HCA Healthcare's (HCA) Q4 Earnings Top Estimates, Surge Y/Y
Zacks Investment Research | Jan 28, 2019 11:00PM ET
HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) delivered fourth-quarter 2018 adjusted earnings of $2.99 per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 15.4%. Moreover, the bottom line shot up nearly 41% year over year. This upside was backed by higher same facility admissions.
Quarterly Details
HCA Healthcare generated revenues of $12.3 billion, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.9%. The top line was also up 6.2% from the year-ago period, primarily driven by increased admissions.
Same facility admissions and equivalent admissions were up, both by 1.9% in the quarter under review. Same facility revenue per equivalent admission grew 3.9%. Same facility inpatient surgeries and same facility outpatient surgeries were up 0.1% and 0.8%, respectively. Same facility revenue per equivalent admission rose 4.4% from the prior-year quarter.
In the fourth quarter, cash flow from operations totaled $2.2 billion, up 25.4% year over year, mainly owing to higher salaries and benefits plus other operating expenses.
Expenses escalated nearly 6.1% year over year to $9.8 billion. Moreover, the company incurred additional expenses and suffered a revenue loss projected at around 24 cents per share, which is related to the impact of hurricanes.
Adjusted EBITDA totaled $2.5 billion, up 6.2% year over year.
As of Dec 31, 2018, HCA Healthcare operated 179 hospitals and around 1,800 sites of care including surgery centers, freestanding emergency rooms, urgent care centers and physician clinics.
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