Wells Fargo Securities Outperform Rating on athenahealth on Mixed Factors

In a report published Friday, Wells Fargo Securities analyst Jamie Stockton reiterated an Outperform rating on athenahealth (NASDAQ: ATHN).In the report, Wells Fargo Securities noted, “ATHN reported its third messy quarter this year, but much like the June quarter it provided material upside with doc adds of 2,700 vs. the consensus of 2,100 on broad expansions. Revenue was $3MM light of consensus as the 4.30% of collections fee came down another 5bps and Epocrates was down $1MM. Guidance implies the percent of collections bounces back in the December quarter as some promotions run off. EPS missed by $0.04 on gross margin as ATHN continues to invest in Coordinator, although guidance once again implies a bounce in the December quarter. We estimate bookings were 85-90% of goal. The PSS relationship was renewed across MCK, which doubles the number of salespeople. We continue to see ATHN as a major share gainer in physician practice software, driven by its web-based architecture, heavy level of automated service, and percent of collections business model that completely aligns it with clients. Our 2013E EPS improves $0.04 to $1.00 and 2014E improves $0.02 to $1.43. Our 12-month valuation range rises from $135-140 to $150-160.”athenahealth closed on Thursday at $105.47.