Most Indebted Healthcare Stocks
Top healthcare companies ranked by long-term debt, latest annual filings.
Most Indebted Healthcare Companies: What Long-Term Debt Tells You
Long-term debt in healthcare takes very different forms depending on the business model. Large pharmaceutical firms and medical device makers often carry heavy debt from acquisitions of smaller pipeline assets or bolt-on product lines. Healthcare providers and insurers carry debt tied to facility networks and regulatory capital. Clinical-stage biotechs often have little long-term debt but may carry convertible instruments that eventually dilute equity, which an absolute-debt ranking does not capture.
Why It Matters in Healthcare
Acquisition-driven debt is a defining feature of large-cap pharma, where pipeline-refresh deals are routinely funded through the bond market. The same structure can become a burden when key patents expire before acquired assets scale. Debt says little about pipeline risk, which is the more consequential variable for drug developers, and biotechs with deep negative equity can look deceptively calm on this metric even when their financial position is fragile.
What to Read Alongside
Pair long-term debt with Free Cash Flow to see servicing capacity against drug portfolio cash flow, EBITDA for leverage ratios relative to operating scale, and Cash & Equivalents for the net-debt view after balance sheet cash.
| # | Symbol | Company | Sector | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UNH | UnitedHealth Group Incorporated | Healthcare | $72.32B | $353.17B |
| 2 | PFE | Pfizer Inc. | Healthcare | $61.64B | $167.52B |
| 3 | CVS | CVS Health Corporation | Healthcare | $60.50B | $107.28B |
| 4 | ABBV | AbbVie Inc. | Healthcare | $58.94B | $514.78B |
| 5 | AMGN | Amgen Inc. | Healthcare | $50.01B | $249.05B |
| 6 | MRK | Merck & Co., Inc. | Healthcare | $46.75B | $361.73B |
| 7 | BMY | Bristol-Myers Squibb Company | Healthcare | $42.85B | $127.02B |
| 8 | HCA | HCA Healthcare, Inc. | Healthcare | $41.60B | $103.40B |
| 9 | LLY | Eli Lilly and Company | Healthcare | $40.87B | $1.21T |
| 10 | JNJ | Johnson & Johnson | Healthcare | $39.44B | $664.95B |
| 11 | NVO | Novo Nordisk A/S | Healthcare | $36.19B | $177.74B |
| 12 | TMO | Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. | Healthcare | $35.85B | $257.42B |
| 13 | CI | The Cigna Group | Healthcare | $30.87B | $77.58B |
| 14 | ELV | Elevance Health, Inc. | Healthcare | $30.80B | $91.96B |
| 15 | NVS | Novartis AG | Healthcare | $28.73B | $307.00B |
| 16 | TAK | Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited | Healthcare | $27.47B | $67.16B |
| 17 | AZN | AstraZeneca PLC | Healthcare | $26.52B | $289.14B |
| 18 | MDT | Medtronic plc | Healthcare | $26.17B | $130.22B |
| 19 | GILD | Gilead Sciences, Inc. | Healthcare | $22.13B | $207.00B |
| 20 | BHC | Bausch Health Companies Inc. | Healthcare | $20.59B | $3.06B |
| 21 | GSK | GSK plc | Healthcare | $19.78B | $100.88B |
| 22 | DHR | Danaher Corporation | Healthcare | $18.42B | $161.89B |
| 23 | BDX | Becton, Dickinson and Company | Healthcare | $17.62B | $57.71B |
| 24 | CNC | Centene Corporation | Healthcare | $17.35B | $34.51B |
| 25 | SNY | Sanofi | Healthcare | $16.85B | $112.71B |
| 26 | SYK | Stryker Corporation | Healthcare | $14.86B | $124.06B |
| 27 | IQV | IQVIA Holdings Inc. | Healthcare | $13.88B | $44.80B |
| 28 | THC | Tenet Healthcare Corporation | Healthcare | $13.09B | $22.55B |
| 29 | MDLN | Medline Inc. | Healthcare | $12.48B | $52.12B |
| 30 | VTRS | Viatris Inc. | Healthcare | $12.48B | $22.83B |
| 31 | HUM | Humana Inc. | Healthcare | $12.37B | $52.09B |
| 32 | BSX | Boston Scientific Corporation | Healthcare | $11.14B | $61.96B |
| 33 | HLN | Haleon plc | Healthcare | $10.45B | $40.17B |
