Max Healthcare shares slump nearly 7% as March quarter earnings fail to impress investors

Shares of Max Healthcare, the country's leading hospital chain operator, dropped as much as 6.61% to hit an intraday low of ₹1,018.95 on the National Stock Exchange on Friday, May 22, a day after its March quarter earnings failed to enthuse investors.

Max Healthcare post market hours on Thursday said that its net profit at the end of fourth quarter of financial year 2025-26 came in at ₹342 crore, up 7.2% from ₹319 crore in the same period last year.

Its revenue from operations advanced 12% to 2,143 crore at the end of March quarter compared with ₹1,910 crore in the year-ago period.

The company reported stable operational performance as its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) also known as operating profit jumped 19% to ₹607 crore from ₹512 crore and its EBITDA margin improved by 150 basis points to 28.3%.

Max Healthcare said that its EBITDA per bed was ₹73.4 lakhs compared to ₹73.9 lakhs in Q4FY25 and ₹71.3 lakhs in Q3 FY26. The hospital chain's bed occupancy for the quarter was at 75%, with Occupied Bed Days (OBDs) up by 8% year on year (YoY).

"Phased commissioning of nearly 20% additional brownfield capacity has been rolled out over the last six months, with another 10% addition expected with the upcoming Gurugram facility later this year. Requisite talent has already been onboarded, with significant operating leverage expected to kick in as operations ramp up," Max Healthcare said in a press release.

“We are pleased to announce the phased commissioning and ramp-up of brownfield expansions across Mohali, Mumbai and Delhi, representing approximately 20% capacity addition. We also look forward to augmenting our capacity by another ~10% with the commissioning of the greenfield Gurgaon facility by the end of the year," said Abhay Soi, Chairman and Managing Director, Max Healthcare Institute.

During the quarter, Max Healthcare acquired a controlling stake of 58.28% in Kalinga Hospital, making it a subsidiary of the Company. Kalinga Hospital operates a 250-bed hospital on a prime 10-acre land parcel in the heart of Bhubaneswar.

The company’s board approved an investment of ₹1,400 crore for construction of a 712-bed greenfield hospital at Shaheed Path, Lucknow.

“Spread across 5 acres, the facility will be the company’s second hospital in the city and is expected to be commissioned in FY30 to cater to the growing demand for quality healthcare services in Uttar Pradesh,” Max Healthcare said.

As of 9:45 am, Max Healthcare shares traded 6.1% lower at ₹1,25, underperforming the NIFTY50 index which was up 0.5%.