Athenahealth, Inc. (ATHN) Earnings Beat Estimates

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Athenahealth, Inc (NASDAQ:ATHN) released its earnings for the three months through June on Thursday afternoon after the bell rang on Wall Street. The company showed earnings of $0.32 per share for the three months period, which it records as its second of the 2014 fiscal year. The firm says that it took in revenue of $185.9 million in the three months. On today’s market shares in the healthcare services company fell to finish trading at $127.78.

In the run up to the release of this earnings report analysts following the company projected earnings of 22 cents per share for the second quarter by consensus. In the same period of 2013 the company lost 8 cents per share. Consensus revenue estimates, which are taken from a Bloomberg survey of 27 analysts following the company, came in at $182 million. The same three months of last year brought the company $146 million in revenue.

Healthcare industry craves automation

athenahealth, Inc (NASDAQ:ATHN) is one of the hottest names in the automation of the healthcare industry. The company, which is ran by Bush family member Jonathan Bush, allows doctor’s practices to rid themselves of swathes of paperwork with electronic medial records.

athenahealth, Inc (NASDAQ:ATHN) doesn’t just deal with electronic medical records, the company also offers a range of other paperwork-decreasing pieces of software to medical professionals, with patient billing and patient registration and certification systems offering automated alternatives to paper-based hospital bureaucracy.

The healthcare automation is a new one, and it’s not clear how it will evolve over the coming years, but Wall Street has been very interested in the company in the last twelve months. The buzz around software automation of bureaucracy and the movement of enterprise to the cloud, alongside the increase in industry awareness brought on by Obamacare, have brought attention to athenahealth, Inc (NASDAQ:ATHN), though not all of it has been positive.

athenahealth controversy drives stock moves

athenahealth, Inc (NASDAQ:ATHN) CEO Jonathon Bush is a member of the same Bush family that has ruled parts of the United States throughout the twentieth century, and the controversy that follows the political dynasty around has imposed itself on the executive, not only in spirit, but in form.

During the presidency of George Bush, popular malapropisms were, sometimes correctly, often associated with the politician. Jonathon Bush has his own problems with speech, and some of his recent gaffes brought more attention to his company than just about anything else in the last year.

From saying that he was building the “Internet of healthcare” to claiming that the company’s shares were worth $1000 each, Bush has brought a lot of attention to parts of the company that look suspect. athenahealth, Inc (NASDAQ:ATHN) does a lot less than $1 billion in sales every year, but the market values it at $129 per share or close to $5 billion.

Bush’s comments, and growing suspicion about his ability to lead the company, may have caused the massive volatility in the company’s shares this year. athenahealth, Inc (NASDAQ:ATHN) hit a high of more than $200 earlier this year before falling to today’s price of less than $130.

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