COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho, July 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NightHawk Radiology Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: NHWK), the leading provider of radiology solutions to radiology groups and hospitals throughout the United States, today announced financial results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2008.

    Second Quarter 2008 Highlights
    -- Revenue grew 13% to $42.8 million from $37.9 million in the year-ago
       quarter. Scan volume grew 7% to 780,000 scans.
    -- Revenue from new service offerings, including final reads and business
       services, was $8.7 million, or 20% of total revenue.  Final reads
       revenue increased 22% to $4.9 million, or 11% of total revenue.  The
       year-ago quarter did not include any revenue from business services.
    -- Adjusted net income was $5.5 million, or $0.18 per diluted share, down
       from $6.4 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter.
       Adjusted net income excludes non-cash stock compensation expense,
       non-cash amortization of intangible assets and non-cash malpractice
       reserve adjustments.  In addition, adjusted net income in the second
       quarter of 2008 also excludes $0.5 million of non-recurring expenses
       associated with employee severance and non-cash fixed asset charges.
    -- GAAP net income was $2.8 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, compared
       to $3.5 million, or $0.11 per diluted share, in the second quarter of
       2007.  A reconciliation of adjusted net income to GAAP net income is
       included in the tables attached to this press release.
    -- Cash flow from operations increased 70% to $7.5 million, up from
       $4.4 million in the second quarter of 2007.

'We are very pleased with the progress we made in the second quarter as we begin to see a positive impact from our business improvement initiatives,' said Dr. Paul Berger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. 'During the quarter we increased our revenues, margins and earnings sequentially, strengthened our management team and board of directors, and maintained our commitment to creating shareholder value by returning over $18 million to shareholders through the repurchase of 2.2 million shares.'

Tim Murnane, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, added, 'During the quarter we made significant headway on our business improvement initiatives, particularly with respect to improving our sales execution and competitiveness, and in optimizing our service delivery and physician scheduling. We recognize that we still have a considerable amount of work to do and remain focused on generating further improvements in our operating results.'

Earnings Conference Call

The second quarter 2008 conference call will be held today, July 30, 2008 at 4:30 p.m. (ET). A live webcast of the conference call, as well as a replay, will be available online on the company's corporate website at http://www.nighthawkrad.net. Participants can also access the call by dialing 800-257-2182 or 303-262-2053 (for international callers). A replay of the call will be available approximately two hours after the conclusion of the call and will remain available until midnight (EDT) on Wednesday, August 20, 2008. To access the replay, dial 800-405-2236 or 303-590-3000 (for international callers) and enter the conference ID number: 11117506.

About NightHawk

NightHawk Radiology (Nasdaq: NHWK), headquartered in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, is leading the transformation of the practice of radiology by providing high- quality, cost-effective solutions to radiology groups and hospitals throughout the United States. NightHawk provides the most complete suite of solutions, including professional services, business services, and its advanced, proprietary clinical workflow technology, all designed to increase efficiencies and improve the quality of patient care and the lives of physicians who provide it. NightHawk's team of U.S. board-certified, state- licensed, and hospital-privileged physicians located in the United States, Australia, and Switzerland, provides services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to approximately 1,500 sites, representing approximately 26% of all hospitals in the United States. For more information, visit http://www.nighthawkrad.net.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that are forward-looking statements as defined within the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These include statements regarding certain improvements to the company's operations and financial results. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made, including the risks associated with general economic conditions, competitive conditions in the radiology industry, and regulatory risks. Other factors that could cause operating and financial results to differ are described in the company's prospectus and periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Other risks may be detailed from time to time in reports to be filed with the SEC. NightHawk does not undertake any obligation to publicly update its forward- looking statements based on events or circumstances after the date hereof.

Presentation of Non-GAAP Financial Information

The presentation of adjusted net income and adjusted earnings per diluted share are not measures of financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered a substitute for or superior to GAAP. Management believes these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to both management and investors by excluding certain expenses that may not be indicative of our core results and provide consistency in financial reporting. Specifically, the company's non-GAAP adjusted net income measure, and related adjusted earnings per diluted share, described in this release exclude (i) the non-cash charges related to our stock-based compensation, (ii) the non-cash expense associated with the amortization of intangibles associated with acquisitions, and (iii) the non-cash expense associated with changes to our IBNR reserve (incurred but not reported medical liability reserves), and (iv) non-recurring charges related to fixed asset retirements and severance. We exclude the non-cash charges related to our stock-based compensation due to the varying valuation methodologies, subjective assumptions and the variety of types of awards that companies can use when applying FAS 123R along with the fact that a substantial portion of our outstanding options and restricted stock units are held by our independent contractor physicians and require accounting treatment that differs from the accounting treatment for options and restricted stock units held by employees.

The company provides non-GAAP adjusted net income and related adjusted earnings per diluted share as financial measures because management believes these measures provide greater transparency with respect to information used by management in its financial and operational decision making and to enhance investors' overall understanding of our current financial performance and our future prospects. For reconciliation of our non-GAAP financial measures to the most applicable GAAP financial measure, please refer to the information included in the attached tables of this press release and on our corporate website under the heading investor relations.

'NHWKF'

             NIGHTHAWK RADIOLOGY HOLDINGS, INC.