ARDT vs FMS Stock Comparison

Ardent Health and Fresenius Medical Care AG Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ARDT Ardent Health, Inc.
$11.84 +12.3% 1M -21.8% 1Y
Market cap
$1.68B
P/E
21.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.41B
Div. yield
–
Hospitals Healthcare
4 wins
FMS Fresenius Medical Care AG
$22.50 -0.8% 1M -17.3% 1Y
Market cap
$12.57B
P/E
12.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$11.07B
Div. yield
3.82%
Healthcare Services Healthcare
6 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Fresenius Medical Care AG leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Fresenius Medical Care AG 6, Ardent Health 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionARDTFMSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $1.68B $12.57B FMS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 21.4x 12.0x FMS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 12.7x 9.5x FMS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.3% -47.8% ARDT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 1.2% 9.9% FMS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 7.4% 0.2% ARDT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.9x 200.7x ARDT
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 3.82% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -21.8% -17.3% FMS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — -8.3%/yr –
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 59.6% 31.1% FMS
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 67/100 51/100 ARDT

Percentile Scorecard

ARDTFMS

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

AxisARDTFMS
Valuation 99 #2 of 92 71 #27 of 92
Growth 45 #48 of 87 12 #77 of 87
Profitability 69 #27 of 86 64 #32 of 86
Financial Health 56 #43 of 97 14 #84 of 97
Shareholder Returns – 93 #5 of 56
Overall 67 51
  • ARDT ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers
  • FMS ranked among 102 companies in Healthcare Providers

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodARDTFMSSPY
1 month +12.3%-0.8% -0.2%
3 months +3.0%-9.1% +3.9%
6 months +21.9%0.0% +8.2%
Year to date +34.1%-5.5% +12.9%
1 year -21.8%-17.3% +12.3%
3 years —+37.2% +87.4%
3 years, per year —+11.1% +23.3%
5 years —-35.2% +67.9%
5 years, per year —-8.3% +10.9%
10 years —-44.4% +261.1%
10 years, per year —-5.7% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureARDTFMSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 59.6%31.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 74.0%36.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.160.19 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.37-0.56 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -61.2%-63.9% -25.4%
From 52-week high -21.8%-17.3% -1.2%
52-week high $15.14$27.20 $779.14
52-week low $7.83$20.19 $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.

MultipleARDTFMS
P/E now vs peer median 21.4xmedian 24.6x 12.0xmedian 24.6x
P/S now vs peer median 0.3xmedian 1.6x 1.1xmedian 1.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 4.8xmedian 14.6x 205.4xmedian 14.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 5.5xmedian 21.6x 6.0xmedian 21.6x
P/B now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 3.2x 0.8xmedian 3.2x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.66 0.57median 0.66

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 monthsARDTFMS
Revenue $6.41B $11.07B
Gross profit – -$5.62B
Operating income – $879.32M
Net income $125.32M $1.38B
Free cash flow $304.76M $2.08B
R&D – $180.01M
EPS (diluted) $0.55 $1.79
Cash & equivalents $724.48M $1.21B
Total debt $1.10B $572.99B
Shares (diluted) 143.05M 612.52M
Enterprise value -$577.47M $5.64B

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
MetricARDTFMS
P/E 21.4x 12.0x
P/FCF 5.5x 6.0x
P/Operating cash flow 3.3x 3.8x
P/S 0.3x 1.1x
P/B 1.0x 0.8x
P/Tangible book 1.0x 0.9x
EV/EBITDA 4.8x 205.4x
EV/EBIT 7.9x 628.2x
EV/Revenue 0.3x 49.9x
EV/FCF 6.8x 265.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 4.0x 167.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.57

Growth

14 metrics
MetricARDTFMS
Revenue growth (1Y) 3.3% -47.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – -18.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – -207.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – -45.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) – -45.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – -16.4%
Net income growth (1Y) -61.3% 49.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 18.2%
EPS growth (1Y) -69.6% 52.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 20.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 70.3% 9.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 9.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 181.8% -7.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 4.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricARDTFMS
Gross margin – -50.7%
EBITDA margin 6.7% 24.3%
Operating margin – 7.9%
Pretax margin 3.2% 15.8%
Net margin 1.2% 9.9%
FCF margin 4.8% 18.8%
Operating cash flow margin 8.0% 29.8%
Return on equity 9.7% 2.7%
Return on assets 3.2% 1.2%
Return on invested capital 7.4% 0.2%
Return on capital employed 6.0% 3.2%
Asset turnover 1.2x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 4.1x 2.4x
Stock comp / revenue 0.6% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricARDTFMS
Debt / assets 20.9% 1,515%
Debt / equity 0.6x 35.0x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.9x 200.7x
Debt / FCF 3.6x 260.4x
Liabilities / assets 66.9% 56.8%
Equity / assets 33.1% 43.2%
Interest coverage 5.1x 2.0x
Current ratio 2.1x 1.1x
Quick ratio 1.5x 0.2x
Cash ratio 0.7x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 2.05 1.32

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricARDTFMS
Dividend yield – 3.8%
Net buyback yield – 8.6%
Shareholder yield – 12.4%
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.

ConsensusARDTFMS
Forward P/E 12.7xFY2026 9.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.93FY2026 $2.37FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -3.1%FY2026 -6.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +17.2% +7.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.84BFY2026 $21.50BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +8.2%FY2026 -7.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +1.4% -0.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersARDTFMS
Held by institutions 76.4% 7.3%
Institutions holding 137 235
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.4% -2.9%
Institutions buying 87 151
Institutions selling 36 41
Buyers to sellers 2.42 3.68

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.

ARDTFMS
ARDT 1.00 0.13
FMS 0.13 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ARDT and FMS?

Fresenius Medical Care AG (FMS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ardent Health (ARDT) $1.68B, Fresenius Medical Care AG (FMS) $12.57B.

Which stock is cheaper, ARDT and FMS?

Fresenius Medical Care AG (FMS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ardent Health (ARDT) 21.4x, Fresenius Medical Care AG (FMS) 12.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Fresenius Medical Care AG (FMS) is cheapest (Ardent Health (ARDT) 12.7x, Fresenius Medical Care AG (FMS) 9.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Ardent Health (ARDT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Ardent Health (ARDT) +3.3%, Fresenius Medical Care AG (FMS) -47.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Fresenius Medical Care AG (FMS) has the highest net margin (Ardent Health (ARDT) 1.2%, Fresenius Medical Care AG (FMS) 9.9%). On return on invested capital, Ardent Health (ARDT) leads (Ardent Health (ARDT) 7.4%, Fresenius Medical Care AG (FMS) 0.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Fresenius Medical Care AG (FMS) returned the most: Ardent Health (ARDT) -21.8%, Fresenius Medical Care AG (FMS) -17.3%. Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Fresenius Medical Care AG (FMS) 3.82%. Ardent Health (ARDT) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Fresenius Medical Care AG (FMS) has been the steadiest (Ardent Health (ARDT) 59.6%, Fresenius Medical Care AG (FMS) 31.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do ARDT and FMS move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.13, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, ARDT and FMS?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Fresenius Medical Care AG (FMS) leads on 6. 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.