Alcon (NYSE:ALC) shares boomed today on first-quarter financial results that came in well above the consensus forecast.
Shares of ALC shot up 7.6% at $57.22 per share in early-morning trading today, following yesterday’s release of the company’s earnings report.
The Geneva, Switzerland-based vision care company posted losses of -$57 million, or -12¢ per share, on sales of $1.8 billion for the three months ended March 31, 2020, for a 47.7% bottom-line gain on sales growth of 2.5%.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were 45¢, 10¢ ahead of Wall Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $1.7 billion.
Year over year, the company’s surgical sales dipped -2% as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the deferral of elective procedures.
“Our first quarter reflects the solid underlying growth prospects of our business,” Alcon CEO David Endicott said in a news release. “We saw strong sales growth in both franchises during the first two months of the year, led by key growth brands and new product launches. However, as the COVID-19 outbreak spread worldwide, the widespread shutdowns negatively impacted demand by mid-March.
“Although we expect a significant impact on second-quarter results, the prudent actions we are taking will prepare us for recovery and preserve the ability to pursue our long-term goals.”
Alcon is not offering financial guidance for 2020, given the uncertainties caused by COVID-19. The company said it expects demand to resume when underlying conditions normalize, despite the anticipated slide in the second quarter.
While Alcon’s shares received a boost, MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — dipped -0.5%.