A month has gone by since the last earnings report for Universal Health Services (UHS) . Shares have added about 12% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500.Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Universal Health Services due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at its most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important drivers.How Have Estimates Been Movi ...

HCA Healthcare (HCA) came out with quarterly earnings of $6.45 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.77 per share. This compares to earnings of $5.36 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items.This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of 11.79%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this hospital operator would post earnings of $5.97 per share when it actually produced earnings of $6.22, delivering a surprise of 4.19%.Over the last four quarters, the c ...