HCA Healthcare Inc (NYSE:HCA) stock fell 4.46% (As on January 28, 11:35:53 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company posted mixed result for the fourth quarter of FY25. The quarterly results benefited on the back of strong same-facility admissions and equivalent admissions. Modest gains in emergency room visits and a rise in revenue per equivalent admission also supported performance. However, the upside was partly offset by elevated operating expenses. HCA Healthcare exited the fourth quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $1 billion, which dropped 46.2% from the 2024-end level. It had a leftover capacity of approximately $5.8 billion under its credit facilities at the fourth-quarter end. Total assets of $60.7 billion increased 2% from the figure at 2024-end. Long-term debt, excluding debt issuance costs and discounts, was $41.6 billion, up 8.5% from the figure as of Dec. 31, 2024. Short-term borrowings and long-term debt due within one year totaled $4.9 billion. Capital expenditures were $1.5 billion minus acquisitions during the quarter under review. HCA Healthcare generated $12.6 billion in cash from operations in 2025, which improved 20.2% from the prior-year comparable period.

Moreover, Same-facility equivalent admissions grew 2.5% year over year in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, same-facility admissions advanced 2.4%. Same-facility revenue per equivalent admission rose 2.9% year over year. Same-facility inpatient surgeries remained unchanged year over year, while same-facility outpatient surgeries dipped 0.5%. Additionally, same-facility emergency room visits inched up 0.5% year over year in the quarter under review. Salaries and benefits, supplies and other operating expenses increased 5.8% year over year to $15.4 billion. Adjusted EBITDA of $4.1 billion advanced 10.8% year over year. HCA Healthcare operated 190 hospitals and roughly 2,500 ambulatory sites of care across 19 states and the United Kingdom as of Dec. 31, 2025.

HCA in the fourth quarter of FY25 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $8.01, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share by 8.8%, according to the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 6.7 percent to $19.5 billion in the fourth quarter of FY25, missing the analysts’ estimates for revenue by 0.6%.

Additionally, HCA bought back shares worth $2.6 billion in the fourth quarter. It had a leftover capacity of $750 million under its buyback authorization as of Dec. 31, 2025. Management sanctioned an additional share buyback program of $10 billion. The company approved an 8.3% hike in the quarterly cash dividend. The increased dividend, amounting to 78 cents per share, will be paid on March 31, 2026, to its shareholders of record as of March 17.