Shares of Sun Healthcare Group Inc., an Irvine operator of nursing homes and other businesses, rose Tuesday on fourth-quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations.
Sun’s shares closed up 7% in Tuesday trading with a market value of $359 million. The company’s stock fluctuated in afternoon trading, rising as high as $8.38 a share before settling at $8.26.
On Monday, Sun reported fourth-quarter net income of $82.4 million, up 133% from a year earlier. That figure includes an income tax gain of $67.5 million, compared to a $21.2 million gain a year earlier.
Excluding items, Sun’s pre-tax profit in the fourth quarter was $16.3 million, up 20% and above Wall Street’s expectations of $11 million.
Quarterly revenue was up 5% to $467 million. Analysts expected Sun’s fourth-quarter revenue to be $461.8 million.
Sun issued 2009 guidance last month, saying it expected a profit of $50.4 million to $52.2 million on revenue of $1.92 billion to $1.93 billion.
Analysts expect Sun to make $48.7 million on revenue of $1.89 billion this year.
