All three brokerage firms that cover the rapidly expanding CloudMD Software & Services rate the company a Speculative Buy, and now the company has gained a toehold in the U.S.
Interest in telehealth and virtual medical visits has been growing over the past few years, but demand has skyrocketed with the coronavirus pandemic.
Vancouver-based CloudMD Software & Services Inc. (DOC:TSX.V; DOCRF:OTCQB; 6PH:FSE) has been at the forefront of telemedicine in Canada, both through organic growth and acquisitions, and now has made a move into the U.S. market with a reseller agreement and the purchase of a clinic in the Southeast U.S region.
"The current COVID pandemic is the single largest public health crisis of our lifetime and it has accelerated the adoption of digital virtual health; it has opened up the ability for people across North America to access quality healthcare from home," Dr. Amit Mathur, President of CloudMD, told Streetwise Reports. "Technology focused companies like ours, the right size, nimble, and with expertise in healthcare, are really in the right position to respond to the need that's upon us."
Company management believed pre-COVID that it would take years to significantly adopt telemedicine. "But that three to five year plan is three to five months today; we're quite proud of what we've done," Dr. Mathur said.
CloudMD just released second quarter 2020 results and announced a CA$13 million bought-deal financing, which was subsequently upsized to $18 million due to significant demand. For the quarter, total revenue was $2,789,987, a 163% increase year over year; revenue from medical clinics and pharmacies rose 223% to $2,330,412, while revenue from SAAS model digital services rose 35% to $459,575. The company reported the net loss and comprehensive loss in Q2 2020 was $2,768,117, resulting in a net loss per share (basic and diluted) of $0.03.
The company noted that it ended the quarter "with a strong balance sheet with cash and cash equivalents of $13.8 million and a working capital balance of approximately $12.6 million."
Several investment houses cover CloudMD, including Canaccord Genuity, Echelon Capital Markets and Beacon Securities. All three have Speculative Buy ratings on the company and target prices that range from CA$1.70 to CA$2. The company's shares are currently trading at CA$1.60.
Canaccord Genuity analyst Doug Taylor wrote on August 31, CloudMD "DOC released Q2 results after market close Monday that were slightly below top-line growth expectations given the challenging environment for on-premise sales, particularly early in the quarter. With that said, we continue to focus on the string of highly accretive M&A transactions recently announced which will begin contributing to CloudMD's financial performance in Q3 and Q4. Recall that the company has announced 5 acquisitions since quarter-end which are expected to contribute annual revenue (pre-synergies) of ~$11M in aggregate. Based on the contributions from these acquisitions, we expect the company will approach breakeven EBITDA as it continues to aggressively consolidate and drive organic growth through innovations including its pharmacy telemedicine kiosks. Despite the high activity level, M&A remains a priority for management and represents an additional catalyst in the near term."
Earlier, in Taylor's initiation report on CloudMD on June 2 he wrote, "In Canada, where an increasing proportion of healthcare services is expected to be delivered through telemedicine applications, CloudMD has assembled the technology stack and footprint to capitalize on this secular trend. . .The factors driving a paradigm shift in how healthcare is delivered to Canadians have been galvanized by the COVID-19 pandemic and suggest, in our view, years of extraordinary growth ahead for industry participants. We believe this sets up CloudMD to produce significant returns for equity holders as it executes on both organic and inorganic growth opportunities."
Gabriel Leung, an analyst with Beacon Securities, wrote that CloudMD is "at the forefront of the telehealth revolution" and describes the company as a "technology driven healthcare operator, allowing it to combine professional health expertise with advanced digital platforms to empower physicians and patients. The company's goal is to digitize the delivery of healthcare by providing patients access to all points of their care from their phone, tablet or desktop computer... We believe the company is well positioned to capitalize on this opportunity given its extensive healthcare background, and strong B2C and B2B telehealth offering."
On September 1, Leung added, "We believe near-term catalysts include the closing of the US-based chronic care medical clinic, Snapclarity and Re: Function, additional acquisitions, an update on the Save-On-Foods rollout, new kiosk pharmacy wins, and an update on the Snapclarity pipeline (which we believe includes several large enterprise/payor prospects)."
