HCA Healthcare Inc. shares are up more than 13% by mid-day Friday after the company reported second quarter earnings above analysts’ expectations.
The healthcare services company on Friday reported net income attributable to the company of $1.155 billion, or $3.90 per share. This is down from $1.45 billion, or $4.36 per share, from the previous year, according to a statement from the firm.
Analysts had expected net income and earnings per share of $1.12 billion and $3.66, respectively, according to FactSet estimates.
Revenue grew to $14.82 billion from $14.44 billion in the second quarter of 2021. Analysts expected revenue of $14.73 billion, according to FactSet.
Shares of the company closed on Thursday at $181.31 and rose early on Friday to $211.11. The stock is down about 18% so far this year and about 15% in the last 52 weeks.
In a market cap-weighted healthcare ETF, HCA Healthcare stock is weighted around 0.84% and barely makes it into the top 50 holdings, outsized by holdings including UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Pfizer Inc. (PFE), AbbVie Inc. (ABBV), and Eli Lilly and Company (LLY).
Investors looking for more diverse exposure to healthcare, in which the smaller holdings have an equal impact on the index, will prefer the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Health Care ETF (RYH).
In RYH, HCA Healthcare is given the same weight as all other holdings at each rebalance. RYH is designed to offer more balanced exposure for the long-term investor, since it has the added benefit of avoiding the potentially adverse impact of rallies or crashes in a specific sub-industry within healthcare.
RYH charges a 40 basis point expense ratio and has $903 million in assets under management.
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