ADUS vs EHC: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: ADUS is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. ADUS and EHC share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined ADUS and EHC exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Addus HomeCare Corporation provides in-home care to elderly, chronically ill, and disabled people through three segments: personal care (help with bathing, dressing, meals, and daily activities), hospice (end-of-life care), and home health (skilled nursing and therapy). Personal care is by far the largest piece at roughly 77% of revenue and is funded predominantly by state Medicaid programs, while hospice and home health are largely Medicare-funded. The company operates across many states with heavy concentration in markets like Illinois, New Mexico, and Texas, and has grown for years through a steady stream of acquisitions, most recently a large personal care deal that lifted 2025 revenue sharply.

Full ADUS guide

Encompass Health runs inpatient rehabilitation facilities, or IRFs: hospitals that take patients after a stroke, a hip fracture, a brain or spinal cord injury, or major surgery, and put them through intensive physician-supervised therapy before they go home. As of the second quarter of 2026 it operated 176 hospitals across 39 states and Puerto Rico, which makes it the largest operator in the category by a wide margin. Medicare fee-for-service is its dominant payer, and under the IRF prospective payment system it is paid a set amount per discharge based on the patient's condition and complexity, so revenue is essentially discharges multiplied by net revenue per discharge. A portion of its hospitals are structured as joint ventures with acute-care health systems, which brings referral flow and shared construction capital while handing a slice of consolidated profit to noncontrolling interests. The company became a pure-play rehabilitation operator in 2022 when it spun off its home health and hospice arm as Enhabit.

Full EHC guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• ADUS drivers: Aging demographics and shift to home; Personal care volume and rate growth.
• EHC drivers: De novo hospitals and bed additions; Demographics against a supply-constrained niche.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: The largest risk is reimbursement concentration: personal care depends heavily on state Medicaid budgets and hospice and home health on Medicare, so rate cuts, budget shortfalls, or eligibility changes in key states can pressure revenue and margins directly. For EHC, encompass is heavily dependent on a single payer whose rates are set by regulation, so any policy shift toward site-neutral payment between rehabilitation hospitals and skilled nursing facilities would hit the core economics directly, and MedPAC has argued for years that IRF margins are high.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick ADUS if you believe its drivers more; EHC if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the ADUS and EHC guides.

ADUS. Addus trades at a low-20s trailing earnings multiple, reflecting a steady, profitable services operator rather than a high-growth name. First quarter 2026 revenue of roughly $363.6 million missed some estimates while adjusted EPS beat, and net income rose about 18% year over year. The 2025 revenue jump was driven mostly by a large personal care acquisition, so underlying organic growth runs closer to mid-single digits.

EHC. As of August 2026 the shares traded near $125, giving a market capitalization around $12.3 billion against trailing revenue of roughly $6.21 billion. Guided 2026 adjusted EPS of $6.02 to $6.25 puts the stock at about 20 times the midpoint, a premium to most hospital operators and a reflection of the visible bed pipeline rather than of any margin inflection. Second-quarter adjusted EBITDA margin was roughly 22 percent, and guidance was raised after the quarter rather than trimmed.

Headline figures (approximate, July 2026): ADUS shows revenue (ttm) ~$1.44B, fy2025 revenue ~$1.42B (up ~23%), q1 2026 revenue ~$363.6M (up ~7.7%), q1 2026 adjusted eps ~$1.62 (up ~14%); EHC shows revenue (ttm) ~$6.21B, q2 2026 revenue ~$1.60B, up ~9.6%, q2 2026 adjusted eps ~$1.55, fy2026 adjusted ebitda guidance ~$1.365B to $1.395B.

ADUS and EHC are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined ADUS and EHC exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.