Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare now expects to exceed $300 million in full-year M&A spending in 2026, executives said on the for-profit system’s July 24 second-quarter earnings call.
Tenet had previously projected $250 million in M&A spending in 2026. Chairman and CEO Saum Sutaria, MD, attributed the increased estimate to ASC acquisitions the for-profit system has already completed this year and a “robust pipeline of deals” still ahead for United Surgical Partners International, the system’s ambulatory care subsidiary.
USPI recorded a net revenue of $1.4 billion in the second quarter, a 9.3% increase year over year. The increase was attributed to strong growth in consolidated same-facility net patient service revenues, acquisitions of facilities and increased service lines.
Growing USPI through M&A remains Tenet’s top capital deployment priority, followed by investing in hospital growth initiatives, share repurchases and evaluating opportunities to retire or refinance debt.
Dr. Sutaria said Tenet remains “a bit more cautious on large-scale hospital builds” until the market environment becomes clearer, and has kept new hospital construction to one or two projects a year.
The increased M&A spending estimate comes as the system also raised its 2026 earnings outlook. Tenet is now projecting net operating revenue between $21.9 billion and $22.5 billion for full-year 2026. Tenet previously projected full-year revenue between $21.5 billion and $22.3 billion. The system is projecting net income between $2.87 billion and $3.02 billion, up from its previous projection between $2.61 billion and $2.84 billion. Tenet is now projecting an EBITDA between $4.83 billion and $5.03 billion, up from its previous projection between $4.49 billion and $4.79 billion.
Tenet reported an operating income of $1.5 billion (26.7% operating margin) for the three months ended June 30, up from $823 million (15.6% margin) during the same period last year.
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