Market reacts to Nevada insurers' profits
Thursday, May 3, 2001 | 10:54 a.m.
Shares of PacifiCare Health Systems -- a big insurer in Nevada -- skidded 23 percent this morning as analysts questioned the quality of its first-quarter profits and continued to worry about the company's rising medical costs.
PacifiCare reported an 82 percent drop in first-quarter profits after the financial markets closed Wednesday. But earnings per share exceeded Wall Street's expectations. Net income fell to $13.1 million, or 39 cents a share for the Santa Ana, Calif., health insurer.
Separately, Sierra Health Services Inc. of Las Vegas, Nevada's largest health insurer, posted a first-quarter profit of $3.2 million or 12 cents per share vs. $1.6 million or 6 cents in the year-ago quarter. Sierra stock was up 14 cents this morning.
archive