Acutus Medical (Nasdaq:AFIB) shares took a hit today despite fourth-quarter results that came in ahead of the consensus forecast.
Shares of AFIB fell 11% to 89¢ apiece in mid-morning trading today. MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — ticked up 0.8%.
The Carlsbad, California-based arrhythmia management company posted profits of $15.1 million. That amounts to 41¢ per share on sales of $4.96 million for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2022.
Acutus posted a massive bottom-line gain from deep in the red on sales growth of 13%. The company attributed improvements to a higher production volume and lower manufacturing variances. It also cited the positive impact from restructuring actions taken earlier in the year. Acutus enacted layoffs in January 2022 as part of this restructuring. The company noted that the reduced headcount contributed to lower operating expenses.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, losses per share totaled 63¢. That came in 7¢ ahead of expectations on Wall Street. Acutus topped revenue estimates by 3.4%.
“Our fourth quarter results demonstrated significant progress on our strategic and financial objectives, as we achieved our highest level of quarterly sales on record while also registering our lowest level of cash burn and operating expenses since IPO,” said David Roman, president & CEO of Acutus. “As we enter 2023, our focus turns from stabilization to growth through increased adoption of our differentiated mapping and therapy platform, and geographic expansion as well as continued improvement in our financial profile.”
Acutus set its 2023 guidance for between $18 million and $21 million. That marks a significant uptick from its preliminary guidance released in January of this year. Just a few months ago, Acutus projected sales between $16.1 million and $16.3 million.
BTIG analysts kept their BUY rating on AFIB shares. Said Marie Thibault and Sam Eiber: “We like the significant progress AFIB made in 2022, including right-sizing the commercial organization, completing the sale of its left-heart access portfolio (helping extend their cash runway), and executing on its commercial strategy in a difficult environment. We expect this momentum to continue in 2023.”
