ARDT vs ACHC vs THC Stock Comparison

Ardent Health, Acadia Healthcare Company and Tenet Healthcare Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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ARDT Ardent Health, Inc.
$12.28 +16.0% 1M -18.2% 1Y
Market cap
$1.71B
P/E
21.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.41B
Div. yield
–
Hospitals Healthcare
THC Tenet Healthcare Corp
$270.55 +5.0% 1M +29.4% 1Y
Market cap
$21.83B
P/E
7.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$22.15B
Div. yield
–
Hospitals Healthcare
10 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Tenet Healthcare leads on 10 of the 12 questions below (Tenet Healthcare 10, Acadia Healthcare Company 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionARDTACHCTHCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $1.71B $2.66B $21.83B THC
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 21.9x -2.4x 7.5x THC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 13.2x 18.8x 12.3x THC
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.3% +4.3% +6.2% THC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 1.2% -33.4% 13.1% THC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 7.4% -24.7% 21.5% THC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.9x -2.5x 1.7x ACHC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -18.2% +28.0% +29.4% THC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — -13.8%/yr +30.5%/yr THC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 59.6% 64.4% 41.8% THC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 68/100 25/100 79/100 THC

Percentile Scorecard

ARDTACHCTHC

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisARDTACHCTHC
Valuation 99 #2 of 92 50 #47 of 92 96 #5 of 92
Growth 45 #48 of 87 5 #83 of 87 81 #17 of 87
Profitability 72 #25 of 86 15 #73 of 86 98 #3 of 86
Financial Health 57 #42 of 97 31 #67 of 97 39 #60 of 97
Shareholder Returns – – 83 #10 of 55
Overall 68 25 79
  • ARDT ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • ACHC ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • THC ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodARDTACHCTHCSPY
1 month +16.0%+5.1%+5.0% +0.7%
3 months +14.4%+4.7%+7.1% +3.7%
6 months +25.8%+13.8%+52.7% +7.1%
Year to date +39.1%+107.6%+36.1% +12.8%
1 year -18.2%+28.0%+29.4% +11.9%
3 years —-59.5%+408.1% +85.2%
3 years, per year —-26.1%+72.0% +22.8%
5 years —-52.5%+277.5% +67.6%
5 years, per year —-13.8%+30.5% +10.9%
10 years —-20.0%+1,236.0% +262.0%
10 years, per year —-2.2%+29.6% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureARDTACHCTHCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 59.6%64.4%41.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 74.6%64.7%33.4% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.160.950.48 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.310.440.70 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -61.2%-86.9%-58.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -18.2%-17.3%-3.6% -1.2%
52-week high $15.01$35.61$280.77 $779.14
52-week low $7.83$11.68$161.37 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleARDTACHCTHC
P/E now vs peer median 22.2xmedian 26.0x -2.4xmedian 26.0x 7.5xmedian 26.0x
P/S now vs peer median 0.3xmedian 1.6x 0.8xmedian 1.6x 1.0xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 5.0xmedian 15.4x -5.5xmedian 15.4x 5.1xmedian 15.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 5.7xmedian 21.5x -20.0xmedian 21.5x 6.5xmedian 21.5x
P/B now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 3.2x 1.4xmedian 3.2x 2.9xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.87 0.03median 0.87 0.07median 0.87

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsARDTACHCTHC
Revenue $6.41B $3.37B $22.15B
Operating income – – $5.40B
Net income $125.32M -$1.12B $3.81B
Free cash flow $304.76M -$134.03M $3.33B
EPS (diluted) $0.55 $-12.33 $35.97
Cash & equivalents $724.48M $171.29M $2.67B
Total debt $1.10B $2.41B $13.24B
Shares (diluted) 143.05M 91.37M 80.60M
Enterprise value -$943.03M $2.08B $11.14B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricARDTACHCTHC
P/E 22.2x -2.4x 7.5x
P/FCF 5.7x -20.0x 6.5x
P/Operating cash flow 3.4x 12.7x 5.1x
P/S 0.3x 0.8x 1.0x
P/B 1.0x 1.4x 2.9x
P/Tangible book 1.1x 1.4x 3.5x
EV/EBITDA 5.0x -5.5x 5.1x
EV/EBIT 8.2x -4.5x 5.9x
EV/Revenue 0.3x 1.5x 1.4x
EV/FCF 7.0x -36.7x 9.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 4.1x 23.4x 7.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.03 0.07

