NYSE: HCA

HCA Healthcare (HCA) Stock Analysis & Forecast

Nov 4 close

$510.70+47.84 (+10.3%)

Gekko Brief

AI summaryNov 4 close

HCA Healthcare shares surged this week after election results confirmed Democrats reclaimed majorities in the House and Senate, with coverage grouping HCA among healthcare names expected to benefit from the political shift. Truist Securities raised its price target on HCA to $510 from $495 while keeping a Buy rating. The company also filed a Form 424B5 tied to a $6.5 billion senior notes offering, with proceeds earmarked for redeeming existing senior notes and repaying commercial paper borrowings.

HCA closed at $510.70, up 10.3%, well above both its 50-day average of $440.49 and 200-day average of $444.51. One-month return stands at 18.2% and three-month return at 24.9%. The GekkoIndex reads 44, placing the stock in the Distribution zone, down 7.9 over five days. Price sits 27.2% above Gekko Fair Value of $401.43.

The next earnings date falls on 26 January 2027, 82 days out and beyond a typical 20-trading-day swing window. Smart money activity over the past 90 days shows 1 congressional buy and 0 sales, alongside one billionaire holder and one trailblazer holder. Seasonality over 5 years shows an average 20-day return of 1.7% from this point in the calendar, with gains in 3 of those years. Analyst consensus among 17 firms shows 9 buy, 7 hold, and 1 sell ratings, with a consensus target of $474.52, implying -7.1% versus the current price. The gap to Gekko Fair Value bears watching.

Written by AI from the Nov 4, 2026 close and checked automatically against the figures on this page.

HCA Healthcare price vs fair value

$510.70$401.43Nov ’25May ’26Nov ’26
Close $510.70200-day averageGekko Fair Value $401.43

HCA Healthcare quick facts

Market cap
$106.7B
P/E ratio
15.7
Forward P/E
15
EPS, TTM
$29.80
Revenue, TTM
$78.70B
Profit margin
8.6%
Dividend yield
0.65%
Beta
1.10
Volume
3.44M avg 1.41M
1-year return
+10.6%
Typical daily move
±3.6%
Typical 20-day move
±5.9%
50-day average
$440.49
200-day average
$444.51
Next earnings
Jan 26
Shares outstanding
208.9M
52-week range
$353.99$556.52

HCA Healthcare swing-trade checklist

HCA Healthcare scores 3 supportive, 1 mixed and 2 headwinds across the 6 checklist items with data.

Six things swing traders check before a 20-day hold, read from the latest data.

3 supportive1 mixed2 headwinds

  • Trendmixed

    Averages disagree

    Close $510.70 sits between the 50-day ($440.49) and 200-day ($444.51) averages, or the averages disagree.

    See the chart
  • GekkoIndexheadwind

    44, Distribution

    Reading 44 is in the Distribution zone.

    See the GekkoIndex
  • Fair valueheadwind

    27.2% above

    Price is 27.2% above Gekko Fair Value (more than 5% above).

    See fair value
  • Smart moneysupportive

    Leans bullish

    Last 90 days: Congress 1 buy / 0 sales.

    See smart money
  • Earnings risksupportive

    Reports in 82 days

    Next report Jan 26, 2027, 82 days away — outside a typical 20-trading-day hold.

    See earnings
  • Seasonalitysupportive

    +1.7% on average

    From this point in the calendar, the next 20 trading days averaged +1.7% over 5 years, rising in 3 of them.

    See seasonality

A description of current data, not a recommendation. How this page works

HCA Healthcare stock chart and price history

HCA Healthcare closed at $510.70 on Nov 4, 2026, +10.6% over the past year, inside a 52-week range of $353.99 to $556.52.

Close50-day average200-day averageVolume
HCA Healthcare share price, past year, with 50-day and 200-day moving averages and volume$400$450$550DecJan 2026FebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOct510.70

Use the left and right arrow keys to read daily values.

Performance Breakdown

1 month
+18.2%
3 months
+24.9%
6 months
+18.9%
1 year
+10.6%
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About HCA Healthcare

HCA Healthcare provides a wide range of medical services across the United States through its subsidiaries. Its hospitals handle general and acute care, including inpatient treatment, intensive and cardiac care, diagnostics, and emergency medicine, while also supporting outpatient services such as ambulatory surgery, lab work, imaging, respiratory and physical therapy, and cardiology. Beyond hospital campuses, the company runs standalone surgery and emergency centers, urgent care and walk-in clinics, imaging and rehabilitation sites, oncology and radiation facilities, and physician offices.

