HCA Holdings' weaker-than-expected earnings led shares of the hospital operator to drop 19 percent yesterday, bringing down other hospital sector stocks with it, according to a report by The Tennessean.
Publicly traded hospital stocks dropped 6.7 percent on Monday, the same day HCA announced its second quarter 2011 earnings. While HCA's revenues increased 4 percent to roughly $8.1 billion, its net income fell 22 percent due to a slowing of neurological, cardiovascular and orthopedic surgeries along with a $75 million pre-tax loss on retirement of debt. HCA now expects growth in the 3-5 percent range this year, according to the report.
Some analysts said in the report HCA's weak earnings could be a "harbinger" of slowed growth in the hospital industry, while others believe other operators could fare better than HCA.
Read The Tennessean report on HCA.
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Publicly traded hospital stocks dropped 6.7 percent on Monday, the same day HCA announced its second quarter 2011 earnings. While HCA's revenues increased 4 percent to roughly $8.1 billion, its net income fell 22 percent due to a slowing of neurological, cardiovascular and orthopedic surgeries along with a $75 million pre-tax loss on retirement of debt. HCA now expects growth in the 3-5 percent range this year, according to the report.
Some analysts said in the report HCA's weak earnings could be a "harbinger" of slowed growth in the hospital industry, while others believe other operators could fare better than HCA.
Read The Tennessean report on HCA.
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