By Senad Karaahmetovic
Shares of Teladoc (NYSE:TDOC) are down as much as 23% in premarket trading Thursday after the company’s guidance for Q3 adjusted EBITDA fell short of analyst estimates.
The company reported a Q2 loss per share of $19.22, compared to a loss per share of 86c in the year-ago period and the expected loss per share of 59c. Revenue stood at $592.4 million in the quarter, up 18% YoY, and above the consensus estimates of $587 million.
For the third quarter, Teladoc expects adjusted EBITDA in the range of $35 million to $45 million, significantly below the consensus projection of $64.6 million. Revenue is expected to range between $600 million and $620 million, while analysts were estimating $621.2 million.
For the full year, Teladoc expects adjusted EBITDA in the range of $240 million to $265 million, missing the average analyst estimate of $247.5 million. TDOC forecasts FY revenue in the range of $2.4 billion to $2.5 billion, while analysts were projecting $2.43 billion.
Goldman Sachs and Needham & Company analysts cut the rating on TDOC stock to Neutral and Hold, respectively.
An Oppenheimer analyst took note of “a tough environment” in which TDOC operates at the moment.
“While Q2 results benefited from the pull-forward of chronic-care enrollment, TDOC's near-term outlook remains challenged by the (previously discussed) lower acquisition yields with BetterHelp and longer sales conversions in chronic care… Overall, although the challenges are taking longer than anticipated to resolve, we still believe TDOC is well-positioned as a leader in digital health and is attractively valued at current prices for long-term investors,” the analyst wrote in a client note.
A Jefferies analyst said TDOC delivered “reasonable 2Q results” but sees several factors that are expected to weigh on results in the back half of the year.
“Behavioral is slowing, and, when taken in concert with a slower outlook in chronic care and currency impact from a stronger dollar, mgmt is lowering the NT adj EBITDA outlook. We do not see a quick fix and thus expect full-year guidance to be an overhang,” the analyst wrote in a research note.