WellCare (WCG) Stock Plummets 13%
February 18, 2010 1:13 PM
WellCare Health Plans Inc (NYSE: WCG) reported it had swung to a gain but its shares tumbled when it reported a poorer outlook than expected.
WellCare Health Plans managed to earn $11.1 million, or 26 cents per share, compared to a loss of $31.1 million, or 75 cents per share, for the same quarter a year earlier, when the company reported one time charges of $78 million.
Revenue rose slightly from $1.6 billion to $1.62 billion.
Adjusted income was $20 million, or 47 cents per share, which was better than the consensus of 45 cents per share on revenue of $1.61 billion that a FactSet Research poll showed analysts to expect.
But the company said the portion of revenue spent on providing medical care rose from 82.2% to 85.4%.
It also revealed that it expects future earnings per share and revenue to be well below what analysts had expected.
All the bad news sent shares of the stock plummeting 13% by early afternoon.
