HCA Healthcare Inc. (HCA.N) reported better-than-expected results and upped its 2023 expectations on Friday, raising its shares by almost 7% in premarket action.
As healthcare employees returned to work, first-quarter expenditures dropped to pre-pandemic levels.
According to federal data, the acute staff shortfall has been lessened as the U.S. government received less than 200 complaints of hospitals reporting daily critical staff shortages during the quarter, compared to over 1,000 at the start of January last year.
Tenet Healthcare (THC.N) and Community Health Systems (CYH.N) rose roughly 6% and 5%, respectively, following HCA’s strong earnings.
Due to staffing, HCA’s first-quarter inpatient and outpatient surgical volumes increased by 2.8% and 3.5%, respectively.
Staffing costs—salaries and benefits—accounted for 45.4% of sales, down 1% from the previous year.
Refinitiv estimated HCA’s adjusted profit at $4.53 per share, compared to $3.93.
Revenue exceeded $15.27 billion.
“These impressive trends in the first quarter appear to be setting HCA up for a stronger year than anticipated, and management has materially increased its outlook for 2023,” Morningstar analyst Julie Utterback said.
HCA now expects a 2023 adjusted profit of $17.25 to $18.55 per share, up from $16.40 to $17.60. Revenue forecasts increased from $62.5 billion to $64.5 billion.
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