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Universal Health (UHS) Q4 Earnings: What's in the Cards?
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Universal Health Services, Inc. (UHS - Free Report) will release fourth-quarter 2016 results on Feb 28, after the market closes. Last quarter, the company posted a negative earnings surprise of 4.19%. Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement.
Factors to be Considered this Quarter
Universal Health’s Acute Care division is likely to deliver solid performance on the back of increasing adjusted admissions.
Revenue per adjusted patient day for the Behavioral Health division is also expected to have grown.
The company’s commitment to enhance shareholders’ value through share repurchases is likely to have positively impacted the bottom line by limiting share count.
The company’s effective cost management, especially expenses related to construction of facilities, is likely to have impacted earnings positively.
However, increasing costs related to extinguishment of debt, reserves for settlements, legal judgments and lawsuits, and impairments of long-lived assets are likely have hurt the bottom line.
Also, the potential replacement of ObamaCare might have affected enrollment growth in the fourth quarter.
Universal Health Services, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise
Our proven model does not conclusively show whether Universal Health is likely to beat on earnings this quarter. This is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. That is not the case here as you will see below.
Zacks ESP: Universal Health has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. This is because both the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate stand at $1.80. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with ourEarnings ESP Filter.
Zacks Rank: Universal Health carries a Zacks Rank #3. Though the company has a favorable Zacks Rank, its 0.00% Earnings ESP complicates surprise prediction.
We caution against Sell-rated stocks (Zacks Rank #4 or 5) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.
Stocks to Consider
Here are some other companies from the medical sector that you may want to consider as these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter.
TESARO, Inc. has an Earnings ESP of +0.51% and a Zacks Rank #3. The company is set to report fourth-quarter earnings on Feb 28.
Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (PCRX - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +20% and a Zacks Rank #2 The company is set to report fourth-quarter earnings on Mar 1.
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Universal Health (UHS) Q4 Earnings: What's in the Cards?
Universal Health Services, Inc. (UHS - Free Report) will release fourth-quarter 2016 results on Feb 28, after the market closes. Last quarter, the company posted a negative earnings surprise of 4.19%. Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement.
Factors to be Considered this Quarter
Universal Health’s Acute Care division is likely to deliver solid performance on the back of increasing adjusted admissions.
Revenue per adjusted patient day for the Behavioral Health division is also expected to have grown.
The company’s commitment to enhance shareholders’ value through share repurchases is likely to have positively impacted the bottom line by limiting share count.
The company’s effective cost management, especially expenses related to construction of facilities, is likely to have impacted earnings positively.
However, increasing costs related to extinguishment of debt, reserves for settlements, legal judgments and lawsuits, and impairments of long-lived assets are likely have hurt the bottom line.
Also, the potential replacement of ObamaCare might have affected enrollment growth in the fourth quarter.
Universal Health Services, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise
Universal Health Services, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise | Universal Health Services, Inc. Quote
Earnings Whispers
Our proven model does not conclusively show whether Universal Health is likely to beat on earnings this quarter. This is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. That is not the case here as you will see below.
Zacks ESP: Universal Health has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. This is because both the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate stand at $1.80. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with ourEarnings ESP Filter.
Zacks Rank: Universal Health carries a Zacks Rank #3. Though the company has a favorable Zacks Rank, its 0.00% Earnings ESP complicates surprise prediction.
We caution against Sell-rated stocks (Zacks Rank #4 or 5) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.
Stocks to Consider
Here are some other companies from the medical sector that you may want to consider as these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter.
Chimerix, Inc. (CMRX - Free Report) , which is set to report fourth-quarter earnings on Mar 2, has an Earnings ESP of +11.14% and a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
TESARO, Inc. has an Earnings ESP of +0.51% and a Zacks Rank #3. The company is set to report fourth-quarter earnings on Feb 28.
Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (PCRX - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +20% and a Zacks Rank #2 The company is set to report fourth-quarter earnings on Mar 1.
A Full-Blown Technological Breakthrough in the Making
Zacks’ Aggressive Growth Strategist Brian Bolan explores autonomous cars in our latest Special Report, Driverless Cars: Your Roadmap to Mega-Profits Today. In addition to who will be selling them and how the auto industry will be impacted, Brian reveals 8 stocks with tremendous gain potential to feed off this phenomenon.Click to see the stocks right now >>