Acadia Healthcare (ACHC) Beats On Q1 Earnings; Stock Up

Shares of Acadia Healthcare Company Inc (NASDAQ:ACHC) increased 1.6% to close at $63.19 on Apr 29, after the company reiterated its full-year 2016 guidance. Earlier, the company had reported first-quarter 2016 adjusted earnings of 55 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny.

Moreover, adjusted earnings surged almost 28% on a year-over-year basis, on the back of higher revenues, which escalated 68.6% year over year to $616.8 million, which lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $621 million.

The revenue upside may be primarily attributed to the addition of beds at Acadia’s facilities. During the quarter, Acadia added 330 beds.

Same facility revenues increased 9.2% on a year-over-year basis to $391.4 million, mainly owing to an increase in patient days (up 8.6%) and admissions (up 11.4%).

The U.S. same facility revenues were up 9.9% from the year-ago quarter to almost $318 million. The U.K. same facility revenues increased 6% on a year-over-year basis.

Same facility adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 80 basis points (bps) to 24.7% due to slightly lower expenses. The U.S. same facility adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 110 bps, while the U.K. same facility adjusted EBITDA margin contracted 40 bps in the reported quarter.

Adjusted EBITDA on a consolidated basis surged 66.4% year over year on the back of higher revenues.

Guidance

For full-year 2016, Acadia Healthcare reiterated its earnings guidance range of $2.81–$2.86, which reflects year-over-year growth of 26% to 28%. The company expects to add more than 800 beds all over its system through the year.

Zacks Rank and Other Key Picks

Currently, Acadia Healthcare carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Other favorably-ranked stocks in the medical sector are BioTelemetry (NASDAQ:BEAT) , Baxter International (NYSE:BAX) and Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) . All the three stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).