Teladoc reports 145% spike in Q4 revenue, but profitability still proves elusive

TELADOC HEALTH nearly doubled its full-year revenue in 2020 as telehealth soared amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Purchase, N.Y.-based telehealth giant posted $1.1 billion in 2020 revenue, up 97.7% from $553.3 million in 2019. Teladoc reported more than 12.7 million visits for the year.

Teladoc posted $383.3 million in revenue for 2020’s fourth quarter, up 145% from the prior-year period. That’s primarily from $316 million in subscription access fees and $53.3 million in visit fees. Total visits, including visits with Teladoc’s medical group and visits connecting outside clinicians, grew 226.4% year-over-year to 4 million.

Teladoc is still not profitable though, reporting a $394 million net loss for the fourth quarter, compared with $19 million in 2019’s fourth quarter, and a $485.1 million net loss for the year, compared with $98.9 million for full-year 2019. The company’s net loss includes $57.6 million and $88.2 million in the fourth quarter and full year, respectively, in costs related to acquisitions and integration.

Teladoc in 2020 acquired Livongo, a digital health and chronic disease management company, and InTouch Health, a telehealth company focused on the provider market.

On a call with investment analysts last week, Teladoc CEO Jason Gorevic said the company in 2021 plans to launch an “integrated behavioral health product” that combines Livongo and Teladoc’s services. There also are opportunities to tie Livongo’s capabilities into a virtual primary-care program, which launched in 2020 for employers and insurers.

Teladoc’s first virtual primary-care pilot found that more than 40% of hypertension and pre-hypertension diagnoses and more than 25% of diabetes and pre-diabetes diagnoses made by Teladoc’s clinicians as part of the program were first-time diagnoses.

Teladoc expects its full-year 2021 revenue to be in the range of $1.95 billion to $2 billion, which would represent another near doubling of its revenue, with total visits with its network of providers to reach 12 million to 13 million. ●