Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) increased its 3rd-quarter sales and earnings by more than 20% each and raised its outlook for the rest of the year, sending share prices up sharply in after-hours trading today
Irvine, Calif.-based Edwards reported profits of $94.6 million, or 87¢ per share, on sales of $607.4 million for the 3 months ended Sept. 30. That represents bottom-line growth of 23.2% on sales growth of 22.6% compared with Q3 2014.
Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share were 80¢, 7¢ ahead of expectations on Wall Street. The news sent EW shares up 6.5% to $112 apiece as of about 4:11 p.m. Eastern today.
"We are pleased with the results in all product groups and regions this quarter, highlighted by transcatheter heart valves that exceeded our expectations and drove very strong sales performance," chairman & CEO Michael Mussallem said in prepared remarks. "In Europe and the U.S., transcatheter valve procedure growth was strong this quarter and exceeded our expectations. Our new product launches have strengthened our leadership position, and we are pleased that greater numbers of patients are benefiting from transcatheter heart valve therapy. The launches of Sapien 3 in Europe and Sapien XT in the U.S. are largely complete, and feedback from clinicians on these new valves continues to be very positive. We believe current market growth rates are not sustainable and expect competitive activity will increase.”
Edwards said it now expects to post adjusted EPS of $3.33 to $3.39, up from prior guidance of $3.24 to $3.34, on sales exceeding the higher end of its prior, $2.05 billion to $2.25 billion range. Fourth-quarter adjusted EPS are pegged at 89¢ to 95¢, on sales of between $575 million and $615 million, the company said.