What Happened?
Shares of dialysis provider DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) jumped 25.3% in the morning session after the company reported fourth-quarter results that topped Wall Street's expectations and issued a robust earnings forecast for 2026.
The company's total revenue for the quarter reached $3.62 billion, a 9.9% year-over-year increase that beat the consensus estimate of $3.51 billion. DaVita also reported an adjusted profit of $3.40 per share, which was 6.5% above analysts' projections. Looking ahead, the company provided a strong outlook, guiding for 2026 adjusted earnings per share with a midpoint of $14.30. This forecast significantly exceeded Wall Street's prior expectations, signaling strong confidence in future profitability and driving positive investor sentiment.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
DaVita’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 6 moves greater than 5% over the last year. Moves this big are rare for DaVita and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 12 months ago when the stock dropped 14% on the news that the company reported weak fourth-quarter results: DaVita narrowly exceeded analysts' revenue expectations but fell short on full-year EPS guidance. A key challenge remains patient volume, as center closures and declining patient count could continue to pressure growth. Overall, this quarter could have been better.
DaVita is up 17.7% since the beginning of the year, but at $134.78 per share, it is still trading 24% below its 52-week high of $177.35 from February 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of DaVita’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,220.
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