On July 14, HCA Healthcare declined 9.11% in regular trading, trading at $367.92/share, with turnover of $312 million. The sell-off was triggered by the company's downward revision to its full-year adjusted diluted EPS guidance, sparking broad-based selling pressure despite stronger-than-expected revenue projections.

HCA Healthcare guided Q2 revenue at approximately $20.23 billion, well above the FactSet consensus estimate of $19.47 billion. The company also recognized an additional $400 million in net gains from Medicaid supplemental payment programs during Q2. However, the top-line beat failed to offset negative sentiment from the lowered earnings outlook. The EPS guidance cut follows a challenging Q1 in which mild respiratory disease season and winter storms reduced adjusted EBITDA by approximately $180 million.

Multiple Wall Street firms have recently slashed price targets on HCA. Mizuho cut its target from $585 to $525, Barclays downgraded to equal weight with a target of $427, Stephens reduced to $500, and Cantor Fitzgerald lowered to $525. The FactSet consensus target has fallen from approximately $546 at the start of the year to $492.60. Within the Health Care Facilities sector, Tenet Healthcare fell 4.69%, Universal Health declined 4.48%, and Ensign dropped 2.16%.

(The above content is based on publicly available market information, generated by a program or algorithm, and is intended solely as a stock movement alert. It does not constitute investment advice or a basis for trading decisions.)