Community Health Systems Rises Most in 10 Months: Atlanta Mover
February 23, 2012, 4:23 PM ESTBy Sarah Frier
Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Community Health Systems, the second-largest U.S. hospital operator, surged the most in 10 months after reporting earnings that beat analyst estimates.
Community Health gained 13 percent to $23.39 at 10:41 a.m. New York time. The shares climbed as much as 14 percent in the biggest intraday increase since April 12. They had fallen 46 percent in the 12 months before today.
Fourth-quarter profit excluding some items was 85 cents a share, the Franklin, Tennessee-based company said in a statement yesterday. The results beat by three cents the average estimate of 17 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The hospital operator reported a 3.5 percent decline in total admissions, a drop the company will work this year to reverse, said Frank Morgan, the analyst with RBC Capital Markets in Brentwood, Tennessee.
“The results were reasonable and I think there are some encouraging signs,” Morgan said in a telephone interview. “They are going through a very weak period in volume and we think over the next quarters we could see some improvement.”
Net income fell to 35 cents a share from 77 cents after a after-tax charge of 47 cents from debt retirement, Community Health said in the statement.
--Editors: Bruce Rule, Reg Gale.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Frier in New York at sfrier1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net
