HCA Posts Flat Profit Amid Dynamic Environment

By Connor Hart

HCA Healthcare logged a roughly flat profit in the first quarter, as a weak respiratory virus season and winter storms hurt volumes.

The Nashville, Tenn., hospital owner and operator on Friday posted a profit of $1.62 billion, or $7.15 a share, compared with $1.61 billion, or $6.45 a share, a year earlier.

Stripping out certain one-time items, earnings were still $7.15 a share. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected adjusted earnings of $7.12 a share.

Revenue climbed 4.3% to $19.11 billion, roughly in line with Wall Street models.

Shares fell 6.1%, to $445.00, in premarket trading.

Same-facility admissions rose 0.9% during the recent quarter, while same-facility emergency room visits ticked up 0.3% compared with a year ago. Same-facility inpatient surgeries slipped 0.3%, while same-facility outpatient surgeries declined 1.7%, the company said.

HCA said it didn't experience a typical seasonal volume increase during the latest quarter, and that winter storms early in the year additionally hurt volumes.

Looking ahead, HCA backed its outlook for the year, calling for earnings of $29.10 to $31.50 a share on revenues of $76.5 billion to $80 billion. Analysts are looking for earnings of $30.26 a share on revenue of $78.6 billion.

Write to Connor Hart at connor.hart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 24, 2026 07:47 ET (11:47 GMT)