Shares of Quality Systems Inc. are up slightly today after a steep drop on yesterday’s news of weaker-than-expected quarterly results.
The Irvine-based company, which makes software programs for doctors, dentists and hospitals, lost roughly a third of its market value after it released its quarterly results and declined to affirm or revise its guidance for the full year.
Shares were up about 3% in early trading today, to a market value of about $972 million.
The healthcare information technology sector is generally facing a slump in demand, according to analysts, as the industry is seeing its customer base shrink with consolidation.
Quality Systems reported $15.5 million in profit for the June quarter, the first of its fiscal year. That was an 18% drop from the same period a year earlier.
Revenue for the quarter was $118.3 million, up 18% from a year ago.
“Although we delivered record revenue for our fiscal 2013 first quarter driven by strong performance in our recurring revenue streams, our overall results were impacted by lower-than-expected revenue from large, higher-margin software system sales,” President and Chief Executive Steven Plochocki said in a statement.
He said the company will not address previously announced guidelines for the 12 months ending in March 2013, citing “evolving conditions affecting our industry and uncertainty in predicting future results.”
Quality Systems in May had projected a profit range of $90.6 million to $98.3 million for the fiscal year, which would have reflected growth of 20% to 25%.
The company also had said it expected revenue of $515 million to $533 million for the year, a similar increase.
