What happened
Shares of Nutex Health (NUTX 1.33%) closed Wednesday's trading session 18.4% higher after being up as much as 23.8% earlier in the day. The healthcare company, which operates 20 for-profit micro-hospitals in eight states, as well as a primary-care physician network, said it was opening a micro-hospital in Albuquerque, N.M. The stock is still down more than 74% this year and hit a 52-week low last Friday of $0.38 per share.
So what
The Albuquerque micro-hospital is a 20,000 square-foot facility with an emergency room, eight exam rooms, four inpatient beds, in-house imaging, a pharmacy, and a laboratory. It is the second hospital Nutex has opened this year, following the February opening of a micro-hospital in Fort Smith, Ark. The company said it plans to open three or four more hospitals this year. The expansion was seen as progress for the beaten-down company.
Now what
Finances are still a big concern for Nutex. In the first quarter, it reported revenue of $56.4 million, down 28.8%, year over year. It also reported a net loss of $5.2 million, compared to net income of $21.5 in the same period a year ago. The company, which went public in April of 2022, has posted losses in four consecutive quarters and has been trading below $1 per share since April 12, so it is in danger of being delisted from the NASDAQ. One positive sign is company insiders have been loading up on the stock. Chief Financial Officer Jon Bates added 20,000 shares on Tuesday, giving him a total of 89,505 shares of the company. That purchase followed a buy of 10,000 shares on Friday by Nutex director Cheryl Grenas.
