Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) Poised For Modest Upside As Operational Metrics Stabilize

Centene shows signals of renewed momentum driven by improving short-term technicals and strong cash generation, while margins and return metrics lag peer benchmarks. The near-term picture blends upside catalysts with pullback risk around recent price highs.

Recent News

July 28, 2026 — Centene filed an 8‑K announcing second‑quarter 2026 results and related disclosures. August 17, 2026 — company filings note an upcoming finance leadership transition. August 31, 2026 — Centene named a new Chief Information Officer as part of broader operational changes, and reports and filings through July–August referenced workforce optimization and severance actions.

Technical Analysis

ADX and Directional Indicators: ADX sits at 13.75, indicating no established trend strength; however, DI+ at 18.59 increases while DI‑ at 20.14 decreases, producing a directional tilt toward buyers that supports modest near‑term upside versus the valuation anchor.

MACD: MACD reads 0.24 with a dip‑and‑reversal pattern and sits above the signal line at 0.21, which constitutes a bullish momentum crossover and supports further positive re‑rating pressure if sustained.

MRO: MRO equals 16.37 and the oscillator shows an increasing trajectory, which signals the market price sits above the internal target and raises the probability of a corrective pullback from current levels while the indicator gains strength.

RSI and Short EMAs: RSI at 54.24 with a dip‑and‑reversal indicates renewed buying interest without overbought readings. The 12‑day EMA and 26‑day EMA both show dip‑and‑reversal behavior and price at $67.34 trades above the 20‑day ($65.29) and 50‑day ($65.39) averages and well above the 200‑day average ($50.03), aligning medium‑term bias with the valuation view.

Bands, Volatility, Beta: Price sits near the upper Bollinger band (upper1x $66.41, upper2x $67.52), creating resistance risk on intraday moves; 42‑day beta 0.75 and 52‑week beta 0.36 plus low realized volatility imply price moves may remain orderly, favoring measured, trend‑based swings.

 


Fundamental Analysis

Margins and Profitability: EBIT equals $1,639,000,000 and the EBIT margin stands at 3.059%. That margin compares below the industry peer mean of 7.683% and below the industry peer median of 4.462%. EBIT margin contracted QoQ by -32.487% and declined YoY by -18.18539%.

Operating metrics show operating margin at 2.236%, down QoQ by -39.989% and down YoY by -3.70375%. Return metrics: return on equity at 4.836% and return on assets at 1.329% both sit below typical expanded peer means, and ROIC at 3.099% declined sharply QoQ and YoY per supplied dynamics.

Earnings and Cash Flow: GAAP/adjusted diluted EPS reported $2.51 versus consensus $1.08, a beat of $1.43 and an EPS surprise of 132.41%. Operating cash flow reached $3,590,000,000 with free cash flow $3,416,000,000, producing a free cash flow yield of 11.492%, materially above the industry peer mean free cash flow yield of 2.071% and supporting the valuation conclusion.

Leverage and Coverage: Total debt $16,105,000,000 with debt/EBITDA about 8.31x and debt/equity 0.7138, while interest coverage registers 10.71x. Coverage remains adequate but leverage versus trailing EBITDA merits monitoring given episodic impairments and restructuring costs disclosed in recent periods.

Revenue and Growth: Total revenue $53,579,000,000 with revenue growth at 7.278% (most recent) and revenue growth YoY at 59.886%; QoQ revenue growth reads 15.54091% per the supplied figure. Asset turnover equals 0.65266, above the industry peer mean of 0.41704, indicating relatively efficient use of assets to generate sales.

Valuation Summary: The current valuation as determined by WMDST labels the stock under‑valued. Key drivers: enterprise multiple 9.68 sits below the industry peer mean of 34.23, and free cash flow yield at 11.49% materially exceeds the industry peer mean of 2.07%, while price/book at 1.32 sits below the industry peer mean of 2.09. Those valuation gaps reflect heavy cash conversion offset by margin compression and elevated leverage metrics.

