Start here if you're new
what it is
HCA runs hospitals, surgery centers, and emergency rooms across 20 states and England.
how it gets paid
Last year Hca Healthcare made $75.6B in revenue. Other insurers was the main engine at $46.9B, or 62% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 7.1% last year. The 6.8% beat matters because it came from a business already running a 20.5% operating margin.
what just happened
HCA's last quarter $8.01 EPS beat the $7.50 estimate by 6.8%.
At a glance
B++ balance sheet — above average — nothing keeping you up at night
85/100 earnings predictability — you can trust these numbers
19.1x 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: 78/100 — average
What they do
HCA runs hospitals, surgery centers, and emergency rooms across 20 states and England.
HCA sells into a locked-in system, not a casual one. It posted a 20.5% operating margin, which means profit from each revenue dollar, and a 25.0% return on capital, which means profit on money invested. You feel that in a 190-hospital network with 121 surgery centers, because leaving means new doctors, new records, and new bills.
How they make money
$75.6B
annual revenue · their business grew +7.1% last year
Medicare & Managed Medicare
$24.2B
Other insurers
$46.9B
International and other
$4.5B
The products that matter
operates hospitals and care sites
Hospital Operations
$75.6B · 100% of reported revenue
it's the entire $75.6B business on this page. thin segment disclosure means admissions, reimbursement, labor, and margin are the whole story.
100% of revenue
Key numbers
$75.6B
annual revenue
You are buying a $75.6B sales machine. That is a lot of medical bills before lunch.
19.1x
trailing P/E
You are paying 19.1 times trailing earnings for a hospital chain. The stock is not priced like a bargain bin.
25.0%
return on capital
For every $100 HCA puts into the business, it earns $25 in operating profit. That is why the network keeps compounding.
20.5%
operating margin
HCA keeps 20 cents of each sales dollar before interest and taxes. Thin-margin chaos is somebody else's problem.
Financial health
B++
strength
- balance sheet grade B++ — above average financial health
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 70 / 100
- long-term debt $38.4B (24% of capital)
- net profit margin 10.2% — keeps 10 cents of every dollar in revenue
B++ — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in HCA 3 years ago → it's now worth $21,280.
The index would have given you $13,880.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
beat estimates
HCA's last quarter $8.01 EPS beat the $7.50 estimate by 6.8%.
That beat came from a business running a 20.5% operating margin and a 25.0% return on capital. Consensus trailing EPS is $27.84, close to Value Line's FY2025 $28.33.
$19.0B
revenue
$8.01
eps
20.5%
margin
EPS beat
The 6.8% beat matters because it came from a business already running a 20.5% operating margin. That is how hospital volume turns into cash.
source: company earnings report, 2025
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is reimbursement pressure colliding with labor inflation.
med
reimbursement rate pressure
hospitals do not fully control pricing. if medicare, medicaid, or commercial reimbursement grows slower than costs, HCA has to absorb the difference.
a 1-point hit to margin on $75.6B of revenue is roughly $756M.
med
labor cost inflation
this is a people-heavy business. wages for nurses, physicians, and support staff can rise faster than pricing, and the squeeze shows up quickly in profit.
when you keep 9.3% of revenue, there is not much room for cost surprises.
low
patient mix and procedure volume
not every admission is equally profitable. if elective procedures soften or the mix shifts toward lower-margin care, revenue can hold up while earnings disappoint.
volume alone is not enough. the mix of that volume matters.
med
debt limits flexibility
B++ is fine. $38.4B in long-term debt means fine still comes with obligations. if operations wobble, balance-sheet room matters more.
24% of capital in debt leaves less margin for error than a cash-rich balance sheet.
a 1-point margin squeeze on $75.6B of revenue is roughly $756M. that's why small reimbursement or labor misses turn into large earnings conversations.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
metric
watch the $30.60 fy2026 EPS estimate
that's the market's current upgrade path. if estimates slip back toward the $28.33 just posted, the thesis gets less interesting fast.
trend
see if Q4's $8.01 EPS strength holds
one strong quarter is nice. a repeat pattern tells you the cost structure is still under control.
risk
follow reimbursement and labor commentary
those are the two levers most likely to squeeze a 9.3% net margin.
calendar
next earnings call matters more than the stock chart
you want to hear whether volume, pricing, and staffing still support the $79B revenue path.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
top 5%
momentum score 1 — the highest rating. in human-speak, analysts think this stock should outperform most names over the next 12 months.
risk profile
average
stability score 3 — middle-of-the-road risk. steadier than many stocks, but not immune to operating misses.
chart momentum
average
technical score 3 — no major signal from the chart right now. the numbers matter more than the tape.
earnings predictability
85 / 100
management's earnings pattern has been reliable. that matters because hospital operators get punished fast when consistency breaks.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net buying for 3 consecutive quarters — 567 buyers vs. 559 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 0.1B shares. net buying for 3 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$427
$732
$540
current price
$580
target midpoint · +7% from current · 3-5yr high: $725 (+35% · 8% ann'l return)
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