WebMD Health (WBMD) Updates FY15 Guidance, Discusses FY16 Outlook
WebMD Health (NASDAQ: WBMD) disclosed in an SEC filing:
On November 3, 2015, WebMD Health Corp. issued a press release that, among other things, provided financial guidance for the fourth quarter of 2015 and the year ending December 31, 2015, a summary of which guidance was furnished by WebMD as Exhibit 99.3 to a Current Report on Form 8-K filed on November 3, 2015. Exhibits 99.3 and 99.4 to that November 3, 2015 Form 8-K are incorporated by reference into this Item 2.02 pursuant to General Instruction B.3 of Form 8-K. The financial guidance for full year 2015 included a range for revenue of $625 million to $635 million and a range for earnings before interest, taxes, non-cash and other items (“Adjusted EBITDA”) of $185 million to $192 million.
(Street sees FY15 revenue of $631.74 million)
WebMD plans to indicate, at an investor conference this week, that revenue and Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2015 are expected to be slightly above the high end of the ranges provided in the November 3, 2015 Form 8-K. With respect to traffic, management expects to indicate that traffic to The WebMD Health Network during the fourth quarter reached an average of 201 million unique users per month generating 3.97 billion page views for the quarter, increases of 6% and 7%, respectively, from the prior year period, reflecting greater than typical seasonal weakness in traffic during the December holidays. It is important to note WebMD believes it has sufficient traffic and is well positioned to satisfy demand from its advertising and sponsorship clients.
In addition, with respect to its outlook for 2016, WebMD has not yet completed processing fourth quarter 2015 sales and finalizing its expectations for 2016. WebMD plans to indicate that management:
• is pleased with advertising and sponsorship sales activity for its Public Portals, particularly with its biopharma customers, in the fourth quarter of 2015; and believes that its advertising and sponsorship revenue growth rate will accelerate slightly in 2016 (from approximately 10% in 2015);
• expects revenue for its Private Portals to be approximately $110 million in 2016; and
• expects revenue for its Information Services to be approximately $27 million in 2016.
The information in this Item 2.02 is preliminary. WebMD is completing its normal closing process. As WebMD has done in prior years, it expects to issue guidance for the first quarter and full year 2016 in conjunction with its fourth quarter earnings release, which is scheduled for Tuesday, February 23, 2016, at approximately 4:00 p.m. (Eastern time). On that day at 4:45 p.m. (Eastern time), WebMD management will hold a conference call with investors and analysts to discuss the 2015 results and 2016 guidance and provide additional commentary. The call can be accessed at www.wbmd.com (in the Investor Relations section). A replay of the audio webcast will be available at the same web address.
