Livongo credits recent partnerships, integrations for its strong 2019 growth; aims for nearly $300M revenue in 2020

Although it's still operating in the red, the digital chronic disease management company logged 149% revenue growth in 2019.
By Dave Muoio
02:26 pm
Share

It was another strong quarter for the ever-growing Livongo Health, which yesterday reported to investors a 137% rise in year-over-year Q4 revenue from $21.2 million to $50.2 million. Full-year revenues followed a similar path, growing 149% from $68.4 million in 2018 to $169.9 million in 2019.

“Livongo finished the year with excellent momentum, exceeding all of our guidance metrics, achieving record signings in the fourth quarter, and expanding our reach to over 30% of Fortune 500 companies,” CEO Zane Burke said in a statement.

TOPLINE

These increases in revenue came hand-in-hand with the company's increasing reach. According to its reports, Livongo now counts 804 total clients as of December 31, 2019 (a 95% year-over-year increase), while its Livongo for Diabetes Membership now stands at 222,700 strong (a 96% year-over-year increase).

The company still has yet to turn a profit, reporting a $6 million loss in the quarter and a $54.9 million loss for the year.

ON THE RECORD

"2019 was a banner year for Livongo, with a noteworthy expansion of members using our Livongo for Diabetes solution, meaningful contribution from our newer solutions, and sustained margin improvement," Lee Shapiro, CFO of Livongo, said in a statement. "As we turn to 2020, we are focused on driving rapid growth in our solutions to address the needs of clients and members, while we continue to grow our investments to address this massive market opportunity."

LOOKING BACK

This is only Livongo's third earnings call as a public company, and it maintains the strong momentum reported during its Q3 report back in November. By and large, the company attributed its rapid growth to some of the major deals it's been able to make in recent months – for instance, agreements with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City's Federal Employee Program, the New Jersey State and School Employees' Health Plan, CVS and Express Scripts.

Beyond diabetes, the company has also expanded its technology to build a "whole person platform" capable of collecting and processing data that extends beyond clinical diabetes biomarkers. This approach, Livongo President Dr. Jennifer Schneider explained during the call, allows the company to deliver personalized insights across chronic conditions, driving improved behavior change, member retention and measurable ROI that can be used to win over more clients.

LOOKING AHEAD

Livongo's executives were optimistic about the business's growth in the months to come, placing its Q1 2020 revenue estimates to somewhere in the $60 million to $62 million range. For the year, the company boosted its revenue expectations into the range of $280 million to $290 million (representing 65% to 71% growth).

Here again, much of that optimism comes as the result of new partnerships. In particular, the company's recent integration with Dexcom's G6 CGM system, its new program for Higi retail health kiosks and its inclusion on Express Scripts' digital health formulary were all highlighted by the executives as drivers of a successful 2020.

Burke also noted during the call that Livongo doesn't anticipate any major impact on its business due to COVID-19, as the company had already invested in stockpiling devices and other supplies last year as a result of U.S.-China trade tensions.

Share