Seventy-four cents on the dollar, and no equity left

HCA Healthcare's shares have fallen 22% since March. Over the last three fiscal years its revenue rose 26% and its net income 20%, and at Friday's close the market pays 74 cents for each dollar the accounts support with no growth at all. It is also a company with no book equity left — it has spent it buying back its own shares — and the market's worry is about who pays its bills next year. It is the eleventh cheapest of the 100 companies that clear our two gates; the machine's pick is A. O. Smith, for the third Sunday running. This piece also withdraws a cushion our own Sunday table printed for it.

October 4 · 15 min read

Priced for no growth, and still growing

Accenture's shares have lost 56% since February 2025. Over the same stretch its revenue set a record every year and its latest quarter grew 5.6%, with earnings per share up 9%. At Friday's close the market pays 95 cents for each dollar the accounts support with no growth at all — everything above the price is the credit our frame gives the franchise record, and whether that record survives AI is the whole disagreement. It is the eighth cheapest of the 100 companies that clear our two gates, expensive on its own fifteen-year past and cheap on its last twelve months; the machine's pick is A. O. Smith, again. This piece also corrects a label in our own Sunday table.

September 27 · 14 min read