Bank of America Hospital Survey Finds more Competition, Capital Spending

Published on:
12 September 2006 at 10:21 a.m. ET

Written by: Unknown Author –

http://www.insidearm.com/news/00013977-bank-of-america-hospital-survey-finds-mor/

A recent report published recently by Bank of America and covered in a MarketWatch story helps to explain the bank?s continued ?bearish? attitude. According to the report, key equipment manufacturers and technology vendors should benefit from the industry’s accelerated capital spending.

That doesn?t mean Bank of America doesn?t see the next 12 months as fairly bleak ones. Bank of America expects hospitals to underperform the market as weak patient-volume growth, slowly declining pricing and modestly higher bad debt from unpaid patient bills weigh on per-share earnings growth.

“Nonprofit hospitals are leading a strong capital spending cycle. Owning the hospital capital-equipment makers is the most investable theme in the hospital sector,” the firm said.

You can read more about this story at BofA hospital survey finds more competition, capital spending.