Why Brookdale Senior Living Stock Blasted 9% Higher Today

Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE: BKD) had quite the memorable Thursday as far as its stock was concerned. The senior housing specialist experienced a more than 9% bump in its share price thanks to a business update that was warmly received by investors. Its vault into positive territory was contrasted by the S&P 500's (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) slight decline of 0.3%.

Occupancy pops

Just after market close on Wednesday, Brookdale published its latest monthly occupancy statistics. That metric is crucial for the company, as its performance is dependent on how many residents occupy its facilities.

Image source: Getty Images.

The company said that the weighted average occupancy was 82.5%. This was notably higher, by 330 basis points, than the same month of 2024. It was also comfortably above the August figure, by 70 basis points.

Zooming out some, for the entirety of the third quarter of this year, Brookdale's weighted average occupancy came in at 81.5%. Again, this was higher year over year (by 290 basis points) and quarter over quarter (by 170 basis points).

Fundamentally positive

Brookdale did not provide any commentary for these figures, nor did it offer guidance as to how they might develop in the future. Nevertheless, the improvements the niche healthcare company showed were notable, and are sure to be reflected in the company's fundamentals -- a key reason for the highly positive investor reaction.

Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.