UPDATE 3-Tenet earnings miss, forecast weak; shares fall

* Q4 EPS ex-items break-even vs Street view 1 cent

* Sees 2010 EPS from continuing operations 14-19 cents

* Shares fall 8.1 percent, rivals also decline (Adds earnings details, analyst comments, updates shares)

NEW YORK, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Hospital operator Tenet Healthcare Corp (THC.N) reported quarterly results below analyst targets and issued a disappointing 2010 forecast, sending shares down 8.1 percent.

"Tenet reported fourth-quarter results that were slightly weaker than what we were looking for, as volume growth weakened" from earlier quarters, Leerink Swann analyst Jason Gurda said on Tuesday.

Other U.S. hospital companies in recent weeks have also reported a slowdown in volume growth -- including the numbers of outpatients and of patient admissions - compared with the prior quarter.

"But the deceleration was a little worse at Tenet," said Gurda, who tied the overall industry trend largely to continuing weakness in the economy.

Total admissions fell 0.9 percent for Tenet hospitals operating at least a year. But admissions from government payors increased 0.8 percent and admissions for patients covered by Medicaid increased 3.7 percent.

The number of admissions and outpatient visits of commercially insured patients -- a more lucrative source of revenue -- fell 5.3 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively.

Shares of rivals swooned after Tenet's report demonstrated the lackluster trends.

Community Health Systems Inc (CYH.N) fell 1.3 percent to $35.53, while Health Management Associates (HMA.N) fell 3.4 percent to $7.30. Universal Health Services (UHS.N) was down 2.1 percent to $30.80.

Tenet, the second-largest public U.S. hospital chain, posted its first quarterly profit since last spring. It reported fourth-quarter earnings of $21 million, or 4 cents per share. That compared with a year-earlier net loss of $33 million, or 7 cents a share.

Excluding one-time items, Dallas-based Tenet broke even in the quarter. Analysts' average forecast was a profit of 1 cent a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue rose 4 percent to $2.26 billion.

For 2010, Tenet projected income from continuing operations of 14 cents to 19 cents per share. Analysts were looking for 23 cents.

The company forecast 2010 EBITDA -- earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization -- of $985 million to $1.05 billion. The estimate includes an additional $40 million in spending on information technology.

The range is mostly lower than the Wall Street consensus forecast of $1.035 billion, said Gurda, who considers EBITDA trends the most sensitive reflection of company results.

EBITDA in 2009 was $982 million.

Tenet shares were trading at $5.13 on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf, Ransdell Pierson and Bill Berkrot; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn, John Wallace and Gunna Dickson)