Cerner Reports Strong Third-Quarter Results, Bookings

As Epic Systems and Cerner Corp. continue to pick up the lion’s share of new EHR installations at larger hospitals and health systems, Kansas City-based Cerner (Nasdaq: CERN) reported strong third-quarter earnings as well as bookings that were at an all-time high.

Bookings in the third quarter of 2015 were $1.59 billion, an increase of 44 percent compared to $1.1 billion in third-quarter 2014. Third-quarter revenue was $1.128 billion, an increase of 34 percent compared to $840.1 million in the year-ago period. (Although the revenue growth was strong, it was lower than had been projected.)

Third-quarter net earnings were $147.3 million, up from $129 million in the year-ago period. The company said it expects fourth-quarter 2015 revenue of between $1.15 billion and $1.2 billion, with the midpoint reflecting a 27 percent increase over the fourth quarter of 2014.

In a prepared statement, Neal Patterson, Cerner chairman and CEO, said, “We have signed more new clients in the first three quarters of 2015 than any full year in our history, and I attribute this success to our strong competitive position in an active marketplace.” He also said Cerner has made progress at advancing its cloud-based HealtheIntent solutions that position Cerner help customers as healthcare continues to shift from a fee-for-service model to outcomes-based reimbursement models.

Offering preliminary guidance for 2016, Cerner said it currently expects 2016 revenue to be over $5 billion, which equates to growth of at least 13 percent on top of what is projected to be approximately 30 percent growth in 2015.