| 34 | DVA | DaVita Inc. | Healthcare | $10.16B | $12.04B |
| 35 | ABT | Abbott Laboratories | Healthcare | $9.90B | $190.43B |
| 36 | GEHC | GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. | Healthcare | $9.49B | $37.25B |
| 37 | BAX | Baxter International Inc. | Healthcare | $9.47B | $13.34B |
| 38 | ZTS | Zoetis Inc. | Healthcare | $9.04B | $32.26B |
| 39 | GRFS | Grifols, S.A. | Healthcare | $8.80B | $5.74B |
| 40 | OGN | Organon & Co. | Healthcare | $8.63B | $3.64B |
| 41 | RPRX | Royalty Pharma plc | Healthcare | $8.57B | $38.60B |
| 42 | PHG | Koninklijke Philips N.V. | Healthcare | $8.14B | $29.67B |
| 43 | COR | Cencora, Inc. | Healthcare | $7.54B | $63.65B |
| 44 | CAH | Cardinal Health, Inc. | Healthcare | $7.00B | $62.80B |
| 45 | ZBH | Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. | Healthcare | $6.93B | $19.98B |
| 46 | FMS | Fresenius Medical Care AG | Healthcare | $6.68B | $12.15B |
| 47 | BIIB | Biogen Inc. | Healthcare | $6.29B | $36.71B |
| 48 | MCK | McKesson Corporation | Healthcare | $5.26B | $122.48B |
| 49 | DGX | Quest Diagnostics Incorporated | Healthcare | $5.17B | $28.21B |
| 50 | LH | Labcorp Holdings Inc. | Healthcare | $5.08B | $29.77B |
| 51 | SOLV | Solventum Corporation | Healthcare | $5.04B | $15.36B |
| 52 | BLCO | Bausch + Lomb Corporation | Healthcare | $5.02B | $7.15B |
| 53 | GMAB | Genmab A/S | Healthcare | $5.00B | $32.98B |
| 54 | JAZZ | Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc | Healthcare | $4.33B | $15.07B |
| 55 | BKD | Brookdale Senior Living Inc. | Healthcare | $4.22B | $2.15B |
| 56 | ALC | Alcon Inc. | Healthcare | $4.16B | $36.23B |
| 57 | UHS | Universal Health Services, Inc. | Healthcare | $4.00B | $11.52B |
| 58 | ELAN | Elanco Animal Health Incorporated | Healthcare | $3.94B | $12.86B |
| 59 | AVTR | Avantor, Inc. | Healthcare | $3.92B | $10.48B |
| 60 | MOH | Molina Healthcare, Inc. | Healthcare | $3.77B | $10.87B |
| 61 | PRGO | Perrigo Company plc | Healthcare | $3.60B | $2.20B |
| 62 | SGRY | Surgery Partners, Inc. | Healthcare | $3.60B | $2.99B |
| 63 | SNN | Smith & Nephew plc | Healthcare | $3.11B | $13.04B |
| 64 | A | Agilent Technologies, Inc. | Healthcare | $3.05B | $49.26B |
| 65 | ICLR | ICON Public Limited Company | Healthcare | $2.87B | $15.34B |
| 66 | RVTY | Revvity, Inc. | Healthcare | $2.63B | $17.31B |
| 67 | AMRX | Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | Healthcare | $2.57B | $7.01B |
| 68 | TFX | Teleflex Incorporated | Healthcare | $2.54B | $6.39B |
| 69 | QDEL | QuidelOrtho Corporation | Healthcare | $2.47B | $734.15M |
| 70 | ACHC | Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc. | Healthcare | $2.47B | $3.44B |
| 71 | COO | The Cooper Companies, Inc. | Healthcare | $2.46B | $11.86B |
| 72 | BTSG | BrightSpring Health Services, Inc. | Healthcare | $2.46B | $13.36B |
| 73 | EHC | Encompass Health Corporation | Healthcare | $2.45B | $13.50B |
| 74 | HSIC | Henry Schein, Inc. | Healthcare | $2.31B | $9.51B |
| 75 | HALO | Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. | Healthcare | $2.14B | $11.81B |
| 76 | CRL | Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. | Healthcare | $2.14B | $16.17B |
| 77 | SHC | Sotera Health Company | Healthcare | $2.13B | $4.57B |
| 78 | MTD | Mettler-Toledo International Inc. | Healthcare | $2.09B | $34.51B |
| 79 | XRAY | DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. | Healthcare | $2.02B | $1.89B |
| 80 | BBIO | BridgeBio Pharma, Inc. | Healthcare | $2.01B | $14.47B |
| 81 | REGN | Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | Healthcare | $1.99B | $93.55B |
| 82 | BRKR | Bruker Corporation | Healthcare | $1.85B | $9.36B |
| 83 | STE | STERIS plc | Healthcare | $1.81B | $24.50B |
| 84 | AHCO | AdaptHealth Corp. | Healthcare | $1.72B | $1.00B |
