(Reuters) – Hospital operator Universal Health Services beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by higher patient admissions.
Shares of the company were up 6.2% at $197.50 after the bell.
The hospital operator also raised its annual adjusted profit forecast to $15.40 to $16.20 per share, compared to its previous estimate of $13 to $14 per share.
Hospital operators have been benefiting from an uptick in demand for medical care, especially from older adults – which was delayed during the pandemic.
The Pennsylvania-based company reported an adjusted profit of $4.31 per share for the three months ended June 30, compared with analysts’ estimate of $3.28 per share, according to LSEG data.
Same facility adjusted admissions in the second quarter increased by 3.4% at acute care hospitals and fell by 0.4% at behavioral health care facilities.
The company’s quarterly revenue rose 10.1% to $3.91 billion, beating analysts’ estimate of $3.86 billion.
Larger peer HCA Healthcare, the largest for-profit hospital operator in the United States, raised its annual profit forecast on Tuesday, expecting strong demand and volumes to continue through the remainder of the year.
Universal Health Services now expects 2024 revenue in the range on $15.57 billion to $15.75 billion; analysts on average were expecting $15.59 billion.
(Reporting by Unnamalai L and Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
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