HUM · Health care(hospital & medical service plans) · 10 years of annual accounts filed with the SEC · latest fiscal year ended 2025-12-31
Humana Inc reported revenue of $129.7 billion in fiscal 2025, after growing 10.1% a year over the previous 9 years. Its operating margin narrowed from 3.2% in 2016 to 2.1%, and it earned 7.4% on its invested capital in the latest year. Of the $33.8 billion its operations generated over 10 years, 36.0% went to buybacks and 23.6% back into the business; the share count fell 19.9%. On the accounting screens, it passes 5 of 8 Piotroski tests, its Altman Z'' of 5.10 is in the safe zone and its Beneish M-score is below the -1.78 line; 1 of the six cross-checks between its statements fires.
Revenue, fiscal 2025129.7B+10.1% a year over 9 years
Operating margin2.1%gross margin —
Return on invested capital7.4%9.1% on average over 5 years
Free cash flow after stock pay134.0M0.1% of revenue
Net debt ÷ EBITDA2.4×net debt 8.2B
Piotroski F-score5/8tests of improvement passed
Is it growing?
Revenue and the operating income it turns into. Growth that does not reach operating income is growth bought with margin.
RevenueOperating income
050.0B100.0B150.0B
2016Revenue 54.4BOperating income 1.7B
2017Revenue 53.8BOperating income 4.3B
2018Revenue 56.9BOperating income 3.1B
2019Revenue 64.9BOperating income 3.2B
2020Revenue 77.2BOperating income 5.0B
2021Revenue 83.1BOperating income 3.1B
2022Revenue 92.9BOperating income 3.8B
2023Revenue 106.4BOperating income 4.0B
2024Revenue 117.8BOperating income 2.6B
2025Revenue 129.7BOperating income 2.7B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Compound growth a year
3 yrs
5 yrs
9 yrs
Revenue
+11.8%
+10.9%
+10.1%
Operating income
-10.7%
-11.5%
+5.0%
Net income
-24.9%
-18.8%
+7.6%
Earnings per share
-23.6%
-17.2%
+10.3%
Free cash flow per share
-51.5%
-38.5%
-11.5%
Dividend per share
+66.5%
+7.9%
+13.1%
Shares
-1.7%
-1.9%
-2.4%
Falling shares are buybacks: each remaining share owns more of the company.
Does it earn more than its capital costs?
Margins say how much of each sale is kept; return on invested capital says how much the business earns on the money it needs to operate. Growth only creates value when that return is above the cost of the capital.
GrossOperatingNetFree cash flow
0.0%2.0%4.0%6.0%8.0%
2016Operating 3.2%Net 1.1%Free cash flow 2.6%
2017Operating 7.9%Net 4.6%Free cash flow 6.6%
2018Operating 5.4%Net 3.0%Free cash flow 2.7%
2019Operating 4.9%Net 4.2%Free cash flow 7.0%
2020Operating 6.5%Net 4.4%Free cash flow 6.1%
2021Operating 3.8%Net 3.5%Free cash flow 1.1%
2022Operating 4.1%Net 3.0%Free cash flow 3.7%
2023Operating 3.8%Net 2.3%Free cash flow 2.8%
2024Operating 2.2%Net 1.0%Free cash flow 2.0%
2025Operating 2.1%Net 0.9%Free cash flow 0.3%
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Return on invested capital
Return on invested capitalCost of capital today · 7.7%
0.0%5.0%10.0%15.0%20.0%
2016Return on invested capital 4.7%
2017Return on invested capital 17.6%
2018Return on invested capital 15.5%
2019Return on invested capital 14.1%
2020Return on invested capital 17.6%
2021Return on invested capital 9.5%
2022Return on invested capital 11.3%
2023Return on invested capital 10.8%
2024Return on invested capital 6.8%
2025Return on invested capital 7.4%
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Economic profit
Economic profit
-1.0B01.0B2.0B3.0B
2016Economic profit -456.3M
2017Economic profit 1.5B
2018Economic profit 1.3B
2019Economic profit 1.1B
2020Economic profit 2.0B
2021Economic profit 487.2M
2022Economic profit 938.9M
2023Economic profit 840.6M
2024Economic profit -268.4M
2025Economic profit -92.9M
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
(return on capital − cost of capital) × capital invested: the profit left after paying for the money used. Today's cost of capital is applied to every year, since a past one cannot be rebuilt honestly.
Return on equity
6.7%
Return on assets
2.4%
Asset turnover
2.65×
Overheads (SG&A)
11.9% of revenue
Is the profit cash, and where does the cash go?
Net income is an accounting opinion; free cash flow is what was left in the bank after investing. Stock-based pay does not leave the bank — shareholders pay it through dilution — so it is shown taken off as well.
