Are you looking to invest in healthcare? If so, it’s important for you to know that HCA Healthcare Inc. (NYSE:$HCA), an American operator of healthcare facilities, has had a weak quarter. On Tuesday, in a pre-market trade, the Nashville-based company’s share fell as much as 7%. Why? Well, the drop occurred after the company reported Q2 profit and revenue misses.
So, why do people think HCA has had a weak quarter? First of all, earnings for the latest quarter fell to $657 million ($1.75 per share) from $658 million ($1.65 per share) in the 2016 period. The FactSet Earnings per share consensus is $1.80.
In addition, the Q2 report showed that revenue increased to $10.73 billion from $10.32 billion, in comparison with the FactSet consensus of $10.76 billion. The report includes a 1 cent per share in gains on sales of facilities and 2 cents per share in legal claim costs, the company said.
Last but not least, in the report, HCA maintained its 2017 revenue outlook of $43 million to $44 million. However, the company did cut its 2017 EPS outlook to land between the range of $7 and $7.30 from between $7.20 and $7.60.
Over the last three months, HCA shares have increased 1.8%, compared with a 3.4% increase in the S&P 500.
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