Cross Country Healthcare Inc. (NASDAQ: CCRN) reported third-quarter revenue jumped 69.7% year over year to $636.1 million, exceeding the high end of recently updated guidance. Gross margin also improved at the Boca Raton, Florida-based company.

“Our third-quarter 2022 results once again exceeded expectations. Our advanced technology stack is driving internal efficiency and productivity gains, as well as increases in client and candidate engagement,” said President and CEO John Martins. “As market conditions continue to normalize, we are confident that we can continue to grow organically through new client wins, strong execution, and the continued demand for clinicians across the healthcare continuum.”

Martins said the company is “well positioned” heading into 2023 and confident it will meet or exceed its annual targets given the pipeline of MSP opportunities, the ongoing rollout of its proprietary vendor-neutral offering, Intellify, and continued investments in people and technology.

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In Cross Country’s nurse and allied segment, revenue per full-time equivalent per day rose to $526 in the third quarter from $425 in the year-ago quarter. Average field contract personnel on an FTE-basis increased to 12,524 from 9,003 in the third quarter of 2021, primarily due to headcount growth in travel nurse and allied. As expected, average bill rates were down sequentially in the low double digits.

The increase in physician staffing revenue was driven by an increase in volume in hospitalists and certified registered nurse anesthetists. However, higher indirect costs drove a decrease in contribution income to $800,000 from $900,000 in the prior year.

Guidance

The company forecast fourth-quarter revenue of between $590 million and $600 million, a year-over-year decrease of between 8% and 6%.

Share price and market cap

Shares in Cross Country were up 9.55% to $38.42 as of 11:30 a.m. Eastern time; the share price also set a new 52-week high during today’s trading session when it reached $40.12, according to FT.com. The company has a market cap of $1.34 billion.