HCA Healthcare vs UnitedHealth
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put HCA Healthcare and UnitedHealth side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- UnitedHealth is the larger business, with $447.6B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $75.6B for HCA Healthcare, about 5.9 times as much.
- UnitedHealth grew revenue faster (11.8%, against 7.1%).
- HCA Healthcare turned more of its sales into free cash flow (10.2% FCF margin, against 3.6%).
- HCA Healthcare earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (22.3%, against 11.2%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of UnitedHealth’s earnings: a P/E of 26.4x against 16.0x for HCA Healthcare.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 8 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
HCA Healthcare
HCA
4/8
Net marginFCF marginReturn on capitalShare count change
UnitedHealth
UNH
4/8
Revenue growth5-year growthPiotroski F-scoreNet debt / EBITDA
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | HCA FY25 | UNH FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $105.5B | $372.1B |
| Revenue | $75.6B | $447.6B |
| Free cash flow | $7.7B | $16.1B |
| Net income | $6.8B | $12.1B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 7.1% | 11.8% |
| 5-year growth | 8.0% | 11.7% |
| Share count change | −8.5% | −1.9% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | 88.7% |
| Operating margin | — | 4.2% |
| Net margin | 9.0% | 2.7% |
| FCF margin | 10.2% | 3.6% |
| Return on capital | 22.3% | 11.2% |
| Return on equity | — | 12.2% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $46.2B | $50.3B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 3.0x | 2.2x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $10.7B | $13.5B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 16.0x | 26.4x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 7 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.