What happened
HCA Healthcare (HCA -4.51%) is a stock that needs to spend the weekend recovering. The company unveiled its first-quarter results Friday morning, and to say they were unimpressive is understating the case. At the end of the day, HCA's stock had fallen by almost 22%.
So what
For its first quarter of this year, HCA posted revenue of just under $14.95 billion. This was nearly 7% higher on a year-over-year basis, and it also topped the average analyst estimate of $14.75 billion. In terms of operations, same facility equivalent admissions saw a 5% increase.
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The dynamic was different on the bottom line, where HCA earned a profit of slightly over $1.27 billion ($4.14 per share), down from first-quarter 2021's $1.42 billion. That fell notably short of the prognosticators' collective $4.29 per-share forecast.
The company pointed the finger of blame at expenses. In its earnings release, HCA quoted its CEO Sam Hazen as saying that during the quarter, "we had a number of positive volume and revenue indicators. Unfortunately, they were offset by higher than expected inflationary pressures on labor costs."
HCA also declared its latest quarterly dividend. The company will pay $0.56 per share, matching its previous payout, on June 30 to investors of record as of June 16. The company's dividend yield is 0.8% on its most recent closing stock price.
Now what
While the earnings miss was a concern, it's likely that investors were more worried about HCA's guidance, which was revised downward.
For the entirety of 2022, the company now expects revenue of $59.5 billion to $61.5 billion -- $500 million lower on both ends of the range than its previous guidance. The earnings-per-share forecast has also been lowered; it now stands at $16.40 to $17.60 for the year, down from the preceding $18.40 to $19.20.
