Top Health Care Stocks
JNJ -0.89%
PFE -3.92%
ABT +0.71%
MRK -2.37%
AMGN -3.21%
Health care stocks still were lower Tuesday afternoon, including a more than 0.1% decline for the NYSE Health Care Index in recent trade. Also today, shares of health care companies in the S&P 500 were down about 0.3% as a group while the Nasdaq Biotechnology index has turned slightly higher in late trade, rising nearly 0.2% today.
Among health care stocks moving on news:
+ Tenet Healthcare Corp ( THC ) rallied Tuesday, at one point climbing almost 24%, after posting a surprise non-GAAP Q1 profit and raising its outlook for adjusted FY18 per-share earnings. Excluding one-time items, the health care services company earned $0.57 per share from continuing operations during the three months ended March 31, reversing a non-GAAP net loss of $0.27 per share during the year-ago period and topping the Capital IQ consensus expecting a $0.04 per share net loss. Net operating revenue fell 2.4% year over year to $4.67 billion, also beating the $4.56 billion Street view. The company also raised its adjusted FY18 earnings outlook to $1.36 to $1.70 per share, up from its prior view expecting non-GAAP EPS between $0.73 to $1.07 per share. It sees revenue this year coming in between $17.9 billion to $18.3 billion. Analysts, on average, are looking for a non-GAAP profit of $0.92 per share on $18.09 billion in revenue.
In other sector news:
- Aetna ( AET ) has turned slightly lower Tuesday afternoon, easing from a 1% advance earlier in the session that followed the health care insurance company reporting Q1 adjusted net income topping Wall Street forecasts. Excluding one-time items, the company earned $3.19 per share during its January-to-March fiscal period, up from $2.71 per share during the same quarter last year period and beating the Capital IQ consensus call by $0.18 per share. Revenue rose to $15.34 billion from $15.17 billion last year, matching analyst estimates.
- Merck & Company ( MRK ) declined after reporting Q1 revenue falling short of analyst projections, upstaging above-consensus earnings and the company raising its guidance for FY18 financial results. Excluding one-time items, the company earned $1.05 per share on $10.04 billion in revenue. Analysts, on average, were modelling a $1.00 per share adjusted profit on $10.09 billion in revenue. The drugmaker is now expecting non-GAAP FY18 earnings in a range of $4.16 to $4.28 per share on between $41.8 billion to $43 billion in revenue, up from $4.08 to $4.23 per share on $41.2 billion to $42.7 billion in its prior forecast. The Street is at $4.19 per share on $42.86 billon in revenue.
- Pfizer ( PFE ) fell Tuesday after reporting Q1 revenue missing analyst estimates. The drugmaker generated $12.91 billion in revenue for the January-to-March fiscal period compared with the Capital IQ consensus expecting $13.13 billion in revenue. Excluding one-time items, it also earned $0.77 per share, topping the Street mark by $0.03 per share.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
