Acadia Healthcare Company (ACHC) Barclays 28th Annual Global Healthcare Conference summary

Leadership and operational changes

• Recent CEO return has energized operators and clarified cultural expectations, focusing on patient care and operational execution.

• 3,000 new beds added across facilities by year-end, with a key opportunity to fill these beds and improve execution.

• Emphasis on leveraging experienced leadership to drive performance and meet investor and internal expectations.

Facility performance and growth outlook

• $200 million embedded EBITDA opportunity identified in new beds opened over the past three years, with underperformance attributed to licensure delays and operational ramp challenges.

• Occupancy rates in new facilities are below expectations, presenting a clear path to profitability through improved utilization.

• Growth strategy includes expanding beds at existing facilities for better margins and ramping up recently opened beds, targeting 4% volume growth by 2026 before Medicaid headwinds.

Demand trends and payer environment

• Strong and growing demand for inpatient psychiatric and opioid use treatment; specialty business growth impacted by facility closures and New York Medicaid policy.

• New York Medicaid policy change expected to create a $25–$30 million EBITDA headwind in 2026, with efforts underway to backfill affected facilities and expand into New Jersey.

• Increased payer scrutiny and denials have led to higher bad debts, with 2026 guidance assuming stability at Q4 2025 levels.

• Outcome data is being published and used to demonstrate value to payers and referral sources.