Alcon
(NYSE: ALC)
shares fell this morning on third-quarter results that missed the consensus forecast.
Shares of ALC dipped 6.9% at $69.82 apiece in early-morning trading today. MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — was up 1%.
The Geneva, Switzerland–based eye care device company posted profits of $204 million in the quarter. That equals 41¢ per share on sales of $2.3 billion for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2023. Alcon recorded a 75.9% bottom-line gain on sales growth of 8.4%.
However, Alcon fell shy of Wall Street expectations in the third quarter. Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share of 66¢ fell 1¢ shy of projections. Sales came in just short of the forecast of $2.35 billion as well.
Alcon’s surgical business grew by 5% in the quarter, while vision care sales increased by 13%. Demand for advanced intraocular lenses, cataract and vitreoretinal consumables and cataract equipment boosted surgical sales. Product innovation and eye drops drove the vision care growth, while Alcon cited unfavorable currency impacts as an offset to growth.
“Our strong third-quarter results reflect the resilience of our business and end markets, our focus on sustained earnings growth and the commitment of our more than 25,000 associates to pioneering innovations that improve sight,” said David J. Endicott, Alcon CEO. “As we approach the end of the year, we are excited for the future. We are exiting the year from a position of strength, we have a robust pipeline of innovative products and are confident that we’ll continue to create long-term value for doctors, their patients and all of our stakeholders.”
Alcon tightened its guidance for the full year, lowering the top half of sales and adjusted EPS estimates. It now expects between $9.3 billion and $9.4 billion in sales, having projected a ceiling of $9.5 billion in August. The company projects adjusted EPS between $2.70 and $2.75 after its previous projection reached as high as $2.80.
BTIG analysts Ryan Zimmerman and Iseult McMahon retained their “Buy” rating for Alcon despite the third-quarter misses.
“Overall, results came in a little lighter than investors were hoping for but nothing that we would consider thesis changing at this point,” they wrote, mentioning inflationary pressures. “[Alcon] was able to mitigate these pressures with operating leverage and some price actions in key areas of the business.”