The company also operates psychiatric hospitals offering treatment for children, adolescents, and adults, along with programs addressing alcohol and drug dependency. Its facilities are grouped into general and acute care hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, and rehabilitation hospitals, supported by a large number of freestanding surgery and endoscopy centers spread across multiple states and England, serving patients who need both hospital-based and outpatient medical care.

HCA Healthcare was founded in 1968 and was previously known as HCA Holdings, Inc. It is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, and its shares are listed on the NYSE under the ticker HCA.

Listed
NYSE
Sector
Health services
Industry
Hospital/Nursing management
Website
hcahealthcare.com

HCA Healthcare GekkoIndex: the smart money zone

HCA Healthcare’s GekkoIndex — Gekko’s 0 to 100 smart money score — reads 44, in the Distribution zone, down 7.9 points over five sessions.

010044Distribution

Down 7.9 points over five sessions, from the Neutral zone.

Reading for Nov 4, 2026

What followed past readings in each zone

ZoneReadings5 days10 days20 days50 days
Buying600.0%+0.5%−0.4%+0.3%
Accumulation143+0.4%+0.9%+1.2%+3.2%
Neutral427+0.7%+0.9%+1.7%+4.3%
Distribution (current zone)64−0.6%+0.6%+3.6%+1.7%
Selling3Too few readings yet

Average HCA share-price change over the trading days after each daily reading in its GekkoIndex history. Across every stock Gekko tracks, Distribution readings averaged +1.2% over 20 days. Past behaviour doesn’t guarantee future results.

Distribution zone: Institutions potentially offloading. About the five zones →

See every daily GekkoIndex reading plotted over the HCA price, zone by zone.Track HCA in Gekko

Is HCA Healthcare stock overvalued? Gekko Fair Value

HCA Healthcare trades 27.2% above Gekko Fair Value of $401.43, so the shares are overvalued on Gekko’s estimate.

Gekko’s own estimate of what HCA Healthcare shares are worth, recalculated every trading day.

$401.43

Gekko Fair Value, Nov 4, 2026

27.2% Overvalued

At the end of Aug 2026 the price was 4.4% above the estimate.

Gekko Fair ValueShare price, month end
$401$463Aug 2026SepOctNov 2026

How Gekko Fair Value works →

Gekko Fair Value on every chart, with the gap to price updating daily.Open HCA in Gekko

HCA Healthcare insider and Congress trading

No open-market insider purchases were filed for HCA Healthcare, and members of Congress disclosed 1 purchase and 0 sales, in the last 90 days.

Plus buybacks, unusual options and fund positions, each dated to when it became public.

Insider buying last 90 days

No open-market insider purchases were filed for HCA in the last 90 days.

From Form 4 filings, dated to when each was filed.

Every HCA insider filing, plotted on the chart in Gekko.Open HCA in Gekko

Congress trades last 90 days

1trade disclosed: 1 purchase and 0 sales.

MemberTypeAmountDisclosed
Ro Khanna
House, CA, purchase
Purchase$1,001 - $15,000Oct 9
traded Sep 4

From congressional disclosures, which report amounts as ranges.

Buybacks

HCA Healthcare has been buying back its own shares.

Bought back, quarter ended Sep 30, 2026
$2.97B
As a share of market cap
2.78%
Trailing four quarters
$9.16B

From company filings.

Hedge funds and billionaires quarter ended Sep 30

2of the funds Gekko tracks hold HCA.

2added0opened0trimmed0sold out
Which funds are on each side, name by name.Unlock in Gekko

HCA Healthcare earnings: next date and track record

HCA Healthcare reports on Jan 26, 2027 (82 days away), and beat the EPS estimate in 6 of its last 8 reports.

