Medpace Holdings (NASDAQ: MEDP) reported Q1 EPS of $0.76, $0.01 better than the analyst estimate of $0.75. Revenue for the quarter came in at $230.9 million versus the consensus estimate of $225.98 million.

• Revenue of $230.9 million in the first quarter of 2020 increased 15.0% from revenue of $200.7 million for the comparable prior-year period, representing a backlog conversion rate of 18.0%.
• Net new business awards were $246.9 million in the first quarter of 2020, representing a decrease of 0.7% from net new business awards of $248.7 million for the comparable prior-year period, which resulted in a net book-to-bill ratio of 1.07x.
• First quarter of 2020 GAAP net income was $29.0 million, or $0.76 per diluted share, versus GAAP net income of $19.2 million, or $0.51 per diluted share, for the comparable prior-year period. Net income margin was 12.5% and 9.6% for the first quarter of 2020 and 2019, respectively.
• EBITDA was $40.6 million for the first quarter of 2020, an increase of 21.3% from EBITDA of $33.4 million for the comparable prior-year period, resulting in an EBITDA margin of 17.6%.

COVID-19 Update and Financial Guidance

While we continue to operate globally, the level of activity at each of our locations varies depending on the local governmental requirements and guidelines. The majority of our office staff are effectively working remotely and our labs are fully operational with modifications made to ensure the safety of our employees. The diversion of resources to treat COVID-19 patients has significantly impacted the operations at most of the investigative sites where patients in our clinical trials are recruited and treated. This has resulted in reduced trial starts and slowed new business awards. Depending on the duration of the disruption ongoing studies may be cancelled and some of our clients may lack the funding to complete trials which are extended due to slowed recruitment of patients. We work with many smaller clients with limited financial resources and market disruptions may make raising additional funds difficult. Travel restrictions and business closures have also impacted study participants and clinical sites which affects our ability to efficiently provide clinical trial services. As a result, we are working with our customers to develop solutions to limit disruption to clinical trials while following required regulatory guidelines and maintaining quality to ensure the health and well-being of study participants. These include alternative assessment methods such as virtual monitoring visits.

We believe the COVID-19 pandemic will have an increasing impact on our results of operations in the future, and as we cannot predict the duration or scope of the pandemic, the future financial impact on our results of operations cannot be reasonably estimated at this time. Due to this economic uncertainty, the Company is withdrawing previously provided revenue, EBITDA, net income, and net income per diluted share guidance and is not issuing new guidance at this time. We will provide updated guidance when we can reasonably estimate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on business results.

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