CENTENE CORPORATION vs MOLINA HEALTHCARE, INC., two Managed Care stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Both Medicaid managed-care margins have collapsed, and the pair is about which collapse is worse: Centene's net margin sits at negative 3.3%, Molina's clings to positive 0.42%, neither with a usable earnings multiple this year. The industry's mechanism failed both the same way, state rate resets lagging post-pandemic medical costs. Scale separates them, $33B against $12B of market value, and posture: Centene's 21.8% free-cash figure is float against future claims, not comfort. Returns on equity, negative 30% against positive 4.6%, say Centene took the bigger writedowns. These are two recovery bets on the same regulatory cycle; the prices assume the states eventually pay actuarially sound rates, and the timing is the entire risk.
Comparison updated 2026-07-10.
| Metric | CNC | MOH |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $65.73 | $229.88 |
| Market cap | $32.6B | $11.7B |
| Sector | Managed Care | Managed Care |
| Stage | Growth | Mature |
| P/B | 1.51 | 2.87 |
| P/S | 0.16 | 0.26 |
| EV/EBITDA | — | 16.5 |
| Revenue growth | +17.4% | +8.0% |
| Gross margin | 11.3% | — |
| Operating margin | 3.7% | 0.8% |
| Net margin | -3.3% | 0.4% |
| Return on equity | -30.0% | 4.6% |
| Return on assets | -7.9% | 1.1% |
| Return on invested capital | -14.1% | 2.6% |
| FCF yield | 21.8% | 2.1% |
| Debt / equity | 0.76 | 0.92 |
| Current ratio | 1.12 | 1.63 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 3.09 | 4.02 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 6 / 9 | 7 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.