Ardent Health Partners, Inc. (ARDT)
NYSE:ARDT
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Ardent Health Partners, Inc.
(NYSE:ARDT)
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Rating:65Neutral
Price Target:
$9.00
▼(-4.66% Downside)
Action:ReiteratedDate:03/05/26
The score is driven mainly by improving financial footing (deleveraging and stronger cash generation) but is held back by the 2025 profitability reset and cautious 2026 EBITDA outlook. Technically, shares show improving near-term momentum but remain below longer-term moving averages. Valuation is supportive due to a low P/E.
Positive Factors
Deleveraging and stronger balance sheet
Significant deleveraging (debt-to-equity down to ~0.7x with a larger equity base) materially improves financial flexibility and lowers interest and covenant risk. This strengthens the company’s ability to fund operations, capital needs, and strategic initiatives and to absorb sector shocks over the next several quarters.
Negative Factors
2026 profitability reset
Management’s guidance implies a near-term profitability reset with 2026 EBITDA below 2025 actuals, reflecting material modeled headwinds and restored incentive expenses. This constrains free cash flow and discretionary spending in 2026 and delays margin recovery until the company realizes savings and volume improvements in later periods.
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Positive Factors
Negative Factors
Deleveraging and stronger balance sheet
Significant deleveraging (debt-to-equity down to ~0.7x with a larger equity base) materially improves financial flexibility and lowers interest and covenant risk. This strengthens the company’s ability to fund operations, capital needs, and strategic initiatives and to absorb sector shocks over the next several quarters.
Read all positive factors
Ardent Health Partners, Inc. (ARDT) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Market Cap
$1.35B
Dividend YieldN/A
Average Volume (3M)407.60K
Price to Earnings (P/E)9.2
Beta (1Y)0.56
Revenue Growth10.86%
EPS Growth125.05%
CountryUS
Employees19,200
SectorHealthcare
Sector Strength45
IndustryMedical - Care Facilities
Share Statistics
EPS (TTM)0.32
Shares Outstanding142,902,280
10 Day Avg. Volume333,763
30 Day Avg. Volume407,603
Financial Highlights & Ratios
PEG Ratio-0.23
Price to Book (P/B)0.74
Price to Sales (P/S)0.20
P/FCF Ratio4.81
Enterprise Value/Market Cap2.15
Enterprise Value/Revenue0.46
Enterprise Value/Gross Profit0.47
Enterprise Value/Ebitda5.79
Forecast
1Y Price Target
$12.73Price Target Upside34.85% Upside
Rating ConsensusModerate Buy
Number of Analyst Covering9
EPS Forecast (FY)1.14
Revenue Forecast (FY)$6.57B
Ardent Health Partners, Inc. Business Overview & Revenue Model
Company Description
Ardent Health Partners, LLC owns and operates a network of hospitals and clinics that provides a range of healthcare services in the United States. It operates acute care hospitals, including rehabilitation hospitals and surgical hospitals. The co...
How the Company Makes Money
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Ardent Health Partners, Inc. Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Date:Mar 04, 2026
(Q4-2025)
| % Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:May 12, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Positive
The call highlighted substantial progress: record annual revenue and EBITDA, a sharp increase in operating cash flow, strengthened liquidity and leverage metrics, accelerated IMPACT program savings (raised to $55M), and measurable labor and operational improvements driven by staffing optimization and technology. Management remained cautious about industry headwinds—payer denials, elevated professional fees, and exchange enrollment risk—which are expected to pressure 2026 results and were conservatively built into guidance (2026 EBITDA midpoint below 2025). Overall, the tone balances strong operational and financial execution with prudent caution around near-term policy and payer risks; management expects the benefits of IMPACT and technology to drive a return to EBITDA growth in 2027.Positive Updates
Record Financial Performance
Full-year 2025 revenue of $6.3 billion, up 6% year-over-year; adjusted EBITDA of $545 million, up 9% with margin expansion of 20 basis points to 8.6%; operating cash flow of $471 million in 2025, up 49% versus 2024; Q4 operating cash flow $223 million.
Negative Updates
Persistent Payer Denials and Professional Fee Pressure
Payer denials remained generally consistent with Q3 into Q4 (no large improvement baked into guidance); professional fees moderated to ~8% growth in Q4 from 11% in Q3 but remain elevated and are being assumed at high-single-digit levels in 2026 guidance; management annualized elevated headwinds of roughly $50 million into the 2026 base.
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Q4-2025 Updates
Positive
Negative
Record Financial Performance
Full-year 2025 revenue of $6.3 billion, up 6% year-over-year; adjusted EBITDA of $545 million, up 9% with margin expansion of 20 basis points to 8.6%; operating cash flow of $471 million in 2025, up 49% versus 2024; Q4 operating cash flow $223 million.
