HCA Doubles Its Commercial Paper Cap To $8 Billion As Debt Due Within A Year Reaches $8.1 Billion
The hospital operator's per-share profit rose on a shrinking share count while net income fell, and its credit-line cushion thinned.
HCA Healthcare's 10-Q, filed Thursday, shows the hospital operator raised its commercial paper limit in July from $4.000 billion to $8.000 billion. Short-term borrowings reached $8.093 billion at September 30. Diluted earnings per share rose even as net income fell, because buybacks shrank the share count.
A bigger short-term borrowing line
Commercial paper is unsecured short-term debt. HCA had $5.727 billion of it outstanding at September 30, up from $2.207 billion at December 31, 2025, with an average life of 26 days and a weighted average rate of 4.2%.
Short-term borrowings and debt due within one year stood at $8.093 billion, against $6.264 billion at June 30 and $4.889 billion at year-end, based on the prior quarter's filing and the balance sheet. HCA said its working capital was negative $3.560 billion, mainly because of that borrowing. It said it can refinance the paper through its credit facility on a long-term basis.
HCA intends to keep available capacity under its $8.000 billion credit facility at least equal to the commercial paper outstanding. Availability fell to $2.226 billion at September 30 and $1.709 billion at October 26, when commercial paper stood at $6.245 billion.
Buybacks carry the per-share gain
Net income attributable to HCA was $1.579 billion in the third quarter, down from $1.643 billion a year earlier. Diluted EPS still rose to $7.27 from $6.96, as diluted shares fell to 217.212 million from 236.181 million.
Revenue rose 3.6% to $19.849 billion. In the earnings release, HCA said a payer-mix shift toward uninsured patients, mostly people who lost exchange coverage, cut pretax income by about $400 million in the quarter. Uninsured admissions rose 27.2%.
HCA repurchased $6.605 billion of stock in the first nine months, down from $7.509 billion a year earlier. Net short-term borrowings and revolver draws rose $3.507 billion over the period. About $4.240 billion of repurchase authorization remained at September 30.
Cash flow and a deeper deficit
Operating cash flow for the nine months fell to $8.810 billion from $10.277 billion. HCA tied the decline mostly to $1.190 billion more in income taxes paid and $472 million of unfavorable working-capital changes.
Total debt was $50.493 billion, and interest expense for the nine months reached $1.790 billion from $1.676 billion. The stockholders' deficit widened to $4.599 billion from $2.771 billion at year-end.
HCA said it now expects full-year results in the upper half of its 2026 guidance ranges, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.78 per share. CEO Sam Hazen said HCA is "positioned to end the year positively."
The next 10-Q will show whether commercial paper keeps climbing toward the $8.000 billion cap, and how much of the credit facility is left behind it.
Sources
- 10-Q Filing — HCA Healthcare (HCA) — SEC EDGAR
- 10-Q Filing — HCA Healthcare (HCA), Q2 FY2026 filed 2026-07-28 (comparison basis) — SEC EDGAR
- 8-K Filing — HCA Healthcare, filed 2026-10-27 (Items 2.02, 7.01, 8.01, 9.01) — SEC EDGAR
- Earnings release (8-K Item 2.02, hca-ex99_1.htm) — HCA Healthcare, filed 2026-10-27 — SEC EDGAR
- HCA Healthcare beats quarterly profit estimates on demand for medical services — Reuters
- HCA Healthcare Reports Q3 Adjusted EPS of $7.22, Raises Expectations Within 2026 Guidance Range — Yahoo Finance
- HCA’s bottom line suffers as ACA coverage losses mount | Healthcare Dive — healthcaredive.com
- HCA Healthcare’s (NYSE:HCA) Q3 2026: beats on revenue, stock soars — Yahoo Finance
- HCA Healthcare Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates on Higher Admissions — Yahoo Finance
