Ensign Stock Soars 9%, Adding $842 Million, After Company Lifts 2026 Profit Forecast
The nursing-home operator rose Wednesday, a session after raising its profit guidance and reporting third-quarter earnings growth.
Ensign Group, which runs skilled nursing and senior living facilities, saw its shares climb 8.52% to $183.94 in Wednesday trading, as of 10:21 a.m. ET, adding $842 million in market value. The move came the session after the company raised its 2026 earnings guidance alongside third-quarter results on Tuesday.
Earnings up by nearly a quarter
Third-quarter adjusted diluted earnings per share were $2.03, up 23.8% from a year earlier, the company reported. Net income under standard accounting rose 24.4% to $104.3 million.
An SEC filing shows a higher floor for 2026 revenue guidance and 22 newly added operations, one of them its Florida debut.
The company also said 40 of its operations, in 8 states, earned federal High Performing designations under the new risk-based survey program.
The stock was on pace for its biggest one-day gain since Feb. 5, when it rose 13.8%.
A laggard this year, and a lawsuit
Ensign is a holding company whose independent subsidiaries provide skilled nursing, senior living and rehabilitative services in 17 states. As of December 31, 2025, it offered care through 373 facilities and owned 158 real estate properties, and about 95.6% of its 2025 revenue came from skilled nursing facilities.
The shares had lagged the market this year: down about 3% year to date as of Tuesday's close, while the S&P 500 was up about 13%. Before this session, the stock sat 22% below its highest close of the past year, set on March 2.
A securities class action filed against the company alleges it concealed understaffing and manipulated quality data. The notice sets a December 7 deadline.
Management's earnings call was scheduled for Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. PT, where the revised guidance figures could be detailed.
Sources
- Compared to Estimates, Ensign Group (ENSG) Q3 Earnings: A Look at Key Metrics — Yahoo Finance
- Ensign Non-GAAP EPS of $2.03 beats by $0.06, revenue of $1.48B misses by $30M (NASDAQ:ENSG) — seekingalpha.com
- Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: ULBI, SLHY, HOOD, ENPH — CNBC
- ENSG Investor Class Action Filed: Ensign Group Investors Are Alerted to the Upcoming December 7 Deadline in the Securities Fraud Class Action to Recover Losses — prnewswire.com
- The Ensign Group Reports Third Quarter 2026 Results; Raises — globenewswire.com
- The company's filing (Ensign Group) — SEC filing
- Ensign Group (ENSG) Beats Q3 Earnings Estimates — Zacks Investment Research
- The Ensign Group, Inc. Notice of December 7, 2026 Application Deadline for Class Action Lawsuit - Contact Lewis Kahn, Esq. at Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC, Before Application Deadline — GlobeNewswire Inc.
- Ensign Group — Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 2026-09-30 (quarterly results) — SEC EDGAR
