Ardent Health bumped up its 2026 earnings guidance as expense and efficiency improvements met solid “top of the funnel” demand for care during the third quarter, the for-profit shared this week.

The performance comes after a soft second quarter, with executives on Thursday’s earnings call noting that pain points like surgical volumes improved sequentially while broader challenges like Affordable Care Act marketplace dropoffs remain within projections.

Ardent’s shares were trading 20% above open as of Thursday afternoon in spite of Wall Street’s economy-wide selloff.

Leaders said that the company’s Project IMPACT (Improve Margins, Performance, Agility and Care Transformation) initiative is on track to hit “at least” its expected $70 million benefit for 2026, and highlighted a 4% year-over-year reduction in the quarter’s salaries, wages and benefits (SWB) expenses during the quarter driven in part by contract labor expense reduction.

Meanwhile, Ardent is reviewing its portfolio to determine which assets are a long-term strategic fit—leading to decisions like September’s divestiture from a joint venture with the University of Kansas Health System—and plans to deploy its capital toward organic growth in its mid-sized urban markets while maintaining a “disciplined approach” to acquisition or joint venture opportunities that prioritizes above-average potential market growth, CEO Dave Caspar told analysts Thursday.

“When we spoke with you last quarter, I outlined a clear set of priorities: deliver more consistent financial results, grow EBITDA, deploy capital effectively and execute against our commitments in a way that creates long-term shareholder value,” Caspar said during the earnings call.

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