Net incomeFree cash flowAfter stock-based pay
02.0B4.0B6.0B
2016Net income 614.0MFree cash flow 1.4BAfter stock-based pay 1.3B
2017Net income 2.4BFree cash flow 3.5BAfter stock-based pay 3.4B
2018Net income 1.7BFree cash flow 1.6BAfter stock-based pay 1.4B
2019Net income 2.7BFree cash flow 4.5BAfter stock-based pay 4.4B
2020Net income 3.4BFree cash flow 4.7BAfter stock-based pay 4.5B
2021Net income 2.9BFree cash flow 920.0MAfter stock-based pay 740.0M
2022Net income 2.8BFree cash flow 3.5BAfter stock-based pay 3.2B
2023Net income 2.5BFree cash flow 3.0BAfter stock-based pay 2.8B
2024Net income 1.2BFree cash flow 2.4BAfter stock-based pay 2.2B
2025Net income 1.2BFree cash flow 375.0MAfter stock-based pay 134.0M
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Where 10 years of operating cash went, 2016–2025
33.8B generated by the business. Each band is its share of that total.
Reinvested in the business 24%8.0B
Acquisitions 18%6.0B
Dividends 8%2.8B
Share buybacks 36%12.2B
Kept, or used to pay down debt 14%4.9B
Over the same years it paid 1.8B in stock. The share count fell 19.9%. 10.4B of the buybacks went beyond offsetting that dilution.
Per share
Earnings per shareFree cash flow per shareDividend per share
$0.00$10.00$20.00$30.00$40.00
2016Earnings per share $4.07Free cash flow per share $9.34Dividend per share $1.17
2017Earnings per share $16.81Free cash flow per share $24.23Dividend per share $1.51
2018Earnings per share $12.16Free cash flow per share $11.28Dividend per share $1.91
2019Earnings per share $20.09Free cash flow per share $33.76Dividend per share $2.16
2020Earnings per share $25.31Free cash flow per share $35.15Dividend per share $2.43
2021Earnings per share $22.67Free cash flow per share $7.11Dividend per share $0.70
2022Earnings per share $22.08Free cash flow per share $27.15Dividend per share $0.77
2023Earnings per share $20.00Free cash flow per share $23.92Dividend per share $3.46
2024Earnings per share $9.99Free cash flow per share $19.78Dividend per share $3.57
2025Earnings per share $9.83Free cash flow per share $3.10Dividend per share $3.56
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Shares outstanding
Diluted shares
120.0M130.0M140.0M150.0M160.0M
2016Diluted shares 150.9M
2017Diluted shares 145.6M
2018Diluted shares 138.4M
2019Diluted shares 134.7M
2020Diluted shares 133.0M
2021Diluted shares 129.4M
2022Diluted shares 127.1M
2023Diluted shares 124.4M
2024Diluted shares 120.9M
2025Diluted shares 120.8M
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
How strong is the balance sheet?
Debt is not bad in itself; debt the business cannot service in a bad year is. Net debt is debt minus cash, and below zero the company holds more cash than it owes.
Net debt
02.5B5.0B7.5B10.0B
2016Net debt 215.0M
2017Net debt 878.0M
2018Net debt 3.7B
2019Net debt 1.6B
2020Net debt 2.0B
2021Net debt 9.1B
2022Net debt 6.1B
2023Net debt 7.0B
2024Net debt 9.5B
2025Net debt 8.2B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Net debt ÷ EBITDA
2.4×
Interest coverage
4× operating income ÷ interest
Current ratio
2.00 current assets ÷ current liabilities
Cash conversion cycle
— collects in 9d
Three classic screens of the accounts
Each asks a different question of the same statements — is it improving, does it look like a company heading for distress, do the accounts resemble ones that were manipulated. None is a verdict; each shows what moves it.
Piotroski F-score
Is the business improving? Nine yes-or-no tests, this year against last.
5of 8 tests passed
✓ProfitableReturn on assets above zeropassed
✓Cash from operationsOperating cash flow above zeropassed
✕Profitability improvedReturn on assets higher than a year beforefailed
✕Profit backed by cashOperating cash flow above net income (low accruals)failed
✕Less long-term debtLong-term debt as a share of assets fellfailed
✓More liquidCurrent ratio higher than a year beforepassed
✓No new sharesShare count did not growpassed
–Better gross marginGross margin higher than a year before — not reportedno data
✓Sells more per assetAsset turnover higher than a year beforepassed
Where it misleads: it measures change, not level. An excellent business that stood still for a year scores low; a poor one recovering from a disaster scores high.
Altman Z''-score
Does the balance sheet look like those of companies that went bankrupt?
5.10safe zone
1.12.6
Working capital ÷ assets 0.34 × 6.56+2.20
Retained earnings ÷ assets 0.59 × 3.26+1.94
Operating income ÷ assets 0.06 × 6.72+0.37
Equity ÷ liabilities 0.57 × 1.05+0.59
Where it misleads: buybacks. A company that returns so much cash that its equity turns small or negative sinks the last two ratios without being anywhere near bankruptcy. Banks and insurers do not fit the model at all.
Beneish M-score
Do the accounts resemble those of companies that manipulated their earnings?
