Shares of Vocera Communications, Inc. (VCRA), a provider of mobile communications services to hospitals, slumped over 27 percent in extended trades on Thursday after the company first-quarter results missed analysts' estimates and it lowered its fiscal 2013 outlook. The company also forecast results for the second quarter below analysts' expectations.
Bob Zollars, Vocera Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Vocera Communications said, "We were disappointed with this quarter's results. Although the first quarter saw a very nice increase in new customer signings, several significant expansion deals for U.S. hospitals that we expected to sign in the quarter, were not completed."
According to Vocera, the shortfall in expansion deals were driven by two factors - increased financial scrutiny from hospital customers as a result of lower utilization and reduced reimbursement rates under reform, and inconsistent sales execution across market segments.
The company said that to address the issue, it was creating three new leadership positions - EVP -Worldwide Sales and Service, VP-US Healthcare Sales, and VP-International Sales.
Vocera's first-quarter net loss was $3.50 million or $0.14 per share, wider than loss of $0.84 million or $0.23 per share in the year-ago period.
Excluding stock compensation expense and amortization of acquired intangibles, adjusted net loss for the quarter was $1.61 million or $0.07 per share, compared to adjusted net income of $1.44 million or $0.06 per share in the previous-year quarter.
On average, seven analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report loss of $0.02 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.
Revenue for the quarter declined 3 percent to $22.41 million from $23.12 million in the same period last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $24.33 million.
Product revenue decreased 12 percent from the year-ago period to $12.96 million and was directly impacted by U.S. healthcare expansion contracts that were delayed. Meanwhile, service revenue rose 11 percent, driven by maintaining and supporting existing customers.
Looking ahead to the second quarter, Vocera expects reported loss of $0.17 to $0.12 per share, adjusted loss of $0.06 to $0.02 per share, and revenues between $23 million and $25 million. Analysts currently estimate earnings of $0.10 per share for the quarter on revenues of $29.78 million.
For fiscal 2013, Vocera now expects loss of $0.47 to $0.22 per share, adjusted results between loss of $0.05 and profit of $0.18 per share, and revenues of $100 million and $110 million. Previously, the company expected reported results between loss of $0.10 and profit of $0.09 per share, adjusted earnings between $0.33 and $0.51 per share and revenues between $120 million and $130 million.
Analysts expect the company to earn $0.42 per share for the year on revenues of $122.44 million.
VCRA closed Thursday's regular trading session at $19.338, down $0.10 or 0.51 percent on a volume of 402,057 shares. In after-hours, the stock further declined $5.28 or 27.24 percent to $14.10.
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