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Community Health's (CYH) Q3 Loss Widens, Admissions Drop

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Community Health Systems, Inc. (CYH - Free Report) incurred adjusted loss of $1.64 per share in the third quarter of 2018, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $1 and the year-ago loss of 79 cents. The bottom line further deteriorated 108% year over year. This downside was mainly due to lower admissions in the reported quarter.

Quarterly Operational Update

In the quarter under review, net operating revenues were $3.4 billion, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.6%. However, the top line declined 5.9% year over year due to reduced number of hospitals, licensed beds and total admissions.

The third quarter witnessed a decrease of 12.4% in total admissions and a 12.2% fall in adjusted admissions when compared with the year-ago period.

Total operating costs and expenses were $3.3 billion, down 5.6% year over year, induced by lower salaries plus benefits and supplies.

Financial Update

Total assets at quarter end were $16.4 billion, down 6% from year-end 2017 level.

Cash and cash equivalents plunged 40.5% to $335 million from year-end 2017.

Cash flow from operations was $440 million for the quarter under discussion, having dropped 28.7% year over year.

The company has a long-term debt of $13.5 billion as of Sep 30, 2018, dipping 2.5% from 2017-end level.

2018 Guidance

Loss from continuing operations per share is now expected between $2.25 and $2.10, wider than the earlier expectation of $1.85-$1.70.

Community Health nudged down the low-end of its net operating revenues guidance to a range of $12.0-$14.2 billion, from the previous range of $13.9-$14.2 billion.

The company reiterated its adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) projection in the range of $1.60-$1.65 billion for 2018.

Zacks Rank and Performance of Peer Stocks

Community Health carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some stocks worth considering from the medical sector with the perfect combination of elements to surpass estimates in the next releases are as follows:

Amgen Inc. (AMGN - Free Report) is set to report third-quarter 2018 earnings figures on Nov 6. The stock has an Earnings ESP of +3.54% and a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Humana Inc. (HUM - Free Report) is set to announce third-quarter 2018 earnings performance on Nov 7. The stock has an Earnings ESP of +2.22% and a Zacks Rank of 2.

Bausch Health Cos Inc. (BHC - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +6.15% and a Zacks Rank of 3. The company is set to release third-quarter financial numbers on Nov 6.

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