| 85 | QGEN | Qiagen N.V. | Healthcare | $1.65B | $10.39B |
| 86 | CON | Concentra Group Holdings Parent, Inc. | Healthcare | $1.56B | $5.34B |
| 87 | GH | Guardant Health, Inc. | Healthcare | $1.50B | $20.41B |
| 88 | WAY | Waystar Holding Corp. | Healthcare | $1.46B | $5.45B |
| 89 | NVST | Envista Holdings Corporation | Healthcare | $1.45B | $4.04B |
| 90 | IONS | Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | Healthcare | $1.33B | $6.55B |
| 91 | AVAH | Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc. | Healthcare | $1.29B | $2.89B |
| 92 | ICUI | ICU Medical, Inc. | Healthcare | $1.27B | $4.30B |
| 93 | ALVO | Alvotech | Healthcare | $1.26B | $1.73B |
| 94 | ENOV | Enovis Corporation | Healthcare | $1.26B | $1.57B |
| 95 | DXCM | DexCom, Inc. | Healthcare | $1.24B | $29.62B |
| 96 | HAE | Haemonetics Corporation | Healthcare | $1.22B | $5.46B |
| 97 | BIO | Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. | Healthcare | $1.20B | $10.26B |
| 98 | ITGR | Integer Holdings Corporation | Healthcare | $1.19B | $4.30B |
| 99 | OPCH | Option Care Health, Inc. | Healthcare | $1.15B | $4.74B |
| 100 | ATR | AptarGroup, Inc. | Healthcare | $1.14B | $9.03B |
No companies match this search.
How this ranking is built
Companies are ranked by long-term debt as reported in their most recent annual filing with the SEC. Figures shown are in US dollars (or percent, as noted), rounded to two decimals.
- Source: annual 10-K / 20-F filings from companies trading on US exchanges (NYSE, Nasdaq, AMEX).
- Fiscal year: whichever annual period the company has most recently filed. Fiscal years don't always align with the calendar year, so the "as of FY" stamp above reflects the most common year across the table.
- Filtered out: warrants, preferred shares, and duplicate listings that share a parent company's financials.
- Size floor: A company qualifies at $500 million in market cap or above. Below that, one mis-stated figure outranks the companies the list is about.
- Currency check: A company whose annual revenue runs above 15 times its market cap is left out, because at that gap the two figures are not in the same currency.
- Currency check: A company whose balance sheet runs above 150 times its market cap is left out for the same reason.
- Market cap: stated at each company's latest close, which is newer than the annual figure ranked here.
- Update cadence: refreshed as companies file new annual reports (typically within 60–90 days of fiscal year end).
Not financial advice. This is a research tool, not a recommendation.
Frequently asked questions
Why do large pharmaceutical companies often carry significant debt?
Pharma firms face recurring patent cliffs as older drugs lose exclusivity and generic versions capture market share. To refresh their pipelines and diversify revenue, large pharma routinely acquires smaller biotech and specialty firms, funding those deals with a mix of cash and long-term debt. The combination of steady cash flow from existing drugs and access to investment-grade credit makes debt financing a common tool. The cycle repeats as each wave of acquisitions matures and the next round of patent expirations approaches.
Why isn't debt the main risk signal for biotech companies?
Clinical-stage biotechs typically finance operations through equity issuance, partnerships, and convertible instruments rather than traditional long-term debt, so their balance sheets can look light on debt even when they carry significant financial risk. The real questions are cash runway relative to burn rate, trial timelines, and scientific probability of success. A biotech with modest long-term debt but only a few quarters of cash runway can be in a much more precarious position than a large pharma with substantial debt and stable product cash flows.