(Bloomberg) — HCA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HCA), the biggest for-profit U.S. hospital chain by patient volume, reported preliminary second-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.37 a share, topping analysts’ estimates of $1.33.
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The company said revenue rose about 7.2 percent to $9.9 billion, beating estimates of $9.77 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Same-facility hospital admissions increased 4.1 percent. HCA also updated its full-year forecast for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to “near the high-end of its previously issued guidance” of $7.55 billion to $7.85 billion.
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month in King v. Burwell, which upheld a key component of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) public exchange program, may help fuel more patient traffic for HCA. The Nashville, Tenn.-based company has largely missed out on a surge of newly insured patients because many of its hospitals are in states that have refused to take PPACA Medicaid expansion funding.
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