One-glance verdict
Undervalued
$85.85 our estimate vs market $13.25
Wall Street consensus: $12.44 (-85.5% lower than our fair-value estimate)
85% below our estimate, below the bear case
Fundamentals snapshot
Cross Country Healthcare Inc
CCRN · NMS · Healthcare · Medical Care Facilities
Current price
$13.25
52-week range
$7.43 - $14.99
Market cap
$428.06M
Balance sheet
Healthy
-1.76x Concerning
Net cash $103.54M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
1 Reward
2 Risks
1 rewards · 2 risks
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 4/10 years.
- Risk Return on equity was -27.0% last year — the company lost money on shareholders' equity.
- Risk Operating margin compressed from 10.3% to -0.8% over 3 years.
What this company does
Cross Country Healthcare Inc
Cross Country Healthcare is a staffing company for the medical industry, connecting hospitals and clinics with nurses, doctors, and other professionals for temporary or permanent jobs. The company makes money by charging healthcare facilities a fee for finding these workers. This is an important service because it helps hospitals quickly fill staffing gaps to ensure patients receive care.
How the company got here
Founded in 1986, Cross Country Healthcare started with a focus on transforming the healthcare staffing industry. It went public on the NASDAQ stock exchange in 2001 under the ticker symbol CCRN. Over the years, the company expanded from its initial focus on travel nursing to include a wider range of healthcare professionals. A significant period of growth occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the demand for travel nurses surged dramatically. More recently, in 2026, the company agreed to be acquired by a private equity firm, Knox Lane, which will result in it becoming a privately held company.
What it actually does
Think of Cross Country Healthcare as a specialized temp agency for the medical world. They connect healthcare professionals, like nurses and doctors, with hospitals, clinics, schools, and other healthcare facilities that need to fill temporary or permanent positions. The company helps these facilities manage their staffing needs, which can change quickly depending on patient demand. Beyond just placements, they also offer technology and consulting services to help healthcare organizations manage their entire workforce more efficiently.
Nurse and Allied Staffing
This is the company's largest business segment, making up the majority of its revenue. It focuses on providing registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and other clinical professionals like therapists and pharmacists for temporary assignments. Hospitals and other healthcare providers pay Cross Country to fill short-term needs, whether it's for a few days or several months. This segment also includes placing professionals in schools and offering in-home care services.
Physician Staffing
This smaller but important part of the business provides doctors, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants for temporary assignments. These professionals, often called "locum tenens" physicians, fill in for doctors who are on vacation, on leave, or when a facility has a temporary shortage. Healthcare facilities, from large hospitals to small medical practices, pay Cross Country to find qualified physicians to ensure they can continue to see patients without interruption. This segment has been a focus for growth through acquisitions.
What management is betting on now
The company is focused on becoming more of a technology-driven workforce solutions partner rather than just a traditional staffing agency. A key part of this strategy is their Intellify® platform, which uses artificial intelligence to help healthcare systems manage their entire workforce and make smarter staffing decisions. They are also working to diversify their business beyond travel nursing to be less dependent on that cyclical market. This includes expanding their physician staffing and other workforce management services to create more stable and long-term relationships with their clients.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $85.85 vs current price $13.25
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $12.44 (-85.5% lower than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $85.85 a share — about 547.9% above today's price of $13.25, so the stock currently looks cheap (undervalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Healthy
Net cash $103.5M - more cash than debt. Interest coverage -1.8x.
Net debt
$-103.54M
Interest coverage
-1.76x
Cross Country Healthcare Inc's profit covers its interest bill about 0.0 times over. which is weaker than most peers shown here and 2 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Healthy
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
CCRN
BASELINE
Cross Country Healthcare Inc
Total debt $2.04M Interest coverage -1.76x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $775.81M Interest coverage 0.73x This peer still has a real interest-payment cushion, while CCRN does not.
Total debt $17.73M Interest coverage 35.32x This peer still has a real interest-payment cushion, while CCRN does not.
Total debt $385.79M Interest coverage 8.50x This peer still has a real interest-payment cushion, while CCRN does not.
Total debt $218.81M Interest coverage -3.08x Neither company has much profit cushion over interest right now.
Total debt $294.79M Interest coverage 194.95x This peer still has a real interest-payment cushion, while CCRN does not.
What you should know
The case for and against CCRN
1 Reward
2 Risks
Rewards
-
Free cash flow was positive in 4/10 years.
Risks
-
Return on equity was -27.0% last year — the company lost money on shareholders' equity.
-
Operating margin compressed from 10.3% to -0.8% over 3 years.
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
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Forward P/E
45.43x
P/B
1.32x
P/S
0.43x
EV/EBITDA
23.02x
PEG ratio
12.62x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
20.2%
Operating margin
-0.8%
Net margin
-9.8%
ROE
-27.0%
ROA
-0.1%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.01x
Current ratio
3.29x
Quick ratio
3.20x
Total debt
$2.04M
Total cash
$105.58M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$1.00B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
-27.8%
EPS TTM
-3.05
EPS 5Y CAGR
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Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$48.25M
Free CF TTM
$40.09M
FCF margin
4.0%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
—
Payout ratio
0.0%
Last ex-div date
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