Stryker focuses on expanding foreign sales

January 10, 2013 by Arezu Sarvestani

Medical device company Stryker (NYSE:SYK) will put a renewed focus on efforts to boost sales in markets outside of the U.S., president & CEO Kevin Lobo told an audience at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco Wednesday.

Those efforts include an overhaul of Stryker's European business and a growing push in emerging markets, Lobo said.

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The company got some Wall Street love Wednesday upon releasing its preliminary full year results, predicting per-share earnings of about $4.05-$4.07 on sales of $8.7 billion, a 4.2% increase in revenues over 2011.

Stryker also projected 2013 adjusted EPS in the range of $4.25-$4.40, expecting to take a $100 million hit due to the impact of the medical device tax that took effect at the start of the year.

The news sent SYK shares up 2.5% on the day, along the way hitting a new 52-week high of $58.74 before closing at $58.48.

Part of the company's ongoing strategy involves boosting its non-U.S. sales, Lobo said today.

"Globalization's an enormous opportunity for Stryker, we clearly have room to grow outside the U.S.," he told meeting attendees. "The U.S. is still representative of 65% of our total sales. That is a ratio that hasn't changed in about 10 years."

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