Echelon Capital Markets analyst Rob Goff wrote in a September 1 report, "With a modest capital outlay, the Company's portfolio has emerged as an integrated healthcare platform with patient showcase capabilities and a significant competitive advantage in its low-cost B2B and B2C distribution capabilities. . .We highlight that the Company's two clinic acquisitions over the past month are on-strategy, establishing key region representation for integrated healthcare while completed on attractive, accretive terms prior to synergies."
Independent financial analyst Matt Badiali wrote on August 10, "Cloud MD is a digital medical service that offers routine care. Similar to Teledoc, it services customers across Canada. It recently bought a U.S.-based mental health and complex care clinic. The company's growth looks great. Bloomberg estimates that Cloud MD will grow revenue by 111% from 2020 to 2021."
What is behind all of this attention?
With the growth of telehealth, "a new company seems to be popping up every morning to participate in this boom and growth, but what CloudMD is doing is just a strategic march along our plan that was developed long before COVID. We're able to accelerate it both with the capital that was raised, and, of course, we are in a good position with an experienced management and team who can distribute our suite of digital solutions," Dr. Mathur said.
"The core, of course, is owning the proprietary technology, and that's why we're able to respond and grow," Dr. Mathur explained. "We've been continuing with both inorganic and organic growth; we're still continuing to acquire clinics and that provides us not only with patients who are going to use our technology, but we're also able to onboard regional expertise."
Over the last year or so, CloudMD has acquired medical clinics in British Columbia and Ontario, and also has acquired pharmacies and placed telemedicine kiosks in pharmacies. It is making its first foray into the United States with the acquisition of a chronic care medical clinic based in Mississippi, and plans to expand its services in the southeastern United States.
The company is also acquiring Snapclarity Inc., an enterprise mental health platform, which will allow its telehealth offerings to include mental wellness.
"A huge majority of mental health issues actually involve either chronic pain or physical issues," Dr. Mathur explained. "A lot of times both of those two aspects have been completely siloed and fragmented. We see the opportunity to be one of the providers and telehealth companies that can address both the mental and physical health at the same time and in a longitudinal way providing continuity of care for our patients."
Dr. Mathur points to the fact that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 90% of the $3.5 trillion expended annually in the U.S. on healthcare is spent on patients with chronic conditions and/or mental health issues.
"By providing a patient centered, longitudinal care team approach, we see better outcomes for patients and earlier intervention, making it possible for patients to take care of their own health, change their behavior, and stay away from emergency departments and the higher cost of seeing patients later when they're sicker," Dr. Mathur said. "For patients, payors and government, the excitement is in these ecosystem approaches."
Dr. Mathur explained that CloudMD is starting in the southeastern region of the U.S. because the area "has the issue of access in rural communities and a greater population distribution of chronic disease and mental health issues, a population that struggles. The models that we have really provide better outcomes and patient care, and that in the end is the name of the game."
In May, CloudMD announced that it was entered into a value added reseller agreement with IDYA4 Corp., "a leader in data interoperability and integration solutions within the government and private sectors." Under the agreement, IDYA4 will resell CloudMD's Livecare technology in the U.S. "IDYA4 provides revolutionary technology solutions within public safety, corrections, health and human services sectors," the company noted. "IDYA4 has an impressive portfolio of clients including, the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control, Experis US (Manpower Group) and Deloitte to name a few."
"The value add is that IDYA4 is a true data integration and security specialist providing technology solutions for years at a high level of state and federal organizations, making it possible for our technologies to be on the government cloud," Dr. Mathur explained. "It makes sense on a security, privacy and service level for our American expansion."
As to the future, "eventually this pandemic is going to go away. But now that we've seen how convenient it is to see a doctor through a video call, why have the hassle of having to go down to the medical office, being in a waiting room with a bunch of sick people?" Dr. Mathur said. "I believe we will see a virtual first hybrid model, where a virtual video visit is, when necessary, followed up by a physical visit. The landscape has been transformed forever."
CloudMD currently has around 114 million shares outstanding and just shy of 144 million fully diluted. On September 2, the company announced an increased $18 million bought-deal public offering led by Canaccord Genuity and Beacon Securities, for 13.1 million shares at a price of $1.38 per share. The offering is expected to close on September 22.