Loading…
Largest US managed-care company by Medicaid enrollment, also serving ACA marketplace and Medicare members.
Largest US managed-care company by Medicaid enrollment, also serving ACA marketplace and Medicare members.
Is paid a fixed monthly amount per enrolled member by state Medicaid programs and the federal government, and keeps what is left after paying members' medical costs, so profit depends on how well state-set rates match actual care costs. Contracts are won by competitive bid state by state. The 2020 purchase of WellCare added Medicare plans and size.
Moat: narrow (scale, regulatory licence, process know-how). Deep state-Medicaid contracting relationships and scale in low-income government health programs.
Headquarters: St. Louis, Missouri, USA · Founded: 1984 · Employees: 61,100
Size Centene (CNC) is a United States Health Care company (Managed Health Care) with a market value of $34.5B, the 327th largest of 3,117 United States companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at $69.74 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 24.6%, against +12.4% for the median peer and -1.1% for the United States market (cap-weighted) — 3rd highest of 8 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 9.7% over the last twelve months (peer median +8.2%); the operating margin is 0.8% (peer median 3.8%).
Valuation It trades at 13.3× forward earnings against a peer median of 17.4× (2nd cheapest of 8).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about 1% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +12%, so the hurdle is -11 pp: the price already allows for a slowdown.
Credit Centene has 6 bonds outstanding ($13.1B), rated BB+ by the agencies and trading like BBB- at a weighted spread of 133 bp.
Short interest Short interest is 2.2% of the free float (15 Oct 2026).
Next results Next results expected around 9 Feb 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $204B | $195B | $163B | $154B | $145B |
| Revenue growth | — | +19% | +6% | +7% | — |
| Net income | $1.46B | -$6.67B | $3.31B | $2.70B | $1.20B |
| Free cash flow | $3.94B | $4.32B | -$490M | $7.25B | $5.26B |
| Capital expenditure | $781M | $767M | $644M | $799M | $1.00B |
| Total debt | $15.5B | $18.2B | $19.4B | $18.9B | $21.3B |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centene CNC | $34.5B | +25% | +10% | 1% | 13.3× | 1.1% |
| Molina Healthcare MOH | $10.9B | +12% | -1% | 1% | 25.0× | 26.9% |
| Elevance Health ELV | $92.0B | +13% | +4% | 4% | 14.8× | 4.7% |
| UnitedHealth UNH | $353B | +4% | +3% | 5% | 17.4× | 4.3% |
| Humana HUM | $52.1B | +58% | +18% | 2% | 32.9× | 15.2% |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | CNC | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +8.1% | +6.2% | 2nd highest of 8 |
| 6-month return | +24.6% | +12.4% | 3rd highest of 8 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -10.7% | -14.6% | 4th highest of 8 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +9.7% | +8.2% | 4th highest of 8 |
| Operating margin | 0.8% | 3.8% | 2nd lowest of 8 |
| Forward P/E | 13.3× | 17.4× | 2nd cheapest of 8 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | 1.1% | 4.7% | 3rd least demanding of 8 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +11.9% | +11.7% | 4th highest of 8 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | -10.8 pp | -7.4 pp | 4th least demanding of 8 |
| Bond spread | 133 bp | 84 bp | 2nd widest of 6 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centene CNC | United States | $34.5B | +25% | +10% | 1% | 13.3× | 1.1% | +11.9% |
| Humana HUM | United States | $52.1B | +58% | +18% | 2% | 32.9× | 15.2% | +10.9% |
| Cigna CI | United States | $77.6B | +3% | +8% | 4% | 9.0× | -5.3% | +11.4% |
| Elevance Health ELV | United States | $92.0B | +13% | +4% | 4% | 14.8× | 4.7% | +10.3% |
| Molina Healthcare MOH | United States | $10.9B | +12% | -1% | 1% | 25.0× | 26.9% | +18.7% |
| Oscar Health OSCR | United States | $8.38B | +44% | +43% | 4% | 14.0× | -19.1% | +90.8% |
| UnitedHealth UNH | United States | $353B | +4% | +3% | 5% | 17.4× | 4.3% | +11.7% |
| Alignment Healthcare ALHC | United States | $1.54B | -59% | +36% | 1% | 1,052.5× | 13.2% | +32.7% |
Centene has 6 bonds outstanding with $13.1B face value. The agencies rate it BB+; its bonds trade like BBB-. Weighted yield 5.88%, a spread of 133 bp over government bonds.