By Senad Karaahmetovic
Teladoc (NYSE:TDOC) shares are trading 6.5% lower in pre-market Thursday after the company reported worse-than-expected guidance.
For its fourth quarter, Teladoc reported a loss per share of $0.23 on revenue of $637.7 million, beating the consensus that expected a loss per share of $0.25 on sales of $633.4M. Overall, revenue increased 15% year-over-year as the company generated 4.8M visits. However, the gross margin came in at 68.6%, missing the 69.6% consensus.
“We are pleased with the strong fourth quarter and full year operating results," said Jason Gorevic, CEO of Teladoc Health. "Despite a challenging macro environment, we were able to expand our product offerings and enhance the level of care delivered across our integrated whole-person platform."
For this quarter, the company expects to post a loss per share of $0.50 (up or down 5 cents) on revenue of $610-625M. This is worse than the consensus for a loss per share of $0.32 on revenue of $652M.
For 2023, Teladoc said it expects to record a loss per share of $1.50 (up or down 25c) on revenue of $2.55 billion to $2.68B. On the other hand, analysts were looking for revenue of $2.72B.
"As we look ahead to 2023, we see a healthy demand for solutions that promise better access and outcomes while lowering the cost of healthcare,” Gorevic added.
Analysts highlighted a slowdown in revenue growth.
Wells Fargo analysts said:
"Revenue guidance for 2023 was below expectations, but restructuring helped EBITDA guidance come in relatively in line. With revenue growth slowing (~8.5% y/y at the midpoint for 2023), we expect margins to come into greater focus going forward."
Cowen analysts said the full-year outlook points to slowing growth as the company increases its focus on profitability.
"While adj. EBITDA guidance was better than expected, we believe investors will focus on disappointing topline growth. On the call, TDOC highlighted that its 2023 guide reflects a more balanced approach moving forward, with an emphasis on working toward GAAP profitability. A focus on balanced growth makes sense with BetterHelp, given rising CACs, but the slower than expected growth in Integrated Care is more concerning to us and will likely be more surprising to investors," the analysts wrote.