Cerner Corp.'s (CERN) third-quarter earnings rose 7.5% as the
health-care information technology company saw a healthy increase
in bookings.
But shares slid 5% to $73 in after-hours trading as Cerner also
projected fourth-quarter revenue below Wall Street estimates, while
putting its earnings view at the low end of consensus.
Cerner is looking for earnings of 68 cents to 74 cents a share
on revenue of $435 million to $465 million for the fourth quarter.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were looking for 74 cents and
$473 million, respectively.
Many health-care providers have adopted clinical information
technology slowly, due to its considerable expense and resistance
from doctors reluctant to abandon familiar paper records.
Electronic billing systems are common, but in hospitals - Cerner's
bread-and-butter customers - big IT gaps remain, notably for
computerized clinical-order entry and electronic medical records.
This provides the company with growth prospects.
Cerner reported a profit of $48.4 million, or 57 cents a share,
up from $45 million, or 54 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding
stock-option expense, earnings climbed to 61 cents a share from 57
cents.
Revenue slipped 3.1% to $409.4 million while bookings rose 11%
to $424.3 million.
In July, the company projected per-share earnings of 57 cents to
63 cents on revenue of $410 million to $430 million. The revenue
view was below Wall Street estimates at that time.
Total revenue backlog increased 13% to $3.85 billion.
-By Lauren Pollock, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2356;
lauren.pollock@dowjones.com