What happened
Shares of Teladoc Health, Inc. (TDOC 0.30%) surged again last month, as the leading telehealth provider beat estimates in its second-quarter earnings report. Investor enthusiasm for the leader in the niche healthcare segment carried the stock higher over the duration of the month. According to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, the stock finished August up 29.6%.
As the chart below shows, shares jumped on the earnings report early in the month, and continued moving higher from there:
So what
Shares of Teladoc jumped 5.5% on August 2 following the earnings release. The company said revenue surged 112% to $94.6 million, helped by its recent acquisitions of Best Doctors and Advance Medical, which beat estimates of $92 million. Organic revenue in the period -- revenue growth excluding the effect of acquisitions -- was 39%.
Image source: Getty Images.
Teladoc saw strong revenue growth from subscription access fees (its main form of income) and visits, both of which doubled from a year earlier. Total visits in the U.S. increased 41% to 436,000.
Gross margin fell from 77.5% to 70.7% due to a change in sales mix as the company branches into behavioral health. That was one reason why the company's adjusted per-share loss in the period expanded from $0.24 to $0.37, beating estimates by a penny.
CEO Jason Gorevic called the performance "another strong quarter financially and operationally as we met or exceeded our expectations across the board." He added: "I'm particularly pleased that we made significant early progress on the integration of Advance Medical, which empowers consumers to access high quality healthcare seamlessly around the world."
Now what
Teladoc also issued strong guidance for the third quarter and full year, calling for revenue of $106 million to $108 million, which compared to the analyst consensus of $104.8 million. For the full year, the company sees revenue of $405 million to $410 million -- a 75% increase from a year ago -- and a loss per share of $1.48 to $1.52.
Telemedicine, the practice of providing healthcare through tech tools like videoconferencing, should have a long growth path ahead of it as the technology supporting it improves, and as companies and insurers look for ways to cut healthcare costs. With its recent acquisitions, Teladoc's lead in the niche industry has only gotten bigger.
Considering the stock has already more than doubled this year, it may be time for fundamentals to catch up. But Teladoc continues to look like a long-term winner.
