Dive Brief:
- Athenahealth disclosed on Thursday a 12% increase of total revenue in Q1 2018 to $329.4 million.
- Bookings declined during the first quarter to $52.2 million, down from $77.3 million during the first three months in 2017.
- “We remain focused on transitioning to a platform company that aims to unleash our collective potential to transform healthcare," CEO Jonathan Bush said in announcing the results.
Dive Insight:
The health IT company's disclosure echoes its 2017 financial performance, when revenue grew 13% year-over-year but bookings decreased.
On the company's Q4 2017 earnings call, Bush acknowledged the bookings deficit, saying demand for health IT products and services was weaker in 2017 as the market matured and federal incentive payments to adopt health IT had run dry.
Prior to releasing the results, Leerink's David Larsen gave a neutral outlook on athenahealth.
"We are somewhat more positive on shares of ATHN ahead of the quarter as we estimate that ~95% of 2018 revenue is 'covered,' which is higher than in past years, and in our view new CFO Marc Levine and company are more focused on driving earnings growth," Larsen wrote. "However, we believe that ATHN will report bookings on a quarterly basis starting in 1Q:18, and we believe that within the ambulatory market: (1) the EMR market is saturated, and (2) of the groups buying EMR solutions, most are electing CERN or Epic."
Bush in the Q4 2017 earnings call reiterated his confidence more customers will connect into athenahealth's network in 2018, driven into the market by financial pressures.
The company is betting on platform services to help with bookings.
The Watertown, MA-based company reaffirmed its 2018 financial guidance of $1.31-1.38 million for total revenue in the year.