Stocks · Healthcare · Medical - Care Facilities
HCA Healthcare, Inc. HCA
$426.69 +0.78% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NYSE · Market cap $92.38B
Inexpensive vs sectorLow risk
Next earnings report: Oct 27, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- Earnings beat analyst estimates in each of the last 11 quarters (average surprise over the last four: +7.1%).
- The diluted share count fell 7.9% in a year, mainly through buybacks.
- Net debt is 3.0× EBITDA, a high level of leverage.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Healthcare sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
Growth44Weak
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 46%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Top 37%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 27%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRBottom 44%
- Revenue growth accelerationTop 39%
Quality76Positive
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalTop 5%
- Gross marginBottom 18%
- Operating marginTop 17%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Top 46%
- Accruals (lower is better)Top 48%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 31%
- Interest coverTop 25%
Value90Exceptional
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldTop 6%
- Free-cash-flow yieldTop 13%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueTop 7%
- Sales / enterprise valueTop 23%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Bottom 46%
Momentum45Neutral
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthBottom 33%
- 6-month returnBottom 32%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Bottom 43%
- Distance from 52-week highTop 37%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Top 39%
Revisions47Neutral
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersTop 43%
- Consecutive EPS beatsTop 5%
- Share of analysts rating BuyBottom 28%
- Upside to consensus price targetBottom 15%
Stability87Strong
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Top 17%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsTop 7%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Top 8%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 31%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 6.7% | 7.3% | ↑ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | 29.2% | 25.5% | ↓ |
| Gross margin | 40.9% | 28.4% | ↓ |
| Operating margin | 15.2% | 15.5% | ↑ |
| FCF margin | 10.0% | 7.7% | ↓ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 7.3% | 6.7% | ↑ | Bottom 46% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | 25.5% | 29.2% | ↓ | Top 37% |
| Gross margin | 28.4% | 40.9% | ↓ | Bottom 18% |
| Operating margin | 15.5% | 15.2% | ↑ | Top 17% |
| Net margin | 8.8% | 8.2% | ↑ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 7.7% | 10.0% | ↓ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 19.4% | — | Top 5% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 7.9% | — | Bottom 44% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 1.63×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -7.1%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 0.0%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- +10.1 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 3.02×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 5.2×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 0.74%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 9.41%
- Shareholder yield
- 10.15%
- Share count change, 1 year
- -7.9%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- -7.1%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 30, 2026 (filed Jul 28, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 11
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 8 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- +7.1%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- -2.2%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 5 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $457.53
- Target vs current price
- +7.2%
- Analysts with a rating
- 46
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 63%
- Consensus rating
- Buy
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 24, 2026 | +0.4% | +1.5% | +5.1% | +7.9% | — |
| Apr 24, 2026 | +0.4% | -8.8% | -8.3% | -17.2% | -21.3% |
| Jan 27, 2026 | +7.4% | +7.1% | +5.2% | +11.5% | -0.2% |
| Oct 24, 2025 | +20.2% | +1.6% | +6.1% | +8.2% | +5.7% |
| Jul 25, 2025 | +8.7% | -2.1% | +3.7% | +18.4% | +24.8% |
| Apr 25, 2025 | +12.2% | -4.0% | +0.5% | +10.3% | +2.8% |
| Jan 24, 2025 | +1.5% | -3.8% | +2.8% | -2.7% | -2.4% |
