EHR Vendor Cerner Q4 Revenue Comes in Slightly Below Expectations

EHR vendor Cerner announced that its 2021 Q4 revenue came in at $1.452 billion, a four percent increase compared to $1.395 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020.

"While revenue in the fourth quarter was slightly below expectations primarily due to a COVID-related project delay and lower technology resale, we had a solid fourth quarter driven by a sharper focus on our core business and better operational execution," David Feinberg, MD, Cerner president and CEO, noted in a public statement.

"Cerner has been a trusted partner to healthcare organizations for over four decades, and our clients, caregivers, and associates are energized by our focus on making the EHR more useful, usable, and reliable," he continued. "I'm also excited by how the pending acquisition by Oracle can accelerate our development work to help make care more proactive, accessible, equitable, and dignified."

The EHR vendor's yearly revenue was $5.765 billion, a five percent increase compared to $5.506 billion for 2020.

"For the full year we delivered solid revenue growth, expanded Adjusted Operating Margin (non-GAAP) by 180 basis points, increased Adjusted Diluted EPS (non-GAAP) by 18 percent and generated record GAAP cash flow from operating activities of $1.772 billion and Free Cash Flow (Non-GAAP) of $1.174 billion, which were up 23 percent and 37 percent, respectively, over 2020," said Mark Erceg, executive vice president and chief financial officer.

"In addition, we repurchased $1.5 billion of shares at an average purchase price of $74.96, increased our quarterly dividend by 23 percent, and successfully closed and integrated Kantar Health (now known as Cerner EnvizaSM)—which is pacing well ahead of its acquisition economics," Erceg added.

On December 20, 2021, Cerner entered into a merger agreement with Oracle.

Per the agreement, Oracle commenced a cash tender offer on January 19, 2022, to acquire all the issued and outstanding shares of the EHR vendor's stock for a $95.00 per share purchase price.

"Working together, Cerner and Oracle have the capacity to transform healthcare delivery by providing medical professionals with better information—enabling them to make better treatment decisions resulting in better patient outcomes," Larry Ellison, chairman and chief technology officer of Oracle, said in a press release at the time of the merger announcement.

"With this acquisition, Oracle's corporate mission expands to assume the responsibility to provide our overworked medical professionals with a new generation of easier-to-use digital tools that enable access to information via a hands-free voice interface to secure cloud applications," Ellison continued.

Due to Oracle's proposed acquisition, Cerner officials will not be hosting an earnings conference call, issuing prepared remarks, providing financial guidance, or repurchasing shares.