Tenet Healthcare Raises Full-Year Outlook as Hospital Margins Expand
The healthcare services provider raised its 2026 adjusted EBITDA midpoint by $295 million following a 52.2% jump in adjusted diluted EPS.
Tenet Healthcare (THC) reported a significant increase in quarterly profitability driven by expanding margins in its hospital operations. The healthcare services provider saw adjusted diluted EPS rise 52.2% year-over-year to $6.12 in the second quarter of 2026, up from $4.02 in the same period last year.
Net operating revenues rose 6.7% to $5.628 billion. The company's consolidated adjusted EBITDA increased 16.3% year-over-year to $1.304 billion, with the adjusted EBITDA margin expanding to 23.2%. This margin represents an increase from 21.6% in the first quarter of 2026 and 21.4% in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Growth was supported by a recovery in hospital utilization. Hospital segment adjusted admissions grew 2.6% year-over-year, an acceleration from the 0.4% growth recorded in the second quarter of 2025. Consequently, the hospital adjusted EBITDA margin expanded to 18.0% from 15.6% a year earlier.
Performance in the ambulatory care segment was mixed. While the segment's adjusted EBITDA grew 8.8% year-over-year to $542 million, its adjusted EBITDA margin compressed slightly to 39.0% from 39.2%. Ambulatory surgical volume declined 1.2% on a same-facility system-wide basis, a deceleration from the 2.1% growth seen in the third quarter of 2025.
Tenet raised its full-year 2026 adjusted EBITDA outlook to a range of $4.83 billion to $5.03 billion, an increase of $295 million at the midpoint from the previous guidance of $4.485 billion to $4.785 billion. The company also increased its adjusted free cash flow outlook for the year to a range of $2.725 billion to $3.025 billion, representing a $225 million increase at the midpoint.
The board authorized a $2.0 billion increase to the share repurchase program during the quarter. The company's net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio rose to 2.33x as of June 30, 2026, compared to 2.24x on March 31, 2026.