What We Should Know:
– On Tuesday, Cerner announced that CEO Brent Shafer and the Board have launched their search for the company’s next CEO. The Board has formed a CEO search committee and has retained a leading executive search firm as part of the CEO succession plan.
– Shafer will continue to serve as chairman and CEO until the Board has identified and appointed a successor, after which he will serve as a senior advisor for one year.
“Cerner is on the right trajectory, with increased financial guidance based on actions we are taking to improve performance,” Mr. Shafer said. “With the support of the entire organization, we have simplified the business while implementing a new operating model to make Cerner more efficient and effective. We have strengthened our senior leadership team, including the recent addition of Mark Erceg as our CFO, and I believe we now have the right team assembled to drive our company forward.”
Cerner Share Repurchase Program
Cerner reported Q1 earnings per share (EPS) of $0.76, $0.02 better than the analyst estimate of $0.74. Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.39 billion versus the consensus estimate of $1.4 billion.
In addition, the Board has approved a new share repurchase program, which allows the company to repurchase up to $3.75B through Dec. 31, 2023. This new program is incremental to the current repurchase program under which approximately $465M remains available for repurchases.
