HCA Healthcare, Inc. Website

HCA Healthcare, Inc.

NYSE-HCA

Company Overview

HCA Healthcare, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides health care services company in the United States. The company operates general and acute care hospitals that offers medical and surgical services, including inpatient care, intensive care, cardiac care, diagnostic, and emergency services; and outpatient services, such as outpatient surgery, laboratory, radiology, respiratory therapy, cardiology, and physical therapy. It also operates outpatient health care facilities consisting of freestanding ambulatory surgery centers, freestanding emergency care facilities, urgent care facilities, walk-in clinics, diagnostic and imaging centers, rehabilitation and physical therapy centers, radiation and oncology therapy centers, physician practices, and various other facilities. In addition, the company operates psychiatric hospitals, which provide therapeutic programs comprising child, adolescent and adult psychiatric care, adolescent and adult alcohol, drug abuse treatment, and counseling services. As of December 31, 2021, it operated 182 hospitals, including 175 general and acute care hospitals, five psychiatric hospitals, and two rehabilitation hospitals; 125 freestanding surgery centers; and 21 freestanding endoscopy centers in 20 states and England. The company was formerly known as HCA Holdings, Inc. HCA Healthcare, Inc. was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.

  • Name

    HCA Healthcare, Inc.

  • CEO

    —

  • Website

    hcahealthcare.com

  • Sector

    Health Care Providers and Services

  • Year Founded

    1968

Company Statistics

Profile

  • Market Cap

    —

  • EV

    —

  • Shares Out

    —

  • Revenue

    —

  • Employees

    —

Margins

  • Gross

    —

  • EBITDA

    —

  • Operating

    —

  • Pre-Tax

    —

  • Net

    —

  • FCF

    —

Returns (5Yr Avg)

  • ROA

    —

  • ROTA

    —

  • ROE

    —

  • ROCE

    —

  • ROIC

    —

Valuation (TTM)

  • P/E

    —

  • P/B

    —

  • EV/Sales

    —

  • EV/EBITDA

    —

  • P/FCF

    —

  • EV/Gross Profit

    —

Valuation (NTM)

  • Price Target

    —

  • P/E

    —

  • PEG

    —

  • EV/Sales

    —

  • EV/EBITDA

    —

  • P/FCF

    —

Financial Health

  • Cash

    —

  • Net Debt

    —

  • Debt/Equity

    —

  • EBIT/Interest

    —

Growth (CAGR)

  • Rev 3Yr

    —

  • Rev 5Yr

    —

  • Rev 10Yr

    —

  • Dil EPS 3Yr

    —

  • Dil EPS 5Yr

    —

  • Dil EPS 10Yr

    —

  • Rev Fwd 2Yr

    —

  • EBITDA Fwd 2Yr

    —

  • EPS Fwd 2Yr

    —

  • EPS LT Growth Est

    —

Dividends

  • Yield

    —

  • Payout

    —

  • DPS

    —

  • DPS Growth 3Yr

    —

  • DPS Growth 5Yr

    —

  • DPS Growth 10Yr

    —

  • DPS Growth Fwd 2Yr

    —

Bulls Say

  • HCA benefits when medical utilization rises, which may continue in the long run given favorable demographic trends.

  • HCA's focus on attractive geographic locations gives it a volume tailwind that should positively affect its top line.

  • The company's financial leverage should be manageable, giving HCA flexibility for US healthcare policy changes or other shocks to the system that could constrain demand for the more elective, and highly profitable, parts of its business.

Bears Say

  • Healthcare policy changes may pose a near-term headwind and persist as a long-term ESG risk until universal, affordable coverage is achieved in the US.

  • If relatively low-margin government programs, such as Medicare, continue to grow at a faster pace than other US insurance programs, HCA's margins could face pressure.

  • Economic or other shocks that reduce medical utilization or reimbursement rates could cut into HCA's profits due to the significant fixed costs in its hospital operations.

Source: Morningstar Analysis - Nov 12, 2025

What's happening

Dec 2, 2025 - Jan 1, 2026

HCA Healthcare Inc Faces Significant Stock Decline Amid Analyst Downgrades

  • HCA Healthcare's stock price dropped by 7.2% over the past month, significantly underperforming against the S&P 500's decrease of only 0.2%.
  • Morgan Stanley's downgrade from Equalweight to Underweight on December 15 triggered a sharp decline in share value.
  • Despite strong quarterly earnings, mixed analyst ratings and concerns about valuation metrics contributed to investor skepticism.

Over the last month, HCA Healthcare Inc experienced a notable decline of 7.2% in its stock price, markedly underperforming compared to the S&P 500’s modest decrease of just 0.2%. This downward trend was largely influenced by bearish sentiments from analysts and negative market reactions following recent downgrades and adjustments in price targets.

A pivotal moment occurred on December 15 when Morgan Stanley downgraded HCA from Equalweight to Underweight with a new target price set at $425. This downgrade intensified negative sentiment surrounding the company's outlook, leading to an immediate drop of approximately 2.6% in HCA’s stock value that day.

On December 16, shares hit a four-week low at $466.12 after another decline of about 1.7%. These cumulative declines underscored investor concerns regarding potential overvaluation as indicated by HCA's P/E ratio of 18.29—higher than industry averages—and raised questions about future performance amid increasing scrutiny from analysts.

While there were some positive signals earlier in December with RBC Capital and Mizuho raising their price targets for HCA to $525 and $520 respectively, these adjustments could not counterbalance the prevailing bearish sentiment throughout most trading activities during the month.

Despite reporting strong quarterly earnings with revenues up nearly ten percent year-over-year, analyst ratings remained mixed heading into December; Zacks Research downgraded its rating while other firms maintained or upgraded theirs without providing sufficient support against significant downgrades like those from Morgan Stanley. Overall performance reflected volatility and skepticism among investors regarding valuation metrics within healthcare services sectors; specifically, HCA Healthcare Inc underperformed relative not only to broader indices but also against sector benchmarks: it underperformed the Health Care (XLV) sector by -6.9%.

NYSE:HCA