By Dean Seal


Shares of HCA Healthcare Inc. fell more than 15% Friday after the hospital operator scaled back its full-year guidance and posted lower-than-expected earnings for the first quarter.

The company's share price opened at $241.58, down from $269.44 at market close Thursday, and reached a low of $221.30 in the first two hours of trading.

HCA is now expecting to see net income of between $4.95 billion and $5.34 billion for the full year, after previously forecasting a profit of between $5.55 billion to $5.835 billion. It also is pulling back its revenue forecast for the year by $500 million.

The company, which operates roughly 182 hospitals and about 2,300 ambulatory-care sites, said first-quarter revenue rose 6.9% from the same period a year ago, but profit fell by 11% due to higher-than-expected inflationary pressures on labor costs.


Write to Dean Seal at dean.seal@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-22-22 1131ET