HCA Healthcare (HCA) Beats Q4 Earnings and Revenue Estimates

Group 1: Earnings Performance - HCA Healthcare reported quarterly earnings of $6.22 per share, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.97 per share, and up from $5.90 per share a year ago, representing an earnings surprise of 4.19% [1] - The company posted revenues of $18.29 billion for the quarter ended December 2024, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.07%, compared to $17.3 billion in the same quarter last year [2] - Over the last four quarters, HCA has surpassed consensus EPS estimates four times and topped consensus revenue estimates three times [2] Group 2: Stock Performance and Outlook - HCA shares have increased approximately 8.4% since the beginning of the year, outperforming the S&P 500's gain of 4% [3] - The sustainability of the stock's price movement will depend on management's commentary during the earnings call and future earnings expectations [3][4] - The current consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming quarter is $5.82 on revenues of $18.22 billion, and for the current fiscal year, it is $24.77 on revenues of $74.54 billion [7] Group 3: Industry Context - The Medical - Hospital industry, to which HCA belongs, is currently ranked in the bottom 7% of over 250 Zacks industries, indicating potential challenges ahead [8] - Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions, which can impact HCA's stock performance [5][6]