UPDATE: Tenet Healthcare Reports Q4 Profit

posted a profit in its latest quarter. The Dallas, Texas-based company reported a quarterly profit of $61 million, or $0.61 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $24 million, or $0.24 per share. Its adjusted earnings came in at $1.03 per share Its revenue climbed 15% to $4.47 billion. However, analysts were estimating earnings of $1.18 per share on revenue of $4.34 billion. EBITDA, excluding special items, gained 45.5% to $646 million in the quarter. On a same-hospital basis, Tenet's admissions gained 4% y/y in the quarter. Outpatient visits climbed around 10%, while paying admissions surged 6.1%. At December 31, 2014, cash and cash equivalents totaled $193 million, versus $200 million at September 30, 2014. Trevor Fetter, president and chief executive officer said, "Another quarter of robust earnings growth across our entire business capped off Tenet's strongest year in a decade… We are well-positioned to continue driving strong performance in 2015." For the current quarter, Tenet Healthcare projects to post earnings of $0.05 to $0.55 per share on revenue of $4.3 billion to $4.5 billion. Analysts had expected earnings of $0.42 per share on revenue of $4.28 billion. For the full year, the company affirmed its earnings forecast of $1.32 to $2.40 per share and revenue of $17.4 billion to $17.7 billion. It also projects admissions to rise 2.5% to 3.5%. Tenet also confirmed its full-year forecast for adjusted EBITDA of $2.05 billion to $2.15 billion. Tenet shares fell 0.73% to $45.25 in after-hours trading.