Dive Brief:
- Despite a substantial increase in net income, DaVita HealthCare Partners narrowly missed analyst profit expectations in the third quarter, with adjusted earnings of 90 cents per share, company officials announced.
- DaVita, which operates a kidney care business and health specialty group HealthCare Partners, posted $3.25 billion in revenue and $184.1 million in net income in Q3. That compares to $3 billion in revenue and $136.1 million in net income in the third quarter of last year.
- Company executives also made cautious statements about earnings prospects in 2015 and 2016.
Dive Insight:
DaVita's results in many ways are a tale of two businesses: Its kidney care business had significant expansion and now has 35% of the dialysis market—and provided $2.36 billion in net consolidated revenues for the quarter. HealthCare Partners, which DaVita acquired in 2012, contributed far less in revenues at $892 million.
"On the HealthCare Partners front, despite a rocky first 18 months, the fundamental value proposition remains intact. Integrated care and population health management are what we do well and that's what lots of people want to move to," Davida CEO Kent Thiry said in a call with investment analysts. "We have a solid foundation in our legacy markets."
Thiry warned that Medicare reimbursement issues and "the tough commercial pay environment" in kidney care could affect the company's bottom line going forward. He said the company expected 2015 operating income to be "relatively flat to the current reality" and warned 2016 income could fall below the 2015 results.