What happened

Shares of Teladoc (TDOC -2.91%), a growth company focused on virtual healthcare services, rose as much as 14% on Thursday after the company reported third-quarter earnings. Shares were up about 12% as of 1:33 p.m. EDT today. 

So what

Here's are the key numbers from the third quarter:

  • Revenue jumped 24% to $138 million. That exceeded the $136.5 million that Wall Street was expecting.
  • Total visits increased 45% to 928,000.
  • U.S. paid membership grew 55% to 35 million.
  • Gross margin contracted by 20 basis points to 69%.
  • Adjusted EBITDA rose 42% to $9 million.
  • The net loss dropped 13% to $20.3 million, or $0.28 per share. That was much lower than the $0.39 net loss per share that analysts were expecting. 
Hands on a laptop video chatting with a doctor

Image source: Getty Images.

CEO Jason Gorevic said, "The third quarter marked a continuation of Teladoc Health's very strong momentum from the first half of the year, as we delivered at the high end of our growth expectations and made progress on our path to profitability."

Traders bid up the share price in response to the upbeat quarterly results.

Now what

Here's the guidance for the fourth quarter:

  • Total revenue is expected to land between $149 million and $153 million.
  • Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $11.5 million to $15.5 million.
  • Net loss per share is expected to land between $0.31 and $0.37.

For context, Wall Street was expecting $148 million in revenue and a net loss of $0.33 per share.

Guidance was also updated for the full-year 2019:

  • Total revenue is expected to land between $546 million and $550 million.
  • Adjusted EBITDA is projected to be in the range of $28 million to $32 million.
  • Net loss per share is expected between $1.43 and $1.49.

These numbers compare favorably with the current consensus estimates in the analyst community of $543.6 million in total revenue and a net loss per share of $1.55 for the full year.