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
Ardent's 2026 guidance calls for revenue of $6.4–$6.7 billion (≈3.6% growth at the midpoint) and adjusted EBITDA of $485–$535 million (midpoint $510M), with adjusted admissions growth of 1.5%–2.5% and management expecting roughly 4% core earnings growth; the plan assumes IMPACT program savings of about $55M in 2026 (up from $40M, with ~$5M realized in 2025, implying ~ $50M incremental benefit), a modeled exchange headwind of ~$35M, a ~ $475M jump‑off base after annualizing ~ $50M of 2025 headwinds and ~$20M restoration of incentive comp, professional fee growth in the high single digits, HIX enrollment declines of ~20% (with ~10–15% shifting to employer coverage and the balance to self‑pay and ~30% lower utilization for that cohort), excludes any Rural Health Fund benefit, flags a ~$50M payroll timing cash‑flow headwind in 2026, and expects adjusted EBITDA to return to growth in 2027.Ardent Health Partners, Inc. Financial Statement Overview
Summary
Income Statement
58
Neutral
Balance Sheet
66
Positive
Cash Flow
71
Positive
| Breakdown | Dec 2025 | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 | Dec 2022 | Dec 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Income Statement | |||||
| Total Revenue | 6.32B | 5.97B | 5.41B | 5.13B | 4.16B |
| Gross Profit | 6.17B | 4.93B | 5.27B | 4.17B | 4.16B |
| EBITDA | 481.29M | 574.93M | 350.00M | 531.70M | 245.75M |
| Net Income | 135.81M | 210.34M | 50.29M | 188.91M | -143.02M |
Balance Sheet | |||||
| Total Assets | 5.29B | 4.96B | 5.10B | 4.86B | 2.75B |
| Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments | 709.60M | 556.78M | 437.58M | 456.12M | 59.66M |
| Total Debt | 2.26B | 2.28B | 2.40B | 2.39B | 1.26B |
| Total Liabilities | 3.61B | 3.43B | 4.02B | 3.81B | 2.03B |
| Stockholders Equity | 1.69B | 1.13B | 670.90M | 639.05M | 331.64M |
Cash Flow | |||||
| Free Cash Flow | 258.61M | 127.52M | 84.29M | -189.47M | -1.07M |
| Operating Cash Flow | 470.51M | 315.03M | 221.70M | -38.36M | 159.59M |
| Investing Cash Flow | -214.23M | -220.46M | -137.98M | 46.58M | -482.14M |
| Financing Cash Flow | -103.47M | 24.64M | -102.26M | -270.33M | 353.22M |
Ardent Health Partners, Inc. Technical Analysis
Positive
9.44
Price Trends
9.12
Positive
8.95
Positive
10.99
Negative
Market Momentum
0.08
Negative
58.18
Neutral
74.11
Neutral
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For ARDT, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 9.44 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 8.90, above the 50-day MA of 9.12, and below the 200-day MA of 10.99, indicating a neutral trend. The MACD of 0.08 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 58.18 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 74.11 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for ARDT.
Ardent Health Partners, Inc. Risk Analysis
Ardent Health Partners, Inc. disclosed 54 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. Ardent Health Partners, Inc. reported the most risks in the "Finance & Corporate" category.
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
Latest Risks Added 0 New Risks
Ardent Health Partners, Inc. Peers Comparison
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (51)
Name | Overall Rating | Market Cap | P/E Ratio | ROE | Dividend Yield | Revenue Growth | EPS Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
78 Outperform | $2.47B | 17.67 | 11.57% | 1.80% | 23.74% | -18.99% | |
65 Neutral | $1.35B | 9.15 | 18.28% | ― | 10.86% | 125.05% | |
62 Neutral | $2.03B | 12.54 | 5.57% | 1.69% | -22.96% | -59.35% | |
55 Neutral | $2.45B | -1.17 | -39.42% | ― | 4.58% | -61.50% | |
53 Neutral | $3.35B | -9.62 | -523.78% | ― | 3.93% | -42.22% | |
53 Neutral | $1.46B | 7.31 | 953.09% | ― | 15.48% | ― | |
51 Neutral | $7.86B | -0.30 | -43.30% | 2.27% | 22.53% | -2.21% |
* Healthcare Sector Average
ARDT
Ardent Health Partners, Inc.
9.44
-2.86
-23.25%
ACHC
Acadia Healthcare
26.61
2.77
11.62%
BKD
Brookdale Senior Living
14.07
7.76
122.98%
NHC
National Healthcare
159.20
69.42
77.33%
SEM
Select Medical
16.38
0.34
2.15%
AVAH
Aveanna Healthcare Holdings
6.72
2.16
47.37%
Ardent Health Partners, Inc. Corporate Events
Executive/Board Changes
Ardent Health Announces Leadership Change in Hospital Services
Neutral
Mar 27, 2026
On March 24, 2026, Ardent Health, Inc. announced that Ethan Chernin would no longer serve as President, Hospital Services and that he departed the company effective that day. The departure was classified as a “Qualifying Termination” u...
Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Disclaimer
This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.