Stuart M. Huizinga
Analyst · Cowen
Thanks, Gary, and good afternoon, everyone. Our first quarter 2013 revenue was $43.2 million, a 17% increase as compared to the first quarter a year ago. This is our strongest quarter in terms of total revenue growth since the fourth quarter of 2009. Commission revenue for the quarter was $38.3 million, representing 22% annual growth, also our best performance since late 2009. Commission revenue growth was driven primarily by our Medicare business, where commissions grew in excess of 100% year-over-year. We're also pleased with continued traction in our Individual & Family Plan business, which delivered commission revenue growth for the second quarter in a row. First quarter 2013 Individual & Family Plan commissions increased by approximately $800,000 on a year-over-year basis. Other revenue, which includes sponsorship, eCommerce On-Demand, Government Systems and non-commission Medicare revenue, was $5 million. This represented a 12% decline compared to the first quarter a year ago, driven primarily by our transition to a commission-based direct fulfillment model in Medicare. In Q1, we fulfilled in-house, as a broker, close to 100% of the Medicare demand that we generated and had no material Medicare lead revenue. For comparison purposes, in Q1 of 2012, the sale of leads accounted for over 10% of total Medicare revenues. During the quarter, we saw a strong demand for our Individual & Family major medical plans, with IFP submitted application volume up 10% and approved IFP members up 14% compared to Q1 2012. Total approved members for all products were up 36%, driven by activity in ancillary products. In Q1, we topped the 1-million mark in our membership, with approximately 1,054,000 total estimated members at the end of the quarter. This represents 24% growth over estimated membership reported at the end of the first quarter of 2012. The number of revenue-generating Individual & Family Plan members was up 8%, while the number of other members increased 95%, driven by the increase in our Medicare and ancillary product customer bases over the past 12 months. Now I'd like to review our operating expenses for the quarter. Excluding stock-based compensation and the amortization of acquired intangibles, our non-GAAP operating expenses increased in absolute terms and as a percentage of revenues, relative to the comparable period a year ago. The increase in our first quarter operating expenses as a percentage of revenues compared to Q1 2012 was driven primarily by our planned investment in technology and content. As we discussed in our last earnings call, we're investing in eHealth's technology platform this year to stay at the leading edge in terms of our user experience and functionality. Our goal with this investment is to maintain eHealth's position as the leading exchange of choice for health insurance, as we near a major implementation stage of the Affordable Care Act. First quarter 2013 non-GAAP tech and content expense, which excludes stock-based compensation expense, was $6.4 million or 15% of revenue, up from $5.1 million or 14% of revenue in Q1 2012, an increase of 25% in those expenses. Non-GAAP customer care and enrollment and G&A, which excludes stock-based compensation expense, also grew slightly as a percentage of revenue in the first quarter as compared to Q1 of 2012. Meanwhile, first quarter 2013 non-GAAP marketing and advertising expense, which excludes stock-based compensation expense, decreased from 34% last Q1 to 33% of revenue this quarter. First quarter non-GAAP operating income, excluding stock-based compensation and the amortization of acquired intangibles, was 14% of revenue or $5.9 million. This compares to 16% of revenue or $6 million in the first quarter a year ago. As I explained earlier, our first quarter margin was impacted by our planned investments in the areas of technology and content and Medicare-related customer care and enrollment. For the full year 2013, we continue to expect that our non-GAAP earnings will grow approximately in line with our revenue in terms of percentage year-over-year growth. This implies a relatively stable non-GAAP operating margin for 2013 versus last year. EBITDA for the first quarter of 2013 was equal to EBITDA for the first quarter of 2012, at $6.6 million. First quarter 2013 GAAP earnings per share were $0.11 compared to $0.10 in Q1 of 2012. First quarter non-GAAP EPS, which excludes the impact of the amortization of acquired intangibles, stock-based compensation and related income tax benefit, was $0.17. Our cash flow from operations was an outflow of approximately $500,000 compared to an inflow of $5.1 million in the first quarter of 2012. A significant item impacting our Q1 operating cash flow was a $3.5 million tax benefit item, which resulted from stock option exercises during the quarter. This item negatively impacted our first quarter operating cash flow but had an offsetting positive impact on our cash flows from financing activities, resulting in a neutral impact on the total cash flow to the company in Q1. Later this year, we expect to see a positive $3.5 million impact on our operating cash flow as we use this tax benefit item to reduce our actual cash taxes paid. So from an operating cash flow standpoint, it's a timing difference, which is expected to wash when you look at the full year. We also experienced a new seasonal difference in our cash flow that comes from our shift to the direct fulfillment model in Medicare during 2012. This seasonal change reduces our Q1 cash flow and increases our Q4 cash flow compared to our previous model that included lead generation revenue. Specifically, in the first quarter last year, we had a significant collection of receivables that had been generated during the fourth quarter 2011 Annual Enrollment Period by our Medicare lead generation activities. With the shift to direct fulfillment, we no longer have this Q1 pickup, rather, we expect to see a seasonal benefit to our cash flow in the fourth quarter from new Medicare enrollments during the Annual Enrollment Period. Capital expenditures for the first quarter were approximately $1.5 million. As of March 31, 2013, our cash and marketable securities balance was $114 million compared to $141 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. Our cash balance reflects our share buyback activity under the repurchase plan, which was initially authorized for $30 million in September of 2012 and later expanded by another $30 million in March of this year. As Gary mentioned earlier, during the first quarter, we completed the first $30 million portion of the program. With respect to guidance and based on information currently available, we are reaffirming the revenue, EBITDA, stock-based compensation expense and earnings per share guidance for the full year 2013 that we provided on our fourth quarter 2012 earnings call. I also want to comment on certain expected quarterly trends in 2013. Starting on the top line, I want to remind you that we recognize the majority of our renewal commission revenues in Medicare during the first quarter, which is the second largest Medicare quarter for us, after Q4, in terms of annual seasonality. As Gary mentioned, Medicare renewal revenue represented approximately 1/2 of our total Medicare revenue of $10.1 million in Q1. As a result, for Q2, we expect a sequential decline in revenue from Q1. You should still expect to see revenue growth on a year-over-year basis in Q2. The Medicare renewal revenue stream is the reason that we made the shift to direct fulfillment from the lead generation model, and we're pleased to see that beginning to pay off this quarter. Our strategy is to continue to invest in growing our Medicare membership and the associated recurring revenue base as we go forward. Along these lines, we are adding Medicare customer care representatives earlier than we did last year to optimize the team's expertise in preparation for the Annual Enrollment Period. You will also continue seeing higher tech and content expense as a percentage of revenues throughout the year compared to 2012. If you combine these investments with the seasonal sequential top line step-down in Q2, you should expect a pretty meaningful step-down in earnings in Q2 versus Q1 of this year. The majority of the earnings growth that is implied by our 2013 annual guidance range is expected to come in the fourth quarter, when we expect seasonally strong Medicare revenue to absorb our investments in tech and content and customer care and enrollment. I'd like to remind you that these comments, as well as our annual guidance, are based on current indications for our business, which are subject to change at any time. And we undertake no obligation to further update our guidance. And now I'd like to open up the call for questions. Operator?