MOST-RECENT QUARTERLY REPORT
REPORT PERIOD ENDING: 2026-06-30
REPORT DATE: 2026-07-28
NEXT REPORT DATE: 2026-10-27
CASH FLOW  Begin Period Cash Flow 21.4 B
 Operating Cash Flow 3.6 B
 Capital Expenditures -174.00 M
 Change In Working Capital 2.1 B
 Dividends Paid
 Cash Flow Delta 2.9 B
 End Period Cash Flow 24.3 B
 
INCOME STATEMENT REVENUE
 Total Revenue 53.6 B
 Forward Revenue 8.1 B
COSTS
 Cost Of Revenue 49.0 B
 Depreciation 139.0 M
 Depreciation and Amortization 300.0 M
 Research and Development
 Total Operating Expenses 52.4 B
PROFITABILITY
 Gross Profit 4.6 B
 EBITDA 1.9 B
 EBIT 1.6 B
 Operating Income 1.2 B
 Interest Income
 Interest Expense 153.0 M
 Net Interest Income -153.00 M
 Income Before Tax 1.5 B
 Tax Provision 399.0 M
 Tax Rate 26.9 %
 Net Income 1.1 B
 Net Income From Continuing Operations 1.1 B
EARNINGS
 EPS Estimate 1.08
 EPS Actual 2.51
 EPS Difference 1.43
 EPS Surprise 132.407 %
 Forward EPS 1.33
 
BALANCE SHEET ASSETS
 Total Assets 83.0 B
 Intangible Assets 15.0 B
 Net Tangible Assets 7.5 B
 Total Current Assets 46.7 B
 Cash and Short-Term Investments 27.1 B
 Cash 24.2 B
 Net Receivables 18.1 B
 Inventory
 Long-Term Investments 2.9 B
LIABILITIES
 Accounts Payable 18.0 B
 Short-Term Debt 75.0 M
 Total Current Liabilities 40.8 B
 Net Debt
 Total Debt 16.1 B
 Total Liabilities 60.4 B
EQUITY
 Total Equity 22.6 B
 Retained Earnings 11.3 B
VALUATION & PER-SHARE METRICS EQUITY & PER-SHARE METRICS
 Book Value Per-Share 45.67
 Shares Outstanding 493.987 M
 Revenue Per-Share 108.46
VALUATION
 Market Capitalization 29.7 B
 Enterprise Value 18.8 B
 Enterprise Multiple 9.682
Enterprise Multiple QoQ 113.768 %
Enterprise Multiple YoY -87.636 %
Enterprise Multiple IPRWA high: 87.909
mean: 34.227
median: 32.178
CNC: 9.682
low: 9.161
 EV/R 0.35
CAPITAL STRUCTURE
 Asset To Equity 3.679
 Asset To Liability 1.375
 Debt To Capital 0.417
 Debt To Assets 0.194
Debt To Assets QoQ -3.803 %
Debt To Assets YoY -4.64 %
Debt To Assets IPRWA high: 0.838
mean: 0.375
median: 0.301
CNC: 0.194
low: 0.006
 Debt To Equity 0.714
Debt To Equity QoQ -6.574 %
Debt To Equity YoY 11.296 %
Debt To Equity IPRWA high: 1.375
mean: 0.807
median: 0.748
CNC: 0.714
low: 0.011
PRICE-BASED VALUATION
 Price To Book (P/B) 1.318
Price To Book QoQ 48.748 %
Price To Book YoY 105.646 %
Price To Book IPRWA high: 7.829
mean: 2.092
median: 1.767
CNC: 1.318
low: -0.321
 Price To Earnings (P/E) 23.974
Price To Earnings QoQ 109.344 %
Price To Earnings YoY -126.209 %
Price To Earnings IPRWA high: 133.945
mean: 48.954
median: 45.322
CNC: 23.974
low: -16.66
 PE/G Ratio -0.939
 Price To Sales (P/S) 0.555
Price To Sales QoQ 46.0 %
Price To Sales YoY 54.013 %
Price To Sales IPRWA high: 11.857
mean: 2.384
median: 1.655
CNC: 0.555
low: 0.158
FORWARD MULTIPLES
Forward P/E 42.333
Forward PE/G -1.659
Forward P/S 3.755
EFFICIENCY OPERATIONAL
 Operating Leverage -3.789
ASSET & SALES
 Asset Turnover Ratio 0.653
Asset Turnover Ratio QoQ 3.186 %
Asset Turnover Ratio YoY 16.117 %
Asset Turnover Ratio IPRWA high: 1.051
CNC: 0.653
median: 0.419
mean: 0.417
low: 0.156
 Receivables Turnover 2.857
Receivables Turnover Ratio QoQ 7.361 %
Receivables Turnover Ratio YoY 28.935 %
Receivables Turnover Ratio IPRWA high: 7.49
mean: 3.742
median: 3.723
CNC: 2.857
low: 0.6
 Inventory Turnover
Inventory Turnover Ratio QoQ
Inventory Turnover Ratio YoY
Inventory Turnover Ratio IPRWA
 Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) 31.935
CASH CYCLE
 Cash Conversion Cycle Days (CCC) -3.834
Cash Conversion Cycle Days QoQ -178.591 %
Cash Conversion Cycle Days YoY
Cash Conversion Cycle Days IPRWA high: 133.289
median: 17.698
mean: 13.096
CNC: -3.834
low: -56.959
CAPITAL DEPLOYMENT
 Cash Conversion Ratio 9.041
 CapEx To Revenue -0.003
 CapEx To Depreciation -1.252
 
