Cerner posts record bookings of new business after stumbling three months ago

After stumbling three months ago, Cerner reported record new business bookings in the final three months of 2017 that were 62 percent higher than a year earlier.

The $2.3 billion bookings of new business in October, November and December followed a disappointing bookings number in the previous quarter that contributed to a sharp drop in Cerner’s share price.

Executives had said previously that business they’d expected to secure in the third quarter had been secured in the fourth quarter.

Investors watch Cerner’s bookings totals as an indication of future revenues and profits, important to a growing company.

For all of 2017, bookings reached $6.3 billion, also a record.

Profits totaled $336.7 million on $1.31 billion in revenues during the quarter. A year earlier, Cerner had earned $149.7 million on $1.26 billion in revenues.

For all of 2017, profits were $867 million, up from $636 million in 2016, on revenues of $5.14 billion, up from $4.8 billion in 2016.

Cerner’s core business is helping the health care industry with electronic health records. In the announcement, president Zane Burke said the company finished 2017 “mostly on a positive note” and said many of its business lines saw significant new business.

“Our bookings were at record levels across several key areas, including population health, Cerner ITWorks, and revenue cycle,” Burke said.

He said that business outside the United States was strong and that the bookings of new business and potential new business still in the “pipeline” portend growth this year and beyond.

This story was originally published February 6, 2018 at 4:40 PM with the headline "Cerner posts record bookings of new business after stumbling three months ago."