Cerner 4Q earnings

On February 5^th Cerner reported fourth quarter results. Revenues for the fourth quarter rose 15% year over year to $710.4 million. Gross margin for the quarter dropped slightly to 78.4% from 78.6% a year ago. Operating margin increased marginally to 22.6% from 22.4% in the prior-year quarter. Fourth quarter day’s sales outstanding of 74 days, which is down from 83 days in the year-ago quarter. Full year 2012 revenue was $2.67 billion, up 21 percent compared to 2011 revenue of $2.20 billion.

 

“2012 was great year for Cerner," Neal Patterson, Cerner chairman, CEO, president and co-founder said. "I was also very pleased with our innovation, as we significantly advanced our cloud-based physician solutions and population health capabilities. In 2013, we plan to build on this success and continue to invest heavily in research and development to increase our competitive advantages and position us for strong growth throughout this decade."

 

Cerner is projected to do well over the long term because it serves a sizeable installed hospital base that requires composite clinically-oriented applications complying with "meaningful use" requirements, reimbursement difficulties and complicated coding challenges. The company has long-standing, integrated and seamless solutions for both inpatient and ambulatory settings.

 

For the first quarter of 2013 Cerner forecasts revenue between $690 million and $715 million and for 2013 full year forecasts revenue between $2.95 billion and $3.05 billion.

Kristen Pfaffe - Technology Sector Junior Analyst