Medtronic vs. Tenet Healthcare: Which Healthcare Stock Offers Better Long-Term Growth?
Noor Ul Ain Rehman
Mon, August 24, 2026 at 1:13 AM GMT+5:30
4 min read
- MDT
+1.14% - THC
+3.00%
Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) and Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE:THC) offer investors two very different healthcare growth stories. Medtronic’s (NYSE:MDT) thesis rests on whether a new generation of medical devices can produce a durable turnaround across its enormous portfolio. Tenet (NYSE:THC), meanwhile, is generating stronger earnings by improving hospital profitability and focusing its ambulatory business on higher-acuity procedures
The comparison ultimately comes down to whether investors prefer Medtronic’s (NYSE:MDT) innovation-led recovery or Tenet’s (NYSE:THC) stronger operating leverage
Bull Case
Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) reported its highest annual revenue growth in a decade in its fiscal Q4 and full-year 2026 results, suggesting that years of investment in faster-growing technologies are beginning to produce meaningful results. Growth opportunities including Affera, Symplicity, Hugo, Altaviva, and Stealth AXiS give the company several potential drivers rather than leaving its recovery dependent on a single product
Cardiac Ablation Solutions has emerged as a particularly important contributor. Revenue increased 78% globally, including 124% growth in the United States, as newer products strengthened Medtronic’s (NYSE:MDT) position in the expanding cardiac-ablation market. The company is also investing in innovation and acquisitions, including targeted investments in intracardiac echocardiography catheter technology
The breadth of Medtronic’s (NYSE:MDT) pipeline supports the possibility that its recent acceleration can spread across more of the portfolio. Improving sentiment toward the wider medical-technology sector could provide an additional catalyst if the company maintains its execution. BTIG has argued that MedTech may be stabilizing following a period of underperformance, although company-specific results will ultimately matter more than broader sector sentiment
Tenet’s (NYSE:THC) latest earnings present a more immediate growth story. Adjusted diluted EPS increased 52.2% year over year to $6.12, while net operating revenue rose 6.8% to $5.63 billion. Ambulatory revenue increased 9.3% to approximately $1.39 billion, while hospital revenue grew 6% to around $4.20 billion
More importantly, Tenet’s (NYSE:THC) improvement was not confined to its faster-growing ambulatory platform. Hospital adjusted EBITDA margin expanded from 15.6% to 18% despite an unfavourable payer mix. Hospitals are operationally complex and labour-intensive, making that degree of margin expansion particularly significant. The combination of higher revenue and wider margins indicates that Tenet (NYSE:THC) is generating operating leverage rather than simply becoming a larger business
