DaVita Inc. shares dropped in the extended session Thursday after the dialysis-service provider’s earnings fell short of Wall Street estimates as the company said COVID-19 factors and higher wages dinged its bottom line.
DaVita DVA, -3.48% shares declined more than 6% after hours, following a 3.5% drop in the regular session to close at $ 106.94.
The company reported first-quarter net income of $ 162.1 million, or $ 1.61 a share, compared with $ 237.4 million, or $ 2.09 a share, in the year-ago period.
“First-quarter 2022 diluted earnings per share was impacted by continued volume pressures from COVID-19, including excess patient mortality and higher missed treatments as a result of the omicron variant,” DaVita said in a statement. “Additionally, first-quarter diluted earnings per share was impacted by higher-than-normal wage-rate increases.”
Revenue came in relatively flat, or about $ 2.5 million lower that the $ 2.82 billion reported in the year-ago quarter.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast $ 1.87 a share on revenue of $ 2.89 billion.
“It is an interesting time right now, as our country and world are facing a unique portfolio of one-time events all happening at the same time,” said Javier Rodriguez, DaVita’s chief executive, in a statement. “As our organization works through these challenges, I think it is important to keep in mind why DaVita exists — we are a patient focused organization that provides life-sustaining care to over 240,000 people in 12 countries.”
