HCA Profit, Revenue Beats Estimates

HCA Holdings Inc. said Tuesday it had net income of $527 million, or $1.19 a share, in the fourth quarter, up from $424 million, or 92 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. The biggest hospital operator in the U.S. said revenue climbed to $9.636 billion from $8.836 billion, driven by strong volume and an increase in revenue per equivalent admission. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of $1.22 and revenue of $9.596 billion. The company is now expecting full-year EPS of $4.55 to $4.95 on revenue of $38.5 billion to $39.5 billion. Shares were slightly lower in premarket trade and are down 0.1% in the last three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 0.1%.