6 of 8reports beat the EPS estimate
±4.4%average move across the report
4 of 8reports followed by a gain

Share-price move across each report

−10.6%Oct ’24+2.0%Jan ’25−2.8%Apr ’25−0.3%Jul ’25+6.3%Oct ’25+4.0%Jan ’26−6.0%Apr ’26+3.5%Jul ’26

Last earnings call, Jul 24, 2026 AI summary

What they said
HCA Healthcare Q2 2026 earnings call focused on payer mix headwinds driven by expiration of enhanced premium tax credits causing exchange patients to migrate to uninsured, leading to significant adjusted EBITDA impact. Management highlighted solid EPS growth (11% quarter and YTD), volume gains in insured populations excluding exchanges, increased uninsured volumes, and incremental net benefit from Medicaid supplemental payment programs, particularly a $540 million benefit from Florida. They emphasized resiliency initiatives to control costs and multi-year investments including $7B capital over 3 years for inpatient and outpatient expansion. Surgery volumes declined (elective down 6%, inpatient emergent stable +2%), professional fees elevated (anesthesia, radiology), and provider taxes affecting other OpEx. Management provided updated guidance reflecting $1.0-1.2B exchange headwind for full year and adjustments for supplemental payments; they expect attrition to be lower in 2027 than 2026 absent new enhanced credits. Risks discussed include payer mix headwinds, Medicaid work requirements, regulatory uncertainties (IDR/no surprises, OPPS proposed rule), and state-specific Medicaid conversion slowdowns (Texas).
Guidance
Company provided forward-looking guidance updates: full-year 2026 updated estimate of exchange headwind of $1.0 billion to $1.2 billion; implied updated full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance reduced by roughly $250 million (management noted ~$500 million reduction after adjustments) aligning to long-term growth algorithm. They also recognized accruals and 21-month Florida Medicaid DPP benefit (10/1/2024-6/30/2026) and included assumed accruals for FY2026 in guidance. Management expects exchange attrition to be less in 2027 than 2026 under assumption that core ACA premium tax credits remain in place.
Risks flagged
Key risks mentioned: expiration of enhanced premium tax credits leading to uninsured migration and unfavorable payer mix; potential further policy or market changes affecting exchanges; Medicaid work requirements implementation uncertainty (esp. in expansion states); state-level Medicaid conversion slowdowns (notably Texas); regulatory and payment uncertainty including IDR/no-surprises adjustments and finalization of OPPS/other CMS rules; dependency on Medicaid supplemental payment program approvals (Florida accrual); inflationary pressures in professional fees (anesthesia, radiology) and provider taxes.
ReportedEPSSurpriseRevenueSurpriseMove
Jul 24, 2026$7.59
est $7.57
+0.3%$20.23B
est $19.76B
+2.4%+3.5%
Apr 24, 2026$7.15
est $7.15
0.0%$19.11B
est $19.09B
+0.1%−6.0%
Jan 27, 2026$8.01
est $7.46
+7.4%$19.51B
est $19.68B
−0.9%+4.0%
Oct 24, 2025$6.96
est $5.79
+20.2%$19.16B
est $18.60B
+3.0%+6.3%
Jul 25, 2025$6.84
est $6.29
+8.7%$18.61B
est $18.50B
+0.6%−0.3%
Apr 25, 2025$6.45
est $5.75
+12.2%$18.32B
est $18.26B
+0.3%−2.8%
Jan 24, 2025$6.22
est $6.14
+1.3%$18.29B
est $18.23B
+0.3%+2.0%
Oct 25, 2024$4.88
est $4.98
−2.0%$17.49B
est $17.54B
−0.3%−10.6%

“Move” is the close of the first session after the report compared with the close of the last session before it, so it reads the same whether the company reported before the open or after the close.

HCA Healthcare stock forecast and analyst price targets

Analysts’ average 12-month price target for HCA Healthcare is $474.52, −7.1% from the last close, from 17 firms rating the stock in the last 90 days.

$474.52consensus 12-month target, −7.1% from the last close
Low $380High $521
Buy9
Hold7
Sell1

Each firm’s latest rating in the last 90 days: 17 firms.

Latest analyst actions

DateFirmRatingTargetvs price
Nov 2Wells FargoHold, maintained$468−8.4%
Oct 29Morgan StanleySell, reiterated$380−25.6%
Oct 29RBC CapitalBuy, maintained$521+2.0%
Oct 29BarclaysHold, maintained$401−21.5%
Oct 28Bank of America SecuritiesHold, reiterated$500−2.1%
+3.6%average 20-day move after past Distribution readings
+1.7%average move over the next 20 trading days in the last 5 years
±3.6%typical daily move, from the 14-day average range

Gekko doesn’t publish price predictions. These are analyst targets and historical base rates, which don’t guarantee future results.

