Just spoke with a hospital CEO through Stream Research Group. He thinks total hospital wages are up 10% – 15% and payroll is about 40% – 60% of expenses. Hospitals are only getting 2% price increases so margins are compressed or turning negative System is going towards a few large chains, higher costs, and longer … Read more
Overview: In August, we recommended HCA Healthcare, Inc. (HCA) stock in a piece titled “Heads I win – Tails I win”. We wrote, “we see a stock that has been hit by Covid-19 concerns, and which is in a good position to have improving fundamental performance regardless of what happens with the virus.” In October, … Read more
Overview: When Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in September, there was speculation that a conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett was the leading candidate to be elevated to fill the Supreme Court opening. This would cause concern that a more conservative court would declare the Affordable Care Act (known as the ACA or Obamacare) to be … Read more
The SumZero Headlines Podcast is back with a new episode on the #hospital industry. This week, we sat down with Gary Brode of Deep Knowledge Investing to unpack his HCA Healthcare thesis and explain the combined impact of #COVID19 and imminent changes to the #supremecourt and #affordablecareact on the business. We also touch on changes … Read more
Overview: In August, we published a piece recommending HCA Healthcare (ticker: HCA). We noted that the stock had traded down in the first quarter on fears that suspension of high-margin elective surgeries to focus solely on Covid-19 patients would result in terrible financial performance. When we published the piece, we believed the stock was trading … Read more
Overview: Last month, we published a positive writeup on HCA Healthcare, Inc. (HCA). Our thesis was that the stock was trading at a discounted multiple due to uncertainty over when the hospitals would be able to return to high-margin elective surgeries. We noted that if the current wave of Covid-19 infections were to subside, the … Read more
Overview: On February 24, 2020, we published Net Short explaining that we had gone short against the market due to concerns about the coronavirus. Over the next 3 weeks, we wrote 3 additional pieces (here, here, and here) reiterating and amplifying our bearish position. During that period, the market fell 29%. More recently, we have … Read more