What happened

Shares of Evolent Health (EVH 0.90%) declined by 7.7% on Thursday, on a day when the S&P 500 index ended higher by 0.8%. That came in the wake of the company's first-quarter earnings release.

So what

Evolent earned just over $215.1 million in total revenue, down from the $221 million in the same quarter last year. But that exceeded the $212 million collectively anticipated by analysts tracking the stock.

Two medical professionals conferring in a hospital lobby.

Image source: Getty Images.

On the bottom line, the healthcare company posted an adjusted loss of just under $1.2 million ($0.01 per share) -- narrower than the more than $12 million shortfall of the year-ago quarter. On average, those prognosticators were estimating a $0.06 per share loss.

Evolent also proffered revenue and EBITDA guidance for its current quarter and the full fiscal year. For the current quarter's top line, it's forecasting $210 million to $225 million; the consensus analyst estimate of $212 million falls within this range. Similarly, the $865 million anticipated by those folks for the full year lands inside the company's $845 million to $880 million estimate.

As for EBITDA, Evolent believes this will be $10 million to $14 million for the second quarter, and $42 million to $52 million for the year.

Now what

Investors might be worried about future growth, as that revenue projection -- if met -- would represent a notable decline from the $1 billion-plus in revenue Evolent booked in 2020. With a myriad of growing businesses in the healthcare sector to choose from, investors could be moving away from Evolent for now.