| Oct 25, 2024 | +0.8% | -8.9% | -10.1% | -16.7% | -18.4% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 24, 2026 | $7.59 | $7.56 | +0.4% | $20.23B |
| Apr 24, 2026 | $7.15 | $7.12 | +0.4% | $19.11B |
| Jan 27, 2026 | $8.01 | $7.46 | +7.4% | $19.51B |
| Oct 24, 2025 | $6.96 | $5.79 | +20.2% | $19.16B |
| Jul 25, 2025 | $6.84 | $6.29 | +8.7% | $18.61B |
| Apr 25, 2025 | $6.45 | $5.75 | +12.2% | $18.32B |
| Jan 24, 2025 | $6.22 | $6.13 | +1.5% | $18.29B |
| Oct 25, 2024 | $5.03 | $4.99 | +0.8% | $17.49B |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 14.3× | 14.4× | 48th | Top 6% |
| P/E (forward) | 14.5× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 8.9× | — | — | Top 7% |
| EV / Sales | 1.80× | — | — | Top 23% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 6.49% | — | — | Top 13% |
| Earnings yield | 7.00% | — | — | Top 6% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 10.1× – 18.0× since Jun 30, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
What moved the stock over the past year
- Price return, 1 year
- +0.1%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- +25.5%
- Change in P/E multiple
- -8.3%
Most of the move came from earnings growth.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✓ Price above 20-day average
- ✓ Price above 50-day average
- ✗ Price above 200-day average
- ✗ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✗ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 18
- Days above the 200-day average
- 0
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- +3.5%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- -1.4%
- Distance from 50-day average
- +2.4%
- Distance from 200-day average
- -4.3%
- RSI (14)
- 52.4
- Relative volume
- 0.62×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 35.8%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 83th percentile · High for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.29
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.15
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -21.7%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -33.7%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 20, 2022 | Jul 6, 2022 | -39.7% | 52 days | 200 days (Apr 21, 2023) |
| Mar 9, 2026 | Jun 8, 2026 | -33.7% | 63 days | Not yet recovered |
| Oct 18, 2024 | Jan 3, 2025 | -28.6% | 52 days | 167 days (Sep 5, 2025) |
| Jun 30, 2023 | Oct 26, 2023 | -26.9% | 82 days | 65 days (Jan 31, 2024) |
| Sep 16, 2021 | Nov 30, 2021 | -13.8% | 52 days | 64 days (Mar 3, 2022) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $92.38B
- P/E (TTM)
- 14.3
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $29.87
- Revenue (TTM)
- $78.01B
- Dividend yield
- 0.72%
- 52-week range
- $353.99 – $556.52
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $58.75B | $60.23B | $64.97B | $70.60B | $75.60B |
| Gross profit | $22.49B | $23.18B | $25.58B | $28.68B | $31.37B |
| Operating income | $9.68B | $9.05B | $9.63B | $10.55B | $11.96B |
| Net income | $6.96B | $5.64B | $5.24B | $5.76B | $6.78B |
| EPS (diluted) | $21.16 | $19.15 | $18.96 | $22.00 | $28.38 |
| Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $17.49B | $18.29B | $18.32B | $18.61B | $19.16B | $19.51B | $19.11B | $20.23B |
| Net income | $1.27B | $1.44B | $1.61B | $1.65B | $1.64B | $1.88B | $1.62B | $1.70B |
| EPS (diluted) | $4.89 | $5.63 | $6.45 | $6.83 | $6.96 | $8.14 | $7.15 | $7.62 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $8.96B | $8.52B | $9.43B | $10.51B | $12.64B |
| Capital expenditure | -$3.58B | -$4.39B | -$4.74B | -$4.88B | -$4.94B |
| Free cash flow | $5.38B | $4.13B | $4.69B | $5.64B | $7.69B |
| Dividends paid | -$624.0M | -$653.0M | -$661.0M | -$690.0M | -$679.0M |
| Net share buybacks | -$8.21B | -$7.00B | -$3.81B | -$6.04B | -$10.07B |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $1.01B
- Total assets
- $60.53B
- Total liabilities
- $63.67B
- Total debt
- $48.78B
- Net debt
- $47.76B
- Shareholders’ equity
- -$6.58B
As of Jun 30, 2026 (filed Jul 28, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 16, 2026 | $0.78 | Sep 30, 2026 |
| Jun 16, 2026 | $0.78 | Jun 30, 2026 |
| Mar 17, 2026 | $0.78 | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Dec 15, 2025 | $0.72 | Dec 29, 2025 |
| Sep 16, 2025 | $0.72 | Sep 30, 2025 |
| Jun 16, 2025 | $0.72 | Jun 30, 2025 |
| Mar 17, 2025 | $0.72 | Mar 31, 2025 |
| Dec 13, 2024 | $0.66 | Dec 27, 2024 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 6,479,985
- Days to cover
- 4.52
- Change vs previous report
- +5.6%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.