What Happened?

Shares of hospital operator HCA Healthcare (NYSE: HCA) jumped 11% in the morning session after the company's upbeat profit forecast for 2026 overshadowed a miss on fourth-quarter revenue. 

The company reported fourth-quarter earnings of $8.14 per share, beating analyst estimates by 9.2%. However, revenue for the quarter was $19.51 billion, slightly missing Wall Street's expectations. Looking ahead, investors focused on the stronger-than-expected guidance for 2026. HCA projected full-year earnings per share with a midpoint of $30.30 and EBITDA with a midpoint of $16 billion, both surpassing consensus estimates. This positive profit outlook offset the company's full-year revenue guidance, which came in slightly below analyst forecasts, suggesting investors are confident in HCA's ability to manage costs and drive profitability.

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What Is The Market Telling Us

HCA Healthcare’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 2 moves greater than 5% over the last year. Moves this big are rare for HCA Healthcare and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.

The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 5 months ago when the stock dropped 4.4% on the news that markets pulled back, reversing early gains, as investor sentiment remained cautious despite a softer-than-expected inflation reading. 

Stocks rose in the morning session after an unexpected drop in the Producer Price Index (PPI) for August signaled easing inflation and raised expectations for a potential Federal Reserve interest rate cut. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the PPI, which measures wholesale prices, edged down 0.1% the previous month, contrary to analyst expectations for a 0.3% rise. This data gives the Federal Reserve more flexibility to consider lowering interest rates to stimulate the economy.

HCA Healthcare is up 12% since the beginning of the year, and at $527.04 per share, has set a new 52-week high. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of HCA Healthcare’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $3,357.

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