
med
quality multiple without momentum
CHE still trades at 19.6x trailing earnings even after lagging the market by $5,340 on a $10,000 starting investment over three years. if growth stays soft, the stock can de-rate further.
the downside path is less about insolvency and more about slow multiple compression
both operating segments account for 100% of revenue, and one of them already looks cyclical. when earnings are expected to fall 11%, you do not need a disaster for the stock to stay stuck.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
earnings
next quarterly print
the main question is simple: does the current $8.00 EPS setup mark a one-quarter dip, or the start of a slower stretch.
metric
net margin
13.1% is a healthy company-wide margin. if that starts slipping, the quality narrative weakens fast.
trend
relative stock strength
CHE is near the low end of its $408–$624 range. you want to see price action stop acting like the business is decelerating harder than reported.
risk
segment mix
watch whether hospice stability continues to offset plumbing cyclicality. that balance is the entire investment story here.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
top 20%
momentum score 2 — analysts expect above-average price performance in the year ahead. in human-speak: they still see a rebound setup, even if the chart disagrees today.
balance sheet risk
below average
stability score 2 — safer than roughly 80% of stocks. this is not where the thesis usually breaks.
chart momentum
below average
technical score 4 — the stock has not earned the market's trust back yet.
earnings predictability
95 / 100
management's numbers are unusually steady. if CHE misses, it matters more because surprises are not the norm.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
252 buyers vs. 274 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 13.8M shares.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$366
$720
$436
current price
$543
target midpoint · +25% from current · 3-5yr high: $795 (+80% · 17% ann'l return)
Want the deeper analysis?
The full deep dive: dcf model, scenario analysis, competitive moat breakdown, and quarterly tracking — everything on this page, taken further.
see plans from $5/moThe deep dive