CNCCentene Corporation
Is the business good?
The checks split: nothing decisive, though margins compressing.
Mixed fundamental signals. Nine pass/fail tests of year-over-year health from the filings.
Operating margin has narrowed over the past few years, profitability per dollar of sales is eroding.
Where this answer is blind. The F-score rewards improvement, so an already-elite company can score mid-pack.
How good a business is CNC?
Centene Corporation earns −38% on the capital it employs against a 9.0% cost of capital, so growth costs more than it returns.
Return on invested capital · cost of capital 9.0% · 47 points below what the capital costs: growth destroys value
- Operating margin
- −2.8%
Operating margin · Healthcare Plans median 2.0% · 12 months to Q2 2026
- Share count, year on year
- +0.83%
Share count, year on year · flat: no meaningful dilution
- Gross margin
- 8.0%
Gross margin
| Year | Operating margin |
|---|---|
| FY2020 | 2.8% |
| FY2021 | 1.4% |
| FY2022 | 0.91% |
| FY2023 | 1.9% |
| FY2024 | 1.9% |
| FY2025 | −3.9% |
Details›
- Gross margin12 months to Q2 2026
- 8.0%
- Operating margin12 months to Q2 2026
- −2.8%
- Net margin12 months to Q2 2026
- −2.5%
- Free cash flow margin
- 4.4%
- Revenue, trailing twelve months
- $202.9B
- Free cash flow, trailing twelve months
- $8.95B
- Net income, trailing twelve months
- −$5.10B
- Return on invested capitaloperating profit after tax ÷ debt + equity − cash
- −38%
Margins, capital and share counts from the statements as filed with the SEC; cash conversion is operating cash flow over operating profit after tax.
Healthcare
Ranks #191 of 446 by RyuScore