HCA Holdings, Inc. HCA gave a sneak peek into its fourth-quarter 2015 results. Adjusted EBITDA is projected at about $7.9 billion, more than $7.8 billion expected earlier.
Looking deeper, HCA Holdings noted solid volumes for the fourth quarter with same facility admissions increasing 1.6% and same facility equivalent admissions increasing 2.9%. Same facility emergency room visits in the to-be reported quarter is likely to have increased 3.6% year over year. We expect such improvement to have scaled up revenues for the fourth quarter.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the fourth quarter is pegged at $1.35 on $10.1 million in revenues. While the bottom line translates into a year-over-year increase of 1.45%, the top line represents a 5.2% increase.
HCA Holdings is scheduled to announce fourth-quarter earnings on Jan 28. With respect to its earnings trend, the company delivered positive surprises in three of the last four quarters, with an average beat of 1.74%. However, our proven model does not conclusively show that the company will beat earnings this quarter. This is because though the Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) increases the predictive power of an Earnings ESP, the company’s ESP of -2.22% makes prediction difficult. Earnings ESP here in this case is the difference between the Most Accurate estimate of $1.32 and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.35.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2015 is currently pegged at $5.23, which translates into a year-over-year increase of 11.3%. The estimate lies within the company’s expectation of $5.20 and $5.25 per share guided earlier.
Stocks to Consider
Some better-ranked stocks in the medical sector are AMN Healthcare Services Inc AHS, Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Inc AERI and Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc AMPH. Each of these stocks sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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