Shares of HCA Healthcare Inc. HCA, +1.40% gained 0.6% in premarket trading Friday, after the hospital and ambulatory sites operator reported second-quarter profit that fell from a year ago, amid labor market and inflation challenges, but beat expectations. Net income declined to $1.16 billion, or $3.90 a share, from $1.45 billion, or $4.36 a share, in the year-ago period. The latest quarter’s results included losses of 11 cents a share on facility sales and a loss of 20 cents a share on debt retirement. The FactSet consensus was for earnings per share of $3.70. Revenue rose 2.7% to $14.82 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $14.73 billion. Salaries and benefits costs increased 6.4% to $6.79 billion. On a same-facility basis, admissions fell 1.2%, inpatient surgeries declined 2.3% and outpatient surgeries fell 1.4%, while emergency room visits increased 7.3% and revenue per equivalent admission grew 3.5%. The stock has dropped 13.9% over the past three months, while the SPDR Health Care Select Sector ETF XLV, +1.58% has slipped 2.5% and the S&P 500 SPX, +0.99% has lost 6.4%.
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