HCA vs UHS Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
HCA Healthcare and Universal Health Services both operate hospital networks, but HCA Healthcare concentrates on acute care hospitals at a much larger scale, while Universal Health Services combines acute care hospitals with a substantial behavioral health facility segment.
HCA Healthcare offers scale advantages through the largest for-profit acute care hospital network, while Universal Health Services offers diversification through its combined acute care and behavioral health segments. Consider whether you prefer HCA's acute care scale or UHS's behavioral health diversification.
HCA holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. HCA has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+6.64% vs -6.07%), though UHS has the better forward P/E setup (7.14x vs 13.01x for HCA). HCA leads on both revenue growth (8.70%) and operating margin (15.16%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for UHS (+12.98%) than for HCA (+8.06%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Want exposure to the largest for-profit acute care hospital network in the United States
- Value the negotiating leverage and purchasing efficiencies that come with HCA's scale
- Believe broad geographic diversification across acute care hospitals supports stable demand
- Prefer a more concentrated acute care hospital business model
- Want diversified exposure combining acute care hospitals with a substantial behavioral health facility segment
- Believe growing recognition of mental health treatment needs supports long-term behavioral health demand
- Value the diversification benefits of two distinct healthcare demand drivers within one company
- Are comfortable with a smaller overall scale relative to the largest hospital operators
| Metric | HCA | UHS |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 53.3 | 38.1 |
| AI ranki | #345 | #1413 |
| Latest closei | $427.71 | $176.69 |
| 1M returni | +5.08% | +2.53% |
| 6M returni | -14.40% | -5.62% |
| 1Y returni | +6.64% | -6.07% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | HCA | UHS |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $10.66K (+6.6%) started 2025-09-18 | $9.39K (-6.1%) started 2025-09-18 |
| 5Y ago | $17.86K (+78.6%) started 2021-09-20 | $12.71K (+27.1%) started 2021-09-20 |
| 10Y ago | $64.72K (+547.2%) started 2016-09-19 | $15.44K (+54.4%) started 2016-09-19 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | HCA | UHS |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $90.46B | $10.12B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 14.01 | 7.01 |
| Forward P/Ei | 13.01 | 7.14 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | 0.76 |
| EV/Revenuei | 1.85 | 0.85 |
| Analyst targeti | $451.48 | $193.94 |
| Target upsidei | +8.06% | +12.98% |
| Metric | HCA | UHS |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 8.70% | 8.30% |
| Earnings growthi | 11.60% | 10.10% |
| EPS growthi | +11.60% | +10.10% |
| FCF margini | +4.79% | +2.75% |
| Operating margini | 15.16% | 11.14% |
| Profit margini | 8.77% | 8.42% |
| ROIC proxyi | 13631.68% | 20.95% |
| Return on equityi | 13631.68% | 20.95% |
| Dividend yieldi | 0.75% | 0.47% |
| Payout ratioi | 10.06% | 3.27% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | No increase yet |
| Betai | 1.11 | 1.06 |
| Debt/equityi | N/A | 68.74 |
| Current ratioi | 0.99 | 1.12 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.78 | 0.89 |
Over the past year, HCA and UHS have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.66), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | HCA | UHS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +6.64% | -6.07% |
| CAGRi | +6.65% | -6.07% | |
| Volatilityi | 30.68% | 32.21% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.22 | -0.17 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.31 | -0.23 | |
| Max drawdowni | 33.72% | 42.19% | |
| Current drawdowni | 21.54% | 27.64% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 13.24% | 20.00% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 17.34% | 24.30% | |
| Max daily dropi | 8.77% | 11.44% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 14.06% | 12.32% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +73.05% | +24.59% |
| CAGRi | +11.60% | +4.50% | |
| Volatilityi | 30.04% | 32.07% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.37 | 0.16 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.50 | 0.22 | |
| Max drawdowni | 39.49% | 43.34% | |
| Current drawdowni | 21.54% | 27.64% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 11.66% | 16.34% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 15.29% | 19.94% | |
| Max daily dropi | 21.82% | 13.96% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 22.87% | 20.55% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +503.47% | +48.71% |
| CAGRi | +19.70% | +4.05% | |
| Volatilityi | 32.99% | 34.55% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.58 | 0.16 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.83 | 0.22 | |
| Max drawdowni | 54.74% | 56.30% | |
| Current drawdowni | 21.54% | 27.64% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 10.01% | 14.65% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 13.86% | 18.37% | |
| Max daily dropi | 21.82% | 22.26% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 39.49% | 38.54% |
| Category | HCA | UHS |
|---|---|---|
| Company | HCA Healthcare, Inc. | Universal Health Services, Inc. |
| Sector | Healthcare | Healthcare |
| Industry | Medical Care Facilities | Medical Care Facilities |
| Core business | The largest for-profit hospital operator in the United States, operating a large network of acute care hospitals and related healthcare facilities providing a broad range of medical and surgical services. | A hospital operator running both acute care hospitals and a substantial behavioral health facility network, providing psychiatric and substance abuse treatment services alongside general medical and surgical care. |
| Investor focus | Patient volume and acuity mix trends, reimbursement rate negotiations with payers, and margin performance across the hospital network. | Behavioral health segment growth and occupancy trends, acute care segment volume and margin performance, and capital allocation between the two segments. |
- Scale as the largest for-profit hospital operator provides negotiating leverage with payers and purchasing efficiencies
- Broad geographic footprint across acute care hospitals provides diversified exposure to regional healthcare demand
- Comprehensive service line offerings across surgical, medical, and specialty care support revenue diversification
- Behavioral health segment provides diversified exposure to psychiatric and substance abuse treatment demand distinct from acute care hospital cycles
- Combination of acute care and behavioral health segments provides diversification across different healthcare demand drivers
- Growing recognition of mental health treatment needs supports long-term behavioral health facility demand
- Hospital volumes and payer mix are sensitive to broader economic conditions and employment-based insurance coverage trends
- Reimbursement rate negotiations with government and commercial payers directly affect revenue per patient
- Labor cost inflation, particularly for nursing staff, can pressure margins across the hospital industry
- Behavioral health facility staffing and regulatory compliance requirements carry ongoing operational complexity
- Acute care segment remains exposed to the same reimbursement and labor cost pressures affecting the broader hospital industry
- Smaller overall scale relative to the largest hospital operators limits some negotiating leverage advantages
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