Tenet Changes Course

"He dramatically improved operations in California," she says. "So this could ultimately be a good thing."

Skolnick, for one, continues to hope for the best. In recent months, she has broken away from a huge pack of bears to recommend the stock. Her firm has no banking relationship with the company.

Shares of Tenet fell a penny to $7.08 on Tuesday, leaving them near the low end of their 52-week range.

Dark Prognosis

Stanford Financial analyst Gary Lieberman sees a bigger fall coming.

Last week, Lieberman initiated coverage of Tenet with a sell recommendation and a $4.50 price target on the shares. By now, Lieberman has lost all faith in the company's ability to significantly improve its margins. He worries about lucrative commercial admissions -- which continue to fall -- in particular.

"The biggest piece of Tenet's strategy is to address any and all physician issues, both big and small, in order to win back the hearts and minds of physicians," writes Lieberman, whose firm has no business ties with or stake in the company. "This is a difficult task for any hospital to achieve and, if possible, would take multiple years in our view."

Newman could help out. But Lieberman feels that investor patience -- already tested for so long -- is clearly wearing thin.

"We think the clock it ticking," he wrote just ahead of Newman's appointment. "If Tenet has not made some kind of meaningful positive step to improve its margins over the next year, we think the teeth -- what few might be left -- in the bullish argument for Tenet will start falling out."