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Tenet Healthcare (THC) Q4 Earnings: What's in the Cards?

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Tenet Healthcare Corporation (THC - Free Report) will release fourth-quarter 2016 results on Feb 27, after the market closes. Last quarter, the company posted a negative earnings surprise of 15.79%. Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement.

Factors to be Considered this Quarter

Tenet Healthcare’s Conifer segment is likely to deliver solid performance on the back of key contract wins and expansion of existing relationships.

Conifer's collaboration with hospitals on pilot programs to improve the revenue cycle and value-based care offerings started bearing fruit in the quarter and should have a positive impact on the upcoming results.

The ambulatory segment is also expected to have performed well, supported by strong surgical facilities as well as imaging and urgent care centers.

USPI's surgery centers and surgical hospitals are also anticipated to have contributed significantly to revenue growth.

The company’s effective cost management, especially labor and supply-related expenses, is likely to have impacted the bottom line positively.

However, Tenet Healthcare’s health plan business, which was acquired with Vanguard, is likely to have remained unprofitable.

Discontinuation of the ACA Exchange product might have affected the membership growth.

Increasing trend in Malpractices and workers' compensation expenses is likely to have limited bottom-line growth.

The company’s business was also affected by Hurricane Mathew in the quarter.

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively show whether Tenet Healthcare is likely to beat on earnings this quarter. This is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. That is not the case here as you will see below.

Zacks ESP: Tenet Healthcare has an Earnings ESP of -10.00%. This is because the Most Accurate estimate stands at 18 cents where as the Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged higher at 20 cents. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Tenet Healthcare carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Though the company has a favorable Zacks Rank, its negative ESP complicates surprise prediction.

We caution against Sell-rated stocks (Zacks Rank #4 or 5) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.

Stocks to Consider

Here are some other companies from the medical sector that you may want to consider as these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter:

Exelixis, Inc. (EXEL - Free Report) , which is set to report fourth-quarter earnings on Feb 27, has an Earnings ESP of +200% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

TESARO, Inc. has an Earnings ESP of +0.51% and a Zacks Rank #3. The company is set to report fourth-quarter earnings also on Feb 28.

Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (PCRX - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +20% and a Zacks Rank #2 The company is set to report fourth-quarter earnings on Mar 1.

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Tenet Healthcare Corporation (THC) - free report >>

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