Hospital operator HCA Healthcare (NYSE: HCA) will be reporting results this Friday before market hours. Here’s what to look for.
HCA Healthcare beat analysts’ revenue expectations by 0.7% last quarter, reporting revenues of $18.61 billion, up 6.4% year on year. It was a satisfactory quarter for the company, with a solid beat of analysts’ full-year EPS guidance estimates but a slight miss of analysts’ same-store sales estimates.
Is HCA Healthcare a buy or sell going into earnings? Read our full analysis here, it’s free for active Edge members.
This quarter, analysts are expecting HCA Healthcare’s revenue to grow 6.1% year on year to $18.55 billion, slowing from the 7.9% increase it recorded in the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at $5.73 per share.
Analysts covering the company have generally reconfirmed their estimates over the last 30 days, suggesting they anticipate the business to stay the course heading into earnings. HCA Healthcare has only missed Wall Street’s revenue estimates once over the last two years, exceeding top-line expectations by 1.8% on average.
Looking at HCA Healthcare’s peers in the healthcare providers & services segment, some have already reported their Q3 results, giving us a hint as to what we can expect. Quest delivered year-on-year revenue growth of 13.2%, beating analysts’ expectations by 3.3%, and Elevance Health reported revenues up 11%, in line with consensus estimates. Quest traded down 4.9% following the results while Elevance Health was also down 2.5%.
Read our full analysis of Quest’s results here and Elevance Health’s results here.
There has been positive sentiment among investors in the healthcare providers & services segment, with share prices up 5.5% on average over the last month. HCA Healthcare is up 7.7% during the same time and is heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $423.95 (compared to the current share price of $441.18).
When a company has more cash than it knows what to do with, buying back its own shares can make a lot of sense–as long as the price is right. Luckily, we’ve found one, a low-priced stock that is gushing free cash flow AND buying back shares. Click here to claim your Special Free Report on a fallen angel growth story that is already recovering from a setback.
StockStory is growing and hiring equity analyst and marketing roles. Are you a 0 to 1 builder passionate about the markets and AI? See the open roles here.
