The first major hospital chain to post second-quarter results surprised
“With the effects of the pandemic moderating ... we experienced a strong rebound in demand for services,” CEO
That rebound happened largely before COVID-19 cases started climbing around the country over the past few weeks, drawing concern from federal officials and epidemiologists. The seven-day rolling average for daily new cases has nearly tripled over the past two weeks to 34,730 as of Monday, according to
COVID-19 cases are now increasing in nearly every state as a highly contagious virus variant spreads, leaving millions of still unvaccinated people vulnerable to serious illness or hospitalization.
Even so, company officials told analysts on Tuesday that they expect demand for their services to remain strong throughout the year. That demand has been fueled in part by growth in employment and insurance coverage.
About 68% of
Last year, before vaccines were authorized for emergency use, patients stayed home or cancelled elective surgeries and other care.
HCA runs 187 hospitals as well as hundreds of surgery centers, free-standing emergency rooms and clinics in 20 states and the
The company said Tuesday that inpatient surgeries at established locations grew 15% compared to last year’s second quarter, and outpatient surgeries soared more than 52%.
Meanwhile, COVID-19 patient admissions fell to 3% of total admissions during the quarter. That's down from 10% in the first quarter.
Overall, HCA’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization grew about 21% to
Adjusted earnings totaled
Analysts expected, on average, earnings of
For 2021, HCA now expects earnings to range between
Citi analyst
“The performance and magnitude of upside is impressive and we expect shares to trade higher,” Giacobbe said in a research note.
Shares of
Hospital operators like HCA have largely outpaced the broader market since last November. That’s when drugmakers released clinical study results on their experimental COVID-19 vaccines and gave investors initial hints that the pandemic could be brought under control.
HCA competitor
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