CAPITAL, LIQUIDITY & COVERAGE CAPITAL STRUCTURE
 Total Capital 38.6 B
 Net Invested Capital 38.7 B
 Invested Capital 38.7 B
 Net Tangible Assets 7.5 B
 Net Working Capital 5.9 B
LIQUIDITY
 Cash Ratio 0.664
 Current Ratio 1.145
Current Ratio QoQ 1.952 %
Current Ratio YoY 4.322 %
Current Ratio IPRWA high: 2.421
CNC: 1.145
mean: 1.052
median: 0.866
low: 0.846
 Quick Ratio
Quick Ratio QoQ
Quick Ratio YoY
Quick Ratio IPRWA
COVERAGE & LEVERAGE
 Debt To EBITDA 8.306
 Cost Of Debt 0.689 %
 Interest Coverage Ratio 10.712
Interest Coverage Ratio QoQ -22.367 %
Interest Coverage Ratio YoY -2193.251 %
Interest Coverage Ratio IPRWA high: 26.066
CNC: 10.712
mean: 6.327
median: 6.254
low: -4.266
 Operating Cash Flow Ratio 0.095
TIMING / LIQUIDITY
 Days Payables Outstanding (DPO) 35.768
DIVIDENDS
 Dividend Coverage Ratio
 Dividend Payout Ratio
 Dividend Rate
 Dividend Yield
PERFORMANCE GROWTH
 Asset Growth Rate 2.263 %
 Revenue Growth 7.278 %
Revenue Growth QoQ 1554.091 %
Revenue Growth YoY 59.886 %
Revenue Growth IPRWA high: 9.387 %
CNC: 7.278 %
median: 3.075 %
mean: 1.519 %
low: -4.983 %
 Earnings Growth -25.519 %
Earnings Growth QoQ -93.34 %
Earnings Growth YoY -78.298 %
Earnings Growth IPRWA high: 108.333 %
median: 0.389 %
mean: -4.425 %
CNC: -25.519 %
low: -112.5 %
MARGINS
 Gross Margin 8.587 %
Gross Margin QoQ -22.834 %
Gross Margin YoY 42.028 %
Gross Margin IPRWA high: 96.512 %
mean: 28.905 %
median: 14.844 %
CNC: 8.587 %
low: 7.168 %
 EBIT Margin 3.059 %
EBIT Margin QoQ -32.487 %
EBIT Margin YoY -1818.539 %
EBIT Margin IPRWA high: 25.559 %
mean: 7.683 %
median: 4.462 %
CNC: 3.059 %
low: -4.917 %
 Return On Sales (ROS) 2.236 %
Return On Sales QoQ -39.989 %
Return On Sales YoY -370.375 %
Return On Sales IPRWA high: 23.787 %
mean: 8.646 %
median: 4.433 %
CNC: 2.236 %
low: -2.862 %
CASH FLOW
 Free Cash Flow (FCF) 3.4 B
 Free Cash Flow Yield 11.492 %
Free Cash Flow Yield QoQ -47.647 %
Free Cash Flow Yield YoY 27.945 %
Free Cash Flow Yield IPRWA CNC: 11.492 %
high: 6.209 %
mean: 2.071 %
median: 1.947 %
low: -4.3 %
 Free Cash Growth -18.003 %
Free Cash Growth QoQ -101.023 %
Free Cash Growth YoY -222.544 %
Free Cash Growth IPRWA high: 293.51 %
median: 23.352 %
mean: -17.916 %
CNC: -18.003 %
low: -438.717 %
 Free Cash To Net Income 3.131
 Cash Flow Margin 7.23 %
 Cash Flow To Earnings 3.551
VALUE & RETURNS
 Economic Value Added 0.03
 Return On Assets (ROA) 1.329 %
Return On Assets QoQ -31.916 %
Return On Assets YoY -555.137 %
Return On Assets IPRWA high: 4.836 %
mean: 1.579 %
CNC: 1.329 %
median: 1.176 %
low: 0.129 %
 Return On Capital Employed (ROCE) 3.879 %
 Return On Equity (ROE) 0.048
Return On Equity QoQ -32.759 %
Return On Equity YoY -623.944 %
Return On Equity IPRWA high: 0.177
CNC: 0.048
mean: 0.043
median: 0.037
low: -0.05
 DuPont ROE 4.96 %
 Return On Invested Capital (ROIC) 3.099 %
Return On Invested Capital QoQ -29.408 %
Return On Invested Capital YoY -2125.49 %
Return On Invested Capital IPRWA high: 7.881 %
mean: 3.372 %
CNC: 3.099 %
median: 2.555 %
low: -0.608 %

