Universal Health Services beats quarterly estimates as hospital demand holds up

Universal Health Services

27/04/2026 23:18

April 27 (Reuters) - Hospital operator Universal Health Services UHS.N on Monday beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter profit and revenue on resilient demand for medical care across its hospital segments, led by behavioral health.

Shares of the King of Prussia, Pennsylvania-based company were up 2.7% in extended trading.

With the Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire this year, hospitals are expected to see fewer elective procedures, preventive visits and diagnostic tests, while facing higher costs to care for a growing number of uninsured patients.

The company in March bought Talkspace TALK.O in an $835 million deal aimed at addressing the growing need for behavioral health services and gaining a network of about 6,000 licensed mental health professionals across all 50 U.S. states.

Larger peer HCA Healthcare HCA.N beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter profit last week but flagged a dip in patient admissions during the flu season.

Universal Health's quarterly same-facility adjusted admissions were unchanged in its acute care hospitals during the first quarter, while admissions in behavioral health facilities rose 1.2%.

The company reported an adjusted profit of $5.62 per share for the first quarter, beating analysts' estimates of $5.41 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.

During the quarter, net revenue rose 9.6% to $4.5 billion, from $4.10 billion in the same quarter last year, beating estimates of $4.39 billion.

 (Reporting by Padmanabhan Ananthan in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)

 ((Padmanabhan.Ananthan@thomsonreuters.com;))