Growth

14 metrics
MetricARDTACHCTHC
Revenue growth (1Y) 3.3% 4.3% 6.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 6.6% 3.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) – – 55.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – – 32.7%
Net income growth (1Y) -61.3% -838.8% 66.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – -82.3% 50.0%
EPS growth (1Y) -69.6% -900.5% 135.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – -83.4% 100.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 70.3% -50.4% 71.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -16.6% 29.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 181.8% 56.9% 121.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -73.4% 43.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricARDTACHCTHC
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 6.7% -26.6% 28.5%
Operating margin – – 24.4%
Pretax margin 3.2% -32.6% 21.4%
Net margin 1.2% -33.4% 13.1%
FCF margin 4.8% -4.0% 15.0%
Operating cash flow margin 8.0% 6.3% 19.1%
Return on equity 9.7% -57.0% 54.6%
Return on assets 3.2% -20.2% 12.3%
Return on invested capital 7.4% -24.7% 21.5%
Return on capital employed 6.0% -21.9% 20.9%
Asset turnover 1.2x 0.6x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 4.1x -0.2x 1.1x
Stock comp / revenue 0.6% 0.9% 0.6%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricARDTACHCTHC
Debt / assets 20.9% 43.5% 41.9%
Debt / equity 0.6x 1.2x 1.8x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.9x -2.5x 1.7x
Debt / FCF 3.6x -18.0x 4.0x
Liabilities / assets 66.9% 64.3% 76.5%
Equity / assets 33.1% 35.7% 23.5%
Interest coverage 5.1x – 6.6x
Current ratio 2.1x 1.6x 1.6x
Quick ratio 1.5x 1.2x 1.1x
Cash ratio 0.7x 0.3x 0.5x
Altman Z-score 2.06 0.28 2.23

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricARDTACHCTHC
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield – – 8.4%
Shareholder yield – – 8.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusARDTACHCTHC
Forward P/E 13.2xFY2026 18.8xFY2026 12.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.93FY2026 $1.57FY2026 $21.99FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -3.1%FY2026 -21.5%FY2026 +31.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +17.2% +22.3% -7.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.84BFY2026 $3.53BFY2026 $23.70BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +8.2%FY2026 +6.5%FY2026 +11.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +1.4% +6.9% -0.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersARDTACHCTHC
Held by institutions 76.4% 100.0% 96.2%
Institutions holding 137 314 678
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.4% +3.7% -1.9%
Institutions buying 87 165 331
Institutions selling 36 98 261
Buyers to sellers 2.42 1.68 1.27

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

ARDTACHCTHC
ARDT 1.00 0.23 0.28
ACHC 0.23 1.00 0.27
THC 0.28 0.27 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ARDT, ACHC and THC?

Tenet Healthcare (THC) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ardent Health (ARDT) $1.71B, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) $2.66B, Tenet Healthcare (THC) $21.83B.

Which stock is cheaper, ARDT, ACHC and THC?

Tenet Healthcare (THC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ardent Health (ARDT) 21.9x, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) -2.4x, Tenet Healthcare (THC) 7.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Tenet Healthcare (THC) is cheapest (Ardent Health (ARDT) 13.2x, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) 18.8x, Tenet Healthcare (THC) 12.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Tenet Healthcare (THC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Ardent Health (ARDT) +3.3%, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) +4.3%, Tenet Healthcare (THC) +6.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Tenet Healthcare (THC) has the highest net margin (Ardent Health (ARDT) 1.2%, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) -33.4%, Tenet Healthcare (THC) 13.1%). On return on invested capital, Tenet Healthcare (THC) leads (Ardent Health (ARDT) 7.4%, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) -24.7%, Tenet Healthcare (THC) 21.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Tenet Healthcare (THC) returned the most: Ardent Health (ARDT) -18.2%, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) +28.0%, Tenet Healthcare (THC) +29.4%. Over five years, Tenet Healthcare (THC) compounded fastest (Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) -13.8%/yr, Tenet Healthcare (THC) +30.5%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Tenet Healthcare (THC) has been the steadiest (Ardent Health (ARDT) 59.6%, Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) 64.4%, Tenet Healthcare (THC) 41.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ARDT, ACHC and THC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Tenet Healthcare (THC) leads on 10. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.