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Universal Health Services Inc. shares dropped in the extended session Monday after the acute-care hospital operator’s earnings fell short of Wall Street estimates as it has had to pay higher wages during a healthcare personnel shortage.
UHS
UHS,
shares dropped as much as 12% after hours, following a 4.4% rise in the regular session to close at $138.76.
The company reported first-quarter net income of $153.9 million, or $2.02 a share, compared with $209.1 million, or $2.43 a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings, which exclude an unrealized loss on equity securities, were $2.15 a share, compared with $2.44 a share in the year-ago period.
Revenue rose to $3.29 billion from $3.01 billion, or by 9%, in the year-ago quarter.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast $2.45 a share on revenue of $3.24 billion.
“Like others in the healthcare industry, we continue to experience a shortage of nurses and other clinical staff and support personnel at our acute care and behavioral health care hospitals in many geographic areas,” UHS said in a statement. “In some areas, the labor scarcity is putting a strain on our resources and staff, which has required us to utilize higher–cost temporary labor and pay premiums above standard compensation for essential workers.”
UHS reported that salaries, wages and benefits rose to $1.69 billion from $1.5 billion in the year-ago period, a rise of 13%, and other operating expenses rose 16% to $820.9 million from a year ago.
