Is HCA a high-quality business?

AlphaMadera's AlphaQuality grade scores HCA Healthcare, Inc. on six pillars — profitability, capital efficiency, balance-sheet strength, growth durability, cash generation, and shareholder yield. The composite letter grade reflects how HCA compares to a Buffett-style quality bar.

What is HCA Healthcare, Inc.'s AlphaQuality grade?

AlphaQuality assigns a letter grade (A through F) to HCA based on a six-pillar quantitative model. The live page shows the composite grade plus each pillar's individual score with the underlying metrics.

What makes HCA a quality stock?

AlphaQuality looks at return on capital, free-cash-flow margins, debt-to-equity, revenue stability, dividend and buyback policy, and operating-margin trend. Stocks scoring well across all six pillars earn higher grades — the methodology favors compounders over cyclicals.

HCA - HCA Healthcare, Inc.

Price: -- -- | CONSENSUS: Buy DETAILS | PRICE TARGET: $527.45 DETAILS

AlphaQuality

Quantitative six-pillar business-quality grade

Stable Earnings Power

AlphaQuality — archetype-weighted quantitative grade

B- 64.5 / 100 composite

Composite Grade

Composite of six pillars weighted for stable earnings power businesses. Purely quantitative — no stock price or analyst input.

Profitability

Weight: 20%

B+ 77.3

5yr Avg ROIC 19.4% 90/100
Operating Margin Trend -0.14 pp/yr 47/100

Capital Efficiency

Weight: 15%

D+ 41.5

5yr Avg ROE 0.0% 10/100
5yr Share-Count CAGR -8.5% 100/100

Growth Quality

Weight: 15%

B 74.2

5yr Revenue CAGR 6.5% 68/100
5yr EPS CAGR 7.6% 68/100
Revenue-Growth Years (5) 5/5 100/100

Cash Generation

Weight: 15%

B+ 75.3

5yr FCF Margin 8.3% 63/100
5yr FCF/NI Conversion 0.90x 90/100

Balance Sheet

Weight: 20%

C 56.6

Net Debt / EBITDA 3.15x 47/100
Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int) 5.37x 66/100
Altman Z-Score 2.64 62/100

Stability

Weight: 15%

C+ 60.7

EPS Volatility (σ/μ) 0.53 27/100
Piotroski F-Score 7 78/100
Negative-Revenue Years (5) 0/5 100/100

5 of 5 gurus held; 3 added; 2 trimmed.

Holders: 5
Avg Δ position: -9.0%
New buys: 0
Full exits: 0

Dalio decreased -47%
Wood decreased -37%
Greenblatt increased +21%

How this is calculated

AlphaQuality grades six pillars from 0-100 and weights each by archetype:

Profitability (20%) — 5yr Avg ROIC, Operating Margin Trend
Capital Efficiency (15%) — 5yr Avg ROE, 5yr Share-Count CAGR
Growth Quality (15%) — 5yr Revenue CAGR, 5yr EPS CAGR, Revenue-Growth Years (5)
Cash Generation (15%) — 5yr FCF Margin, 5yr FCF/NI Conversion
Balance Sheet (20%) — Net Debt / EBITDA, Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int), Altman Z-Score
Stability (15%) — EPS Volatility (σ/μ), Piotroski F-Score, Negative-Revenue Years (5)

We deliberately ignore stock price, analyst targets, and consensus ratings so the grade is suitable for backtesting forward returns. A minimum of 5 fiscal years of audited statements is required; distressed and highly leveraged infrastructure businesses are declared ungradable rather than forced into a numeric score.