Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA

By Siddhi Mahatole and Christy Santhosh (Reuters) -HCA Healthcare lifted its yearly profit and revenue forecasts on Friday as it expects sustained demand for medical procedures to cushion the hit from the Trump administration’s tariff policies, sending its shares up 4% before the bell. Hospital operators are expected to benefit from higher utilization this year as patients covered by Obamacare individual insurance plans make use of their benefits ahead of expected changes in 2026. Some COVID-19-era subsidies under individual Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) plans are due to lapse in 2026, which would lead patients to accelerate elective procedures, preventive care…

(Reuters) -HCA Healthcare raised its yearly profit and revenue forecasts on Friday as it expects sustained demand for medical procedures to cushion a hit from the Trump administration’s tariffs, sending its shares rising 5% in premarket trading. Hospital operators are expected to benefit from higher utilization this year as patients covered by Obamacare individual insurance plans make use of their benefits ahead of expected changes in 2026. Some COVID-era subsidies under individual Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) plans are set to lapse in 2026, which would lead patients to accelerate elective procedures, preventive care visits and diagnostic services while their insurance…

By Christy Santhosh and Siddhi Mahatole (Reuters) -HCA Healthcare raised its yearly profit and revenue forecasts on Friday on sustained demand for surgical procedures as well as strength in its Medicare business, sending its shares up 4% to $460.12. Hospital operators are benefiting from higher utilization underpinned by steady demand for surgical procedures, particularly among older adults, who are covered under the government’s Medicare insurance plans. However, HCA flagged uncertainty surrounding individual Affordable Care Act plans, also known as Obamacare, which come with COVID-19-era subsidies that are due to lapse in 2026. The company said it was actively advocating for…

(Reuters) -Novartis AG is close to acquiring U.S. biotech Avidity Biosciences for more than $70 per share, Bloomberg News reported, citing a person familiar with the matter who said an announcement could come as early as Sunday. Novartis and Avidity did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the report. Novartis has been actively striking deals in 2025 as it looks to bolster its drug pipeline and drive future growth, and the Financial Times reported in August that the Swiss drugmaker had approached Avidity Biosciences for a potential takeover offer. Novartis said last month it had acquired Tourmaline Bio,…

By Yousef Saba RIYADH (Reuters) -SandboxAQ, a U.S.-based artificial intelligence and quantum technology firm, signed an agreement with Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund on Monday aimed at speeding up the development of drugs and creating biotech assets worth $1 billion. The deal, announced on the sidelines of Saudi Arabia’s flagship investment conference, the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, will see Bahrain’s Mumtalakat license SandboxAQ’s large quantitative models trained on physics, chemistry and biology to accelerate drug discovery and scientific research. “The collaboration will help position Bahrain as a regional biotech hub, with a joint research committee guiding a three-year program aimed…

By Amina Niasse and Sriparna Roy NEW YORK (Reuters) -Some long-term UnitedHealth Group investors are putting their faith in the return of a CEO with a proven track record and a new management team they believe can deliver a turnaround for the historically high-growth Optum health services business and put a tough year behind it. Investors, billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway among them, have reacted favorably to the selection of Stephen Hemsley, who took over in May after the company missed its earnings projections for the first time since 2008. Hemsley, who led UnitedHealth between 2006 and 2017, signed a…

(Reuters) -Medical equipment maker Revvity on Monday raised its annual profit forecast and beat third-quarter estimates on improving demand for its testing kits in the diagnostics unit. However, shares of the company fell 2.7% in volatile premarket trading after third-quarter revenue missed estimates. Quarterly revenue in its diagnostic unit, which provides testing tools, rose 3% to $356.1 million, compared with analysts’ estimates of $350.6 million, according to data compiled by LSEG. Revvity joined peers such as Thermo Fisher in reporting renewed demand for contract research and diagnostics services, as pharmaceutical companies ramp up drug development in the U.S. amid evolving…

By Siddhi Mahatole (Reuters) -Medical equipment maker Revvity on Monday raised its annual profit forecast and beat third-quarter estimates on improving U.S. demand for its testing kits in the diagnostics unit. However, sales of its diagnostics products in key market China declined nearly 6% during the quarter. The company earns more than half of its annual revenues from markets outside the United States. Its shares were down about 3.4% in early trading. Revvity joined peers such as Thermo Fisher in reporting renewed U.S. demand for contract research and diagnostics services, as pharmaceutical companies ramp up drug development in the country…

(Corrects spelling of “Buffett” in bullet-point summary) By Amina Niasse and Sriparna Roy NEW YORK (Reuters) -Some long-term UnitedHealth Group investors are putting their faith in the return of a CEO with a proven track record and a new management team they believe can deliver a turnaround for the historically high-growth Optum health services business and put a tough year behind it. Investors, billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway among them, have reacted favorably to the selection of Stephen Hemsley, who took over in May after the company missed its earnings projections for the first time since 2008. Hemsley, who led…

By Bhanvi Satija LONDON (Reuters) -Swiss drugmaker Novartis on Monday defended its $12 billion deal to acquire Avidity Biosciences ahead of the U.S. firm getting late-stage data for its muscle disorder treatment next year, saying it was “an appropriate risk to take”. On an investor call, Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan said the deal size could have been “potentially twice as big” had the firm waited for the data to be released. Novartis announced the cash deal for Avidity at $72 per share on Sunday, representing a premium of 46% to the company’s previous close. The drugmaker’s shares slipped 1.5% on…