HCA Healthcare seasonality: the next 20 trading days

Over the next 20 trading days from Nov 4, HCA Healthcare averaged +1.7% across the last 5 years, rising in 3 of them.

Next 20 trading days, by year

−7.0%2021+11.1%2022+9.3%2023−9.9%2024+3.2%2025

Average move and hit rate

WindowAverageYears higher
Next 5 trading days+0.4%2 of 5
Next 10 trading days+1.5%3 of 5
Next 15 trading days+2.4%3 of 5
Next 20 trading days+1.7%3 of 5
Next 30 trading days+3.2%4 of 5

For scale, HCA’s typical 20-trading-day move in either direction is about 5.9%.

HCA Healthcare market cap and key statistics

HCA Healthcare’s market cap is $106.7B, with a P/E ratio of 15.7 and revenue of $78.70B over the last twelve months.

Valuation

Market cap
$106.7B
P/E ratio
15.7
Forward P/E
15
EPS, TTM
$29.80
Gekko Fair Value
$401.43

Trading

Volume
3.44M
Avg volume, 20 days
1.41M
52-week high
$556.52
52-week low
$353.99
Shares outstanding
208.9M

Financials

Revenue, TTM
$78.70B
Profit margin
8.6%
Return on equity
136.3%
Quarterly earnings growth, YoY
+4.5%

Risk and income

Beta
1.10
Typical daily move
±3.6%
Typical 20-day move
±5.9%
Dividend yield
0.65%

HCA Healthcare peers

HCA Healthcare’s 6 largest industry peers by market value, with today’s move, GekkoIndex zone and gap to Gekko Fair Value.

StockTodayGekkoIndex zonevs Fair Value
THCTenet Healthcare+4.4%Neutral2.3% below
UHSUniversal Health Services+5.6%Neutral16.4% below
PACSPACS+3.6%Neutral0.2% above
CHEChemed+0.7%Neutral4.5% below
NHCNational HealthCare+1.8%Accumulation19.4% above
SGRYSurgery Partners−0.2%Distribution45.4% above

A peer links to its own page where one exists.

In the Buying zone today

Reporting earnings this week

Popular on Gekko

More stocks in Hospital/Nursing management

HCA Healthcare stock FAQ

What is HCA Healthcare’s market cap?

HCA Healthcare’s market cap is $106.7B at the Nov 4, 2026 close of $510.70, with 208.9M shares outstanding. The shares trade on a P/E ratio of 15.7.

What is the HCA Healthcare stock forecast?

The consensus analyst 12-month price target for HCA Healthcare is $474.52, −7.1% from the last close. Of the 17 firms that rated the stock in the last 90 days, 9 rate it a buy, 7 a hold and 1 a sell. Gekko doesn’t publish price predictions of its own.

Is HCA Healthcare stock overvalued or undervalued?

On Gekko’s estimate HCA Healthcare is overvalued: the Nov 4, 2026 close of $510.70 is 27.2% above Gekko Fair Value of $401.43. Gekko Fair Value is recalculated every trading day, and a gap inside 5% either way counts as about fair value.

When does HCA Healthcare report earnings next?

HCA Healthcare is expected to report on Jan 26, 2027 (82 days away). Analysts expect earnings of $8.15 per share on revenue of $20.02B. HCA Healthcare beat the earnings estimate in 6 of its last 8 reports, moving 4.4% on average across the report.

What is HCA Healthcare’s 52-week high and low?

HCA Healthcare’s 52-week high is $556.52 and its 52-week low is $353.99; it closed at $510.70 on Nov 4, 2026, +10.6% over the past year.

Is HCA Healthcare stock a buy right now?

Gekko describes the data; it does not make buy or sell recommendations. On the swing-trade checklist, 3 of the 6 items with data read as supportive (smart money, earnings risk and seasonality), 1 as mixed (trend) and 2 as headwinds (gekkoindex and fair value). The checklist is a description of current data, not a recommendation.

How this page works

During US trading hours the price at the top of the page is a delayed quote, refreshed every 15 minutes; everything else is rebuilt after each US market close. The GekkoIndex, Gekko Fair Value and the checklist are Gekko’s own, and the Gekko Brief is written by AI from this page’s data and checked against it before it is published. How Gekko’s data works →

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