Earnings from Cerner and Express Scripts

After yesterday’s close, we got earnings reports from Cerner and Express Scripts.

Cerner (CERN) reported Q4 earnings of 61 cents per share which beat Wall Street’s expectation by four cents per share. Quarterly revenue rose 27% to $1.175 billion. For the year, the healthcare IT firm earned $2.11 per share which was an increase from $1.65 per share in 2014. While that’s impressive growth, there are some signs of trouble. Bookings rose 16% last quarter, below Cerner’s forecast, and backlog is up by just 2% from Q3.

For Q1, Cerner expects revenue between $1.15 billion and $1.2 billion, and EPS between 52 and 54 cents. Wall Street had been expecting 54 cents per share. For the year, Cerner sees revenue ranging between 4.9 billion and 5.1 billion. They see full-year EPS between $2.30 and $2.40. The Street had been expecting $2.36 per share.

In yesterday’s after-hour market, Cerner was down as much as 17%. The stock is currently down about 8% in today’s trading.

Express Scripts (ESRX) reported Q4 earnings of $1.56 per share which matched Wall Street’s consensus. Earnings for the pharmacy benefits management company weren’t much of a surprise since they already told us to expect earnings to range between $1.54 and $1.58 per share.

“Our business model of alignment, developed 30 years ago, has never been more relevant than it is today,” said George Paz, Chairman and CEO. “Our job is to continue to take advantage of the opportunities and uniquely help clients withstand the constant challenges in the healthcare marketplace by taking bold actions to effectively balance pharmacy cost and care. Our focused alignment continues to control client costs, improve patient care and drive long term value to our shareholders.”

Express raised, ever so slightly, their guidance for 2016. Initially, they expected earnings of $6.08 to $6.28 per share. Now they expect $6.10 to $6.28 per share. True, that’s not the most earth-shattering revision, but it’s better than nothing. The new guidance implies earnings growth of 10% to 14%. For Q1, they expect earnings of $1.18 to $1.22 per share. Wall Street had been expecting $1.28 per share.

Posted by on February 17th, 2016 at 9:00 am


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