HCA Healthcare Stock: Is HCA Outperforming the Healthcare Sector?

• StockStory Top Pick HCA -1.26%
• XLV -0.49%

Nashville, Tennessee-based HCA Healthcare, Inc. (HCA) is the largest non-governmental operator of acute care hospitals in the U.S. With a market cap of $117.5 billion, HCA Healthcare operates hospitals and related health care entities offering various medical and surgical services.

Companies worth $10 billion or more are generally described as "large-cap stocks." HCA fits this bill perfectly. Given the company’s extensive operations, influence, and dominance in the healthcare space, its valuation above this mark is unsurprising.

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HCA touched its all-time high of $520 in yesterday’s trading session before slightly pulling back. Meanwhile, HCA stock prices have soared 28.1% over the past three months, outpacing the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund’s (XLV) 15.6% returns during the same time frame.

HCA Healthcare’s performance has remained impressive over the longer term as well. Its stock prices have soared 71.5% on a YTD basis and 56.5% over the past 52 weeks, compared to XLV’s 15.2% gains in 2025 and 8.4% returns over the past year.

HCA has traded above its 50-day moving average since January and above its 200-day moving average since early May, with some fluctuations, underscoring its bullish trend.

HCA Healthcare’s stock prices gained 1.6% in the trading session following the release of its better-than-expected Q3 results on Oct. 24. The company’s focus on increasing access to improved care for its patients, along with disciplined execution, has pushed its sales and margins above expectations. HCA’s topline for the quarter surged 9.6% year-over-year to $19.2 billion, surpassing the Street’s expectations by 3.6%. Meanwhile, its adjusted EPS soared 42% year-over-year to $6.96, exceeding the consensus estimates by a staggering 23.2%.

Meanwhile, HCA has marginally underperformed its peer Tenet Healthcare Corporation’s (THC) 72.2% surge in 2025, but notably outpaced THC’s 49.3% gains over the past 52 weeks.

Among the 26 analysts covering the HCA stock, the consensus rating is a “Moderate Buy.” However, as of writing, the stock is trading notably above its mean price target of $480.61.

On the date of publication, Aditya Sarawgi did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com