-2.29below the -1.78 line
-1.78
Receivables vs sales 1.10+1.01
Gross margin slipping 1.00 (not reported, set to 1)+0.53
Soft assets 0.94+0.38
Sales growth 1.10+0.98
Slower depreciation 1.04+0.12
Overheads vs sales 1.02-0.18
Profit not in cash 0.01+0.03
Leverage rising 0.97-0.32
Where it misleads: fast growth and acquisitions. Sales growth carries a heavy weight, so a company growing 50% a year scores like a suspect without having done anything. It is a screen from a 1999 study, not an accusation.
Where the statements disagree
Cross-checks between the income statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow for the latest year, each with the benign reading and the worrying one.
Reported profit comfortably exceeds the cash generated (1,188M against 921M).
Benign
Growth consuming working capital, or the seasonality of the year-end.
Worrying
Profit held up by accounting entries that do not turn into money.
What is it worth, under which assumptions?
A company is worth the cash it will generate, brought back to today. This model projects revenue with growth that fades over the years, applies a free cash flow margin, and discounts the result at the cost of capital. Every assumption says where it came from, and all of them can be changed.
Value per share, with these assumptions$366.30discounted at 7.7% a year · 63% of it from after year 10
Type a share price on the left to ask the reverse questions: what growth, what margin or what discount rate that price implies.
What the value implies, in the usual multiples
At this model's value
Price ÷ earnings
37.3×
Enterprise value ÷ EBITDA
15.4×
Enterprise value ÷ revenue
0.4×
Free cash flow yield
0.3%
From cash flows to a value per share
10 years of cash flow, today19.2B
Everything after, today33.3B
The whole business52.4B
Minus net debt-8.2B
What belongs to shareholders44.3B
Divided among 120.8M shares: <strong>$366.30</strong> each.
The projection next to its history
Reported free cash flow after stock pay, then the model's. A projection that looks nothing like the past needs a reason.
ReportedProjected
02.0B4.0B6.0B
2016Reported 1.3B
2017Reported 3.4B
2018Reported 1.4B
2019Reported 4.4B
2020Reported 4.5B
2021Reported 740.0M
2022Reported 3.2B
2023Reported 2.8B
2024Reported 2.2B
2025Reported 134.0M
2026Projected 2.1B
2027Projected 2.3B
2028Projected 2.5B
2029Projected 2.7B
2030Projected 2.9B
2031Projected 3.1B
2032Projected 3.2B
2033Projected 3.4B
2034Projected 3.5B
2035Projected 3.6B
2016201820202022202420262028203020322034
Year by year
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
Revenue
143.9B
158.4B
172.8B
186.9B
200.4B
213.0B
224.4B
234.2B
242.3B
248.4B
Growth
11.0%
10.1%
9.1%
8.2%
7.2%
6.3%
5.3%
4.4%
3.4%
2.5%
Cash margin
1.4%
1.4%
1.4%
1.4%
1.4%
1.4%
1.4%
1.4%
1.4%
1.4%
Free cash flow
2.1B
2.3B
2.5B
2.7B
2.9B
3.1B
3.2B
3.4B
3.5B
3.6B
Worth today
1.9B
2.0B
2.0B
2.0B
2.0B
2.0B
1.9B
1.9B
1.8B
1.7B
If the least-known inputs move
Value per share as two inputs change at a time. Neighbouring cells that differ a lot are the conclusion: the value depends on numbers nobody knows to a point.
The discount rate and growth forever
discount ↓ · forever →
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
3.0%
3.5%
6.8%
382
422
472
536
619
7.2%
341
374
414
463
525
7.7%
307
334
366
405
454
8.2%
278
300
327
359
397
8.8%
252
272
294
320
352
Year-one growth and the final margin
margin ↓ · growth →
7.0%
9.0%
11.0%
13.0%
15.0%
1.2%
240
266
295
325
358
1.3%
269
298
330
364
400
1.4%
300
332
366
404
444
1.6%
329
364
402
443
486
1.7%
361
399
439
483
531
All the inputs moving at once
5,000 valuations, each with growth, final margin, discount rate and growth forever drawn at random around the values on the left (spreads of 3.0%, 2.0%, 1.0% and 0.5%). Not a probability — the spreads are assumptions too — but an honest picture of how wide the answer is.
10th percentile$-268.41
Median$366.26
90th percentile$1,100.60
$0.00$1,000.00
Half of the simulations land between <b>$40.55</b> and <b>$727.91</b>; one in ten below $-268.41, one in ten above $1,100.60.
Does the long run make sense?
10.8×The terminal value prices the business in year 10 at 10.8 times that year's EBITDA.
16%To grow 2.5% forever while reinvesting 16% of its after-tax operating profit, the business must earn 16% on the new capital — it has earned 9% on average over the last five years.
63%of the value comes from after year 10. The more of it, the more the answer depends on the part nobody can see.
Accounts from the company's own SEC filings; lines some companies do not report are shown as a dash rather than estimated. The risk-free rate is the 10-year US Treasury yield. A DCF is a way of making assumptions explicit, not a forecast: it states what the company would be worth if the assumptions held. The scores are screens that point where to look, not verdicts. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell.