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HCA Healthcare HCA

HCA Healthcare scores good on business quality (6.4 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.

Last price$451.09Oct 10, 2026
Business qualityGood
Next earningsOct 27, 2026, before the open
Insiders, 90 daysQuiet

Why it matters

  1. What HCA Healthcare does

    HCA Healthcare operates a massive network of acute-care hospitals and surgery centers, collecting fees from patients and insurers for medical procedures. The company is leaning into regional market density and expanding its ambulatory surgical footprint to capture outpatient procedure volume.

  2. What it does best

    HCA dominates local hospital markets through sheer facility density, converting scale into purchasing power and physician gravity. It delivers an 85.3% gross margin, towering over peer THC at 82.2% and anchoring an ironclad regional network.

  3. The main risk

    Heavy debt loads create structural vulnerability, with net debt sitting at $45.5 billion against $1.0 billion in cash. If patient volumes dip or labor costs spike, servicing this debt consumes cash flow needed for facility reinvestment.

Quality, check by check

Scored against its own industry, from company filings.

ProfitabilityFair

Operating margins sit at 15.5% while free cash flow margin reaches 29.0%, placing FCF conversion in the top quartile of its sector. Scale efficiencies help absorb rising clinical labor expenses, preserving cash generation.

MoatStrong

Scale and dense regional facility clusters lock in local patients and physicians, pushing return on equity to the top decile of its sector at 695.7%. Competitors cannot easily replicate billions in capital-intensive hospital infrastructure.

GrowthSteady

Revenue grew 7.1% to $78.0 billion, maintaining a steady expansion pace compared to prior years. Regional hospital admissions and outpatient services drive this top-line push.

Financial healthFair

Debt stands at $46.5 billion against $1.0 billion in cash, while interest coverage of 5.2x leaves a modest safety buffer. Free cash flow reached $6.0B, keeping the balance sheet in a steady holding pattern.

Insiders

Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.

No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.

Our sealed record on HCA

Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.

The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.

Questions

Is HCA a good business?

HCA Healthcare scores good on the Cluenex quality check (6.4 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is fair, moat strong, growth steady and financial health fair.

Are insiders buying HCA?

In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.

When does HCA report earnings?

Oct 27, 2026, before the open.

For members

See HCA today

  • Today's verdict on HCA, and why
  • Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
  • The exact price that would change the verdict
  • Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
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Cite this page: Cluenex, “HCA Healthcare (HCA)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/hca/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.