Why Envision Healthcare Holdings, Inc. Lost More Than a Third of Its Value Today

EmCare

What: Shares ofEnvision Healthcare Holdings, , aphysician-led, outsourced medical services located in the United States, dropped by more than 33% today on exceptional volume after the company reported its third quarter results. According to the report, Envision generated adjustedearnings per share of $0.30 for the three month period. Unfortunately, the Street was expecting the company's adjusted EPS to come in at $0.39, meaning that Envision missed consensus by a noteworthy 23%.

So what: Management cited a mixture of "staffing challenges" leading to higher-than-expected compensation costs during the quarter and lower than expected volume in itsEmCare business segment for the earnings miss. Investors therefore appear to be worried that these issues could pop up again in subsequent quarters.

Now what: Despite this hefty earnings miss, Wall Street remains overtly bullish on this medical services stock. While some of its peers likeTenet Healthcaredrew the ire of analysts today because of headwinds across the industry, for example, the group of analysts covering Envision were oddly quiet on the stock, keeping the consensus price target at $48.88 according toS&P Capital IQ.

Perhaps the main reason the Street is so optimistic regarding Envision's prospects moving forward is because the consensus 5-year CAGR for the company's EPS presently stands at 13.57%--fueled mainly by its EmCare business segment.

Will Envision turn out to be the exception among hospital stocks? At this stage, I think it's far too early to tell. All that's readily apparent at this point is that the market appears convinced that hospital and medical services companies are heading into a period of slower growth. As such, you may to exercise caution with this group of stocks in general, and Envision in particular, right now.

The article Why Envision Healthcare Holdings, Inc. Lost More Than a Third of Its Value Today originally appeared on Fool.com.

George Budwell has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.