profit from every $100 of sales.
$0$100
Centene
$71.27+1.42% today
+97.5% in 1 year
1-year low $31.801-year high $76.01
Trading close to its highest price of the past year.
The essentials
Four questions every investor asks, answered in one line each.
more sales each year, on average, 2020 to 2025.
0%20% a year
It has no yearly profit to compare the price with.
CheapExpensive
of earnings would pay off all its debt.
No debt5 years
Money in, money out
What Centene sold, what it kept, and what it did with the cash.
Sales went from $145 billion in 2022 to $195 billion in 2025, with -$6.67 billion of profit last year.
SalesProfit
Centene handed back 11% of the cash it generated last year.
Buybacks $475M
Free cash flow 2025$4.3B
Bought back its own shares$475M
Paid as dividends–
Cash vs. debt$17.9B vs. $18.2B
Centene vs. similar companies
How it compares with the largest companies in its industry.
| Company | Profit from $100 of sales | Sales growth a year | Price per $1 of profit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Centene | No profit yet | ||
 Clover Health Investments | No profit yet | ||
 Alignment Healthcare | No profit yet | ||
 Caring Brands | No profit yet | ||
 Basel Medical Group Ltd Ordinary Shares | No profit yet |
AI analysis
An AI analyst reads Centene's last five years, its segments, earnings, insiders and peers, and writes the bull case, the bear case and what the price expects.
Run the AI analysisFull statementsIncome, balance sheet and cash flow, year by year
Income statement
| In millions of USD | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 111,115 | 125,982 | 144,547 | 153,999 | 163,071 | 194,777 | |
| 107,812 | 14,487 | 16,656 | 17,315 | 16,829 | 13,867 | |
| – | – | 3,636 | 3,459 | 3,188 | -312 | |
| 4,760 | 3,813 | 4,058 | 5,616 | 6,200 | -4,775 | |
| 1,808 | 1,347 | 1,202 | 2,702 | 3,305 | -6,674 | |
| 3.12 | 2.28 | 2.07 | 4.95 | 6.31 | -13.53 | |
| 97.0% | 11.5% | 11.5% | 11.2% | 10.3% | 7.1% | |
| – | – | 2.5% | 2.2% | 2.0% | -0.2% | |
| 1.6% | 1.1% | 0.8% | 1.8% | 2.0% | -3.4% |
Balance sheet
| In millions of USD | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total assets | 68,719 | 78,375 | 76,870 | 84,641 | 82,445 | 76,747 |
| Cash | 10,800 | 13,118 | 12,074 | 17,193 | 14,063 | 17,888 |
| Total debt | 18,214 | 22,645 | 21,333 | 18,877 | 19,429 | 18,162 |
| Total liabilities | 42,757 | 51,353 | 52,633 | 58,685 | 55,935 | 56,691 |
| 25,773 | 26,795 | 24,057 | 25,840 | 26,410 | 19,953 | |
| 579 | 591 | 582 | 546 | 524 | 493 | |
| 6.3% | 4.0% | 4.6% | 7.6% | 8.5% | -12.5% | |
| 7.0% | 5.0% | 5.0% | 10.5% | 12.5% | -33.4% |
Cash flow
| In millions of USD | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5,503 | 4,205 | 6,261 | 8,053 | 154 | 5,088 | |
| 869 | 910 | 1,004 | 799 | 644 | 767 | |
| 4,634 | 3,295 | 5,257 | 7,254 | -490 | 4,321 | |
| Dividends paid | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 626 | 297 | 3,096 | 1,633 | 3,124 | 475 | |
| 281 | 203 | 234 | 216 | 212 | 204 |
Valuation
- –
- 21.1×
- –
- 1.3×
- 0.2×
- 8.2×
- –
- 12.2%
- -18.9%
- 0.0%
Profitability
- 7.1%
- -0.2%
- -3.4%
- -2.6%
- -17.7%
- 0.3%
- -28.7%
- -7.9%
- -17.7%
- –
Growth
- +11.9%
- –
- +981.8%
- –
- −4.2%
Financial health
- –
- 0.76
- 20.2%
- -10.9×
- 1.12
- 1.12
- 2.44
How it ranks in Healthcare
Each dot is where the company stands among every company over $300M in the sector. Further right is better.
Bottom 23%of 946
Bottom 21%of 871
Top 47%of 867
Top 5%of 986
What analysts expect
- Average price target
- $51.00
- Range
- $39.00 – $63.00
- 11 analysts
These targets were collected on May 20, 2026 and our analyst feed has not updated since, so we no longer compare them with today's price.
Recent earnings
Our results feed has not updated since May 21, 2026. Results reported after that are not in this table yet.
| Date | EPS | Expected | Surprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 28, 2026 | 3.37 | 1.87 | +80.2% |
| Feb 6, 2026 | -1.19 | -1.22 | +2.5% |
| Oct 29, 2025 | 0.50 | -0.14 | +445.4% |
| Jul 25, 2025 | -0.16 | 0.11 | −243.4% |
| Apr 25, 2025 | 2.90 | 2.52 | +15.1% |
| Feb 4, 2025 | 0.80 | 0.44 | +81.8% |
| Oct 25, 2024 | 1.62 | 1.33 | +21.8% |
| Jul 26, 2024 | 2.42 | 2.07 | +16.9% |
News
Notable healthcare headlines for the week: Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Centene in focusSeeking Alpha · Sep 27, 2026The newest story we have is from Sep 27, 2026.
Insider trades
Our insider feed has not updated since May 26, 2026. Trades filed after that are not listed yet.
No insider trades on file.
The seven classic investing rulebooks
0/7Passes 0 of 7. Each bar is how well the company fits that investor's published rules, from 0 to 100; 60 or more counts as a pass.
Warren Buffett
29No pass
Benjamin Graham
42No pass
Philip Fisher
30No pass
Peter Lynch
43No pass
Joel Greenblatt
0No pass
Charlie Munger
17No pass
Terry Smith
14No pass
Questions about Centene
Is Centene a good stock to buy?
A business with weak numbers that is not profitable yet. 0 of the 7 famous investors' published rulebooks we apply pass it. Whether it suits you depends on your goals and the price you pay; invest-like never tells anyone to buy or sell. The AI analysis lays out the case for and against. Read the Centene AI analysis
What does Centene do?
Centene Corporation operates as a multi-national healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured individuals in the United States. It is in Medical - Healthcare Plans, based in Saint Louis, MO, United States, with 61,000 employees.
Does Centene pay a dividend?
No. Centene does not pay a dividend at the moment; in 2025 it returned $475 million to shareholders by buying back its own shares.
Is Centene stock halal?
No. Centene does not pass our halal screen: its main business, conventional insurance, is not permitted. How we check
How has Centene stock done over the past year?
Up 97.5% over the past twelve months, to $71.27. It traded between $31.80 and $76.01 and is 6.2% below its high.
Who are Centene's competitors?
The largest listed companies in the same industry are Clover Health Investments, Alignment Healthcare, Caring Brands and Basel Medical Group Ltd Ordinary Shares. The peers table on this page compares their profit, growth and price with Centene's.
Prices: daily closes to Nov 13, 2026. Fundamentals: company reports via invest-like data.