Six-Week Outlook

Technical setup supports modest upside into the six‑week window: DI+ strengthening and a bullish MACD crossover favor continuation above short moving averages, while price trading above the 200‑day average aligns with a positive medium‑term valuation context. Countervailing risk stems from MRO positive readings and proximity to the upper Bollinger band, which increase the chance of short, intrawave pullbacks. Monitor momentum confirmation and volume; sustained momentum would reinforce the current undervaluation thesis, while a loss of DI+ momentum or a renewed MACD peak‑and‑reverse would increase downside pressure into the near term.

About Centene Corporation

Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) delivers comprehensive healthcare services, primarily targeting under-insured and uninsured populations across the United States. Established in 1984 and based in St. Louis, Missouri, Centene develops a wide array of health plans through its Medicaid, Medicare, and Commercial segments. The Medicaid segment offers expanded health plans, children’s health insurance programs, and long-term services. In the Medicare segment, Centene addresses the needs of seniors with special needs plans, Medicare supplements, and prescription drug plans. The Commercial segment provides marketplace insurance products for individuals and businesses, ensuring extensive access to healthcare services. Centene actively participates in government healthcare contracts, including the TRICARE program for military families, highlighting its dedication to diverse communities. The company also manages clinical healthcare services, pharmacies, and provides dental and speech therapy, promoting a holistic healthcare approach. By collaborating with primary and specialty care physicians, hospitals, and ancillary providers, Centene aims to deliver personalized, high-quality care to millions of Americans, emphasizing innovation and community well-being.



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