Avanos Medical (NYSE:AVNS) shares ticked up today on first-quarter results that just about matched the consensus forecast.
The Alpharetta, Georgia–based pain management and chronic care device company posted profits of $5.8 million, or 12¢ per share, on sales of $197.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022, for a bottom-line gain from losses of $7.6 million this time last year on sales growth of 9.2%.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were 26¢, registering level with projections on Wall Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $197.8 million.
“Coming off last year’s solid finish, we maintained our momentum through the first quarter while adding OrthogenRx to our portfolio,” Avanos CEO Joe Woody said in a news release. “I am very pleased with our first-quarter results despite persistent global economic headwinds. We met our customers’ orders and meaningfully improved our gross margins in the face of inflationary pressures and a difficult supply chain environment, and we remain confident in our ability to continue to do so through the back half of the year.
“Additionally, the OrthogenRx business [acquired in January] performed as expected, confirming our belief that our acquisition strategy, combined with solid organic execution, positions us to meet our longer-term financial goals.”
Avanos reaffirmed its previous guidance for 2022, with projections of adjusted EPS between $1.55 and $1.75 and revenues between $830 million and $850 million.
AVNS shares were up more than 5% at $30.70 apiece by midday trading today. MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — was down slightly.