Forensic Analysis · Healthcare / Pharmaceuticals / Biotech · as of Jun 27, 2026
CENTENE CORP (CNC)
A forensic read on CENTENE CORP built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
C · Mixed — selective
Forensic grade
Distress
Financial health
0.4
Altman Z-score
Clean
Earnings quality
2
Forensic signals
-28.7%
ROE
$32.5B
Market cap
CENTENE CORP earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade, and its Altman Z-score is 0.4, placing it in the Distress zone. 2 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.
What the filings flag
-27%Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is -27% and slipping from 2% — well below its ~10% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
$1.0BGoodwill impairments.Took $1.0B of goodwill writedowns across 4 year(s) (FY2020 ($9M), FY2022 ($370M), FY2023 ($392M)) — about 21% of net income over the span. A large writedown means an acquisition turned out worth far less than was paid — a real mark against M&A discipline.
Key fundamentals
Net Margin-3.4%
Debt / Equity0.87x
Free Cash Flow$4.32B
Latest Revenue$194.78B
Return on Equity-33.4%
Revenue Growth YoY+19.4%
Go deeper — free with an account
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. An account adds the full interactive deep-dive on CENTENE CORP:
🔒The written investment read — what the numbers mean, in plain English
🔒Ask anything about CNC's filings — AI Q&A across the 10-K, 10-Qs & 8-Ks
🔒Interactive valuation — reverse-DCF sliders, Monte Carlo & scenario stress
🔒Calibrated 12-month price forecast, with the math shown