Why HealthStream Shares Plunged

Sean Williams, The Motley Fool
Updated

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Internet-based health-care learning solutions company HealthStream (NAS: HSTM) shed as much as 10% in intraday trading after the company reported its third-quarter earnings results.

So what: For the quarter, HealthStream reported a profit of $0.07 on a 28% rise in revenue to $26.4 million. While sales surpassed Wall Street's expectations, profit fell shy of expectations by $0.01. Its HealthStream Learning segment provided the biggest sales boost, rising 35%, with management forecast operating income growth of 18% to 22% over the prior-year period. The drop in EPS compared to last year can be blamed on higher operating expenses.


Now what: Today's drop is a combination of HealthStream missing by $0.01 and the fact that it's valued at a pricey 66 times forward earnings. Look for HealthStream's learning segment to continue to be the primary growth driver for the company over the near term, but temper your expectations given that the valuation here is already frothy.

Craving more input? Start by adding HealthStream to your free and personalized watchlist so you can keep up on the latest news with the company.

The article Why HealthStream Shares Plunged originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong.Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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