July 29 (Reuters) - GE HealthCare on Wednesday beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit, helped by strong demand for its diagnostic and imaging devices and refunds of tariffs imposed under U.S. President Donald Trump.
Shares of the medical device maker rose 12% in premarket trading.
Investors are closely watching medical device makers after hospital operator HCA Healthcare warned earlier this month about softer demand for surgical procedures and a rise in uninsured patients. Many Americans
have dropped off Affordable Care Act plans after pandemic-era subsidies expired.
However, other medical device makers like Abbott and Intuitive Surgical also beat second-quarter results' estimates, while Johnson & Johnson did not flag any weakness in procedure volumes.
GE HealthCare maintained its annual profit forecast earlier this month when it also provided some preliminary second-quarter results.
The company reported quarterly net income of $561 million, above $486 million last year, boosted by $129 million in tariff refunds.
Companies are seeking to recover the tariffs they have paid after courts found duties imposed by Trump last year were collected illegally and must be repaid.
GE HealthCare also said its adjusted core margin was 40 basis points lower than a year ago, due to inflation related to memory chips, oil and freight costs.
"Global geopolitical instability, including the conflict in the Middle East, adversely impacted our costs, supply chains, and logistics during the second quarter of 2026," said the company.
The company posted revenue of $5.30 billion for the three months ending June 30, compared with an estimated $5.26 billion. Sales grew 7.9% and 15.6% at its imaging device and pharmaceutical diagnostics segments, respectively.
It reported quarterly adjusted earnings per share of $1.13. Analysts on average estimated $1.04, according to data compiled by LSEG.
(Reporting by Puyaan Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Joyjeet Das)
