Iqvia Q2 2018 earnings exceed expectations, CEO touts 'significant investments'

In response, the company raised its full year revenue guidance from a range of $10.05-10.25bn to a new range of $10.25bn to $10.40bn, which represents year-over-year growth of 5.6% to 7.2%.

The increase comes in response to organic operational strength, slightly more pass-through revenue in R&D Solutions than what was expected, and a higher contribution from M&A, said Michael McDonnell, EVP and CFO of Iqvia on the earnings call.

Adjusted EBITDA guidance also has been raised to represent a year-over-year growth of 8% to 10.9%.

Investments in innovation​

Bousbib said business momentum has accelerated, driven by the strategic investments made over the past 18 months, noting that the company expects to continue such investment up until the end of 2019. “We've been making significant investments in innovation,”​ he said on the call.

As for the company’s technology business, Bousbib commented that it has won deals with Pierre Fabre, Recordati, and PruGen, among other clients in the US and Canada to deploy its commercial operations SaaS software, Orchestrated Customer Engagement (OCE). He also reported three new recent awards.

“When we decided to invest and innovate, our intent was to capture a fair share of this market,”​ Bousbib said. The offering was launched in 2017​.

Bousbib further emphasized the company’s goal of growing its technology business, calling the Iqvia “a technology company in aggregate.”​

Overall, gross new business awards were up more than 40% compared to the same quarter last year, with more than 60% growth in the evidence-based practice (EBP) space. About 60% of the company’s next-gen awards in the second quarter were with EBP clients, Bousibib explained.

Additionally, the R&D business added more 150 new customers during the first half of 2018.