Ardent Health Reports First Quarter 2026 Results Brentwood, Tenn. (

Ardent Health Reports First Quarter 2026 Results

Brentwood, Tenn. (May 5, 2026) - Ardent Health, Inc. (NYSE ARDT) ( Ardent Health or the Company ), a leading

provider of healthcare in growing mid-sized urban communities across the U.S., today announced results for the quarter

ended March 31, 2026.

First Quarter 2026 Operating and Financial Summary

All comparisons are versus the same prior year period. See the footnotes to the Operating Statistics table of this press

release for definitions of the metrics below and a full list of key operating metrics.

(1) Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDAR are financial measures that have not been prepared in a manner that complies with U.S. generally accepted

accounting principles ( GAAP ). See Supplemental Non-GAAP Financial Information and reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to their most

comparable GAAP financial measures contained later in this press release.

1 Lease-adjusted net leverage ratio is defined as the Company's net debt as of March 31, 2026, plus 8x trailing twelve-month real estate investment trust

( REIT ) rent expense as of the end of the first quarter of 2026, divided by trailing twelve-month Adjusted EBITDAR as of March 31, 2026.

Financial Performance Summary

The Company's first quarter 2026 results included a $10.9 million gain, included in other operating expenses, from an

increase in the carrying value of an investment option it holds in a privately held company.

For the first quarter of 2026

Total revenue grew 7.0% year-over-year to $1,602 million, driven primarily by a 2.0% increase in adjusted

admissions and a 5.5% increase in net patient service revenue per adjusted admission.

Net income attributable to Ardent Health was $40 million, or $0.28 per diluted share, compared to net income

attributable to Ardent Health of $41 million, or $0.29 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2025.

Adjusted EBITDA increased 26.3% year-over-year to $124 million. Excluding the $10.9 million gain discussed above,

adjusted EBITDA grew 15%.

Operating Performance Summary

The following table provides a summary of certain key operating metrics for the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same

prior year period. See the footnotes to the Operating Statistics table of this press release for definitions of the metrics

below and a full list of key operating metrics.

Admissions for the first quarter of 2026 decreased 1.1% year-over-year and were impacted by severe weather in

certain markets and a lighter respiratory season.

Surgeries for the first quarter of 2026 increased 1.2% year-over-year. The increase in total surgeries reflected

outpatient surgery growth of 1.7% and an inpatient surgery increase of 0.1%.

Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Liquidity Update

As of March 31, 2026, the Company had total cash and cash equivalents of $610 million and total debt of $1.1 billion. The

Company's net leverage ratio was 1.0x and its lease-adjusted net leverage ratio1 was 2.6x as of March 31, 2026, an

improvement from 3.0x as of March 31, 2025. At the end of the first quarter, the Company's available liquidity was $0.9

During the first quarter of 2026, net cash used in operating activities was $60 million, compared to $25 million used in the

same prior year period.

2026 Financial Guidance

The Company is reaffirming its full-year 2026 financial guidance. All guidance is current as of the time provided and is

The Company's guidance is based on current plans and expectations and is subject to a number of known and unknown

uncertainties and risks, including those set forth below under the heading Forward-Looking Statements. The Company

does not forecast the impact of items such as, but not limited to, losses (gains) on sales of facilities, losses on retirement of

debt, legal claim costs (benefits) and impairments of long-lived assets. The Company does not believe that it can forecast

these items with sufficient accuracy because of the inherent difficulty of forecasting the timing or amount of various items

that have not yet occurred and are out of the Company's control or cannot be reasonably predicted.

First Quarter 2026 Results Conference Call

The Company will host a conference call to discuss its first quarter financial results on May 6, 2026, at 10 00 a.m. Eastern

Time. A webcast of the conference call will be available in the Investor Relations section of the Company's corporate

website at https ir.ardenthealth.com. To listen to a live broadcast, go to the site at least 15 minutes prior to the scheduled

start time in order to register, download, and install any necessary audio software.

To participate in the live teleconference

United States Live 1-888-596-4144

International Live 1-646-968-2525

To listen to a replay of the teleconference, which will be available through May 20, 2026

United States Replay 1-800-770-2030

International Replay 1-647-362-9199

Ardent Health (NYSE ARDT) is a leading provider of healthcare in growing mid-sized urban communities across the U.S.

With a focus on people and investments in innovative services and technologies, Ardent is passionate about making

healthcare better and easier to access. Through its subsidiaries, the Company delivers care through a system of 30 acute

care hospitals, more than 280 sites of care, and over 2,000 employed and affiliated providers across six states. For more

information, please visit ardenthealth.com.

Supplemental Non-GAAP Financial Information

We have included certain non-GAAP financial measures in this press release, including Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA

margin, and Adjusted EBITDAR. We define these terms as follows

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income plus (i) provision for income

taxes, (ii) interest expense and (iii) depreciation and amortization expense (or EBITDA), as adjusted to deduct

noncontrolling interest earnings, and excludes the effects of other non-operating losses recoveries from the

cybersecurity incident in November 2023 (the Cybersecurity Incident ), net of incremental information technology and

litigation costs certain legal matters and related costs other expenses, including development, restructuring and

enterprise system conversion costs equity-based compensation expense and (income) loss from disposed operations.

Adjusted EBITDA margin is defined as Adjusted EBITDA divided by total revenue.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin are non-GAAP performance measures used by our management and

external users of our financial statements, such as investors, analysts, lenders, rating agencies and other interested

parties, to evaluate companies in our industry. Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin are performance

measures that are not prepared in accordance with GAAP and are presented in this press release because our

management considers them important analytical indicators commonly used within the healthcare industry to evaluate

financial performance and allocate resources. Further, our management believes that Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted

EBITDA margin are useful financial metrics to assess our operating performance from period to period by excluding

certain material non-cash items and unusual or non-recurring items that we do not expect to continue in the future and

certain other adjustments we believe are not reflective of our ongoing operations and our performance.

Because not all companies use identical calculations, our presentation of Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin

may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies. While we believe these are useful

supplemental performance measures for investors and other users of our financial information, you should not

consider Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin in isolation or as a substitute for net income or any other items

calculated in accordance with GAAP. Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin have inherent material limitations

as performance measures, because they add back certain expenses to net income, resulting in those expenses not

being taken into account in the performance measures. We have borrowed money, so interest expense is a necessary

element of our costs. Because we have material capital and intangible assets, depreciation and amortization expense

are necessary elements of our costs. Likewise, the payment of taxes is a necessary element of our operations. Because

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin exclude these and other items, they have material limitations as

measures of our performance.

Adjusted EBITDAR. Adjusted EBITDAR is defined as Adjusted EBITDA further adjusted to add back rent expense payable

to real estate investment trusts ( REITs ), which consists of rent expense pursuant to the master lease agreement (the

Ventas Master Lease ) with Ventas, Inc. ( Ventas ), lease agreements with Ventas for 18 medical office buildings and a

lease arrangement with Medical Properties Trust, Inc. ( MPT ) for the Hackensack Meridian Mountainside Medical

Adjusted EBITDAR is a commonly used non-GAAP valuation measure used by our management, research analysts,

investors and other interested parties to evaluate and compare the enterprise value of different companies in our