HCA - HCA Healthcare sends hospital peers lower as guidance disappoints

• HCA Healthcare ( NYSE: HCA ) lost ~4% pre-market Friday sending rival hospital operators lower as the industry bellwether issued lower-than-expected 2023 guidance with its Q4 2022 earnings .
• Notable decliners include Tenet Healthcare ( THC ), Community Health Systems ( CYH ), Universal Health Services ( UHS ), Acadia Healthcare ( ACHC ), and Select Medical Holdings ( SEM ).
• HCA Healthcare ( HCA ) posted $15.5B revenue for the quarter falling short of Street forecasts, while its full-year revenue stood at $60.2B, indicating ~3% YoY growth.
• Same facility equivalent admissions fell short of estimates to reach 525.7K with ~3% YoY growth, while same facility revenue per equivalent admission fell ~3% YoY to $16.6K, better than the ~0.3% decline forecasted by analysts.
• Meanwhile, expenses on salaries and benefits held steady from the previous year at $7.1B, but adjusted EBITDA slightly missed estimates at $3.2B as the adjusted EBITDA margin dropped 40bps to ~20.5%.
• HCA ( HCA ) exceeded Street forecasts for its earnings as the company recorded $7.28 in net income per diluted share, and full-year net income stood at $5.6B despite ~19% YoY decline as salaries and benefits made up ~46% of the topline, indicating 40bps increase from 2021. Meanwhile, the adj. EBITDA for the year fell ~5% YoY to $12.1B.
• The company projects its 2023 revenue to reach $61.5B – $63.5B compared to $62.8B in the consensus and earnings per diluted share and adjusted EBITDA to stand at $16.40 - $17.60 and $11.8B – $12.4B, respectively.
• Read: Seeking Alpha contributor Mike Zaccardi wrote ahead of HCA’s ( HCA ) Q4 earnings that the company “looks like a reasonable value.”

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