For the quarter ended December 2025, HCA Healthcare (HCA) reported revenue of $19.51 billion, up 6.7% over the same period last year. EPS came in at $8.01, compared to $6.22 in the year-ago quarter.
The reported revenue represents a surprise of -0.63% over the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $19.64 billion. With the consensus EPS estimate being $7.36, the EPS surprise was +8.9%.
While investors scrutinize revenue and earnings changes year-over-year and how they compare with Wall Street expectations to determine their next move, some key metrics always offer a more accurate picture of a company's financial health.
Since these metrics play a crucial role in driving the top- and bottom-line numbers, comparing them with the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated about them helps investors better project a stock's price performance.
Here is how HCA performed in the just reported quarter in terms of the metrics most widely monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts:
- Revenue per Equivalent Admission: $18,794.00 compared to the $18,847.16 average estimate based on five analysts.
- Equivalent Admissions: 1.04 billion versus 1.04 billion estimated by five analysts on average.
- Admissions: 576.84 million versus the three-analyst average estimate of 575.8 million.
- Patient Days: 2,708.66 Days versus 2,704.34 Days estimated by two analysts on average.
- Average Length of Stay: 5 versus the two-analyst average estimate of 5.
- Number of hospitals: 190 versus 191 estimated by two analysts on average.
- Inpatient Revenue per Admission: $19,847.00 compared to the $20,470.97 average estimate based on two analysts.
- Equivalent Patient Days: 4.88 million compared to the 4.89 million average estimate based on two analysts.
- Licensed Beds at End of Period: 50,436 compared to the 50,574 average estimate based on two analysts.
- Number of freestanding outpatient surgery centers: 121 versus the two-analyst average estimate of 123.
View all Key Company Metrics for HCA here>>>
Shares of HCA have returned -0.4% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +0.4% change. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), indicating that it could underperform the broader market in the near term.
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HCA Healthcare, Inc. (HCA): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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