Hospital giant HCA was among the many companies reporting their quarterly earnings this morning.
The company’s first-quarter profit [2] more than doubled to $540 million, or $1.18 per share, from 52 cents per share in the same quarter last year. That performance easily eclipsed the 96 cents per share analysts had been expecting. Revenues came in at $3.4 billion, also besting estimates.
Of the most interest, however, is the fact that the company has upped its full-year earnings guidance to a range of $3.57 to $3.77 a share, up from $3.35 to $3.55 per share.
In mid-morning trading, HCA shares (Ticker: HCA [3]) were up slightly to $27.08. Year to date, they've risen more than 20 percent.
Also reporting this morning was Brookdale. While the senior living operator’s loss narrowed [4] to 9 cents per share, from 10 cents in the same period last year, performance still fell well shy of the 1-cent loss analysts had been hoping for. Revenue figures on the other hand, which came in at $684 million for the quarter, beat expectations by about $63 million.
Despite the better-than-expected revenue figures, the company, according to Wall St. Cheat Sheet [5], has fallen short of analyst estimates for the last three quarters.
“The first quarter of 2012 proved to be a very solid start to the year. We are encouraged by the occupancy and rate growth trends we experienced,” said CEO Bill Sheriff. “Occupancy was up 60 basis points over last year’s first quarter and was flat sequentially — a good accomplishment given historical seasonal patterns.”
Brookdale’s stock (Ticker: BKD [6]) was down more than 5 percent in morning trading to $18.42. So far in 2012, they're up about 5 percent.