athenahealth, which focuses on helping physician practices handle the business side of the house, has recorded a 35 percent increase in revenue for the third quarter.
Total revenue for the three months ended Sept. 30 was $35.4 million, compared with $26.2 million for the same period last year.
While other companies may be showing the signs of an economic downturn, Watertown, Mass.-based athenahealth, traded on the Nasdaq under ATHN, made a strong showing.
Piper Jaffray analysts credited athenahealth’s strong showing in a tough economy to its subscription model as physicians look for ways to upgrade their practices without spending money up front. In an Oct. 9 assessment of the market, Piper Jaffray analyst Sean Wieland noted athenahealth’s healthy cash position ($74 million), and added Piper Jaffrey did not anticipate any impacts of current credit crisis on the economy.
"The third quarter was athenahealth's strongest quarter to date as a public company,” said Jonathan Bush, athenahealth’s chairman and chief executive officer. “We added a record number of net new physicians and providers to our network, including the providers of MinuteClinic. These implementations reflect the appeal of our service offering and the outstanding work of our operations teams."
For the three months ended Sept. 30, 2008, the company’s non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA grew to $6.1 million, compared to a non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA of $4.2 million for the same period last year. Non-GAAP adjusted net income was $4.8 million, compared to a non-GAAP adjusted net income of $2.1 million in the same period last year. GAAP net income for the quarter was $3.7 million, compared to a GAAP net income of $0.5 million in the same period last year.
“The company continues to perform very well financially,” said Carl Byers, athenahealth’s chief financial officer. “Our growth rate is strong and our margins continue to expand even as we make increased investments, including substantial commission expense in the quarter related to growth.”