Friday, August 11, 2006

Calls of Note Part 1

- Thomas Weisel Partners notes that earlier this week, they visited with Cerner (NASDAQ:CERN) management at its corporate headquarters in Kansas City: Overall, they were generally impressed with the company's focus on expanding its operating margin (with the help of its Bedrock initiative) and with its strong competitive positioning and automated cabinet strategy. Firm continues to believe that the shares do not reflect the company's growth prospects, the potential increase in margins and a decrease in capital expenditures. The shares trade below firm's DCF-based current fair value estimate range of $50 to $52. Reiterates Outperform investment rating.

The company's Bedrock initiative is one of the keys to future margin expansion, in their view. In simple terms, Bedrock represents the latest technology developed by Cerner to help decrease implementation times and cost. As this technology is rolled out, Cerner will share some of the cost savings with customers (in the form of lower prices) as it incurs less labor costs. By reducing its pricing and reducing implementation times, Cerner will address certain customer concerns that view Cerner as expensive and difficult to install.

Notablecalls: Not actionable but good to know category.

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