Axonics (NSDQ: AXNX) saw its stock tick up by 5.47% at the close of trading on third-quarter results that beat the consensus earnings forecast.
The Irvine, Calif.-based sacral neuromodulation technologies company had a -$9.2 million loss, or -$0.24 per share, in the quarter ended September 30, 2020. The consensus estimate for the stock was a loss of -$0.52 per share.
Axonics’ revenue of $35.2 million in the quarter was also ahead of Wall Street analysts’ projection of $22 million.
“Sales rebounded sharply in the third quarter with Axonics generating $35.2 million of revenue,” said Axonics CEO Raymond W. Cohen in an earnings call.
The firm’s stock price has more than tripled since it went public on Nov. 2, 2018.
In addition to COVID-19, headwinds for the company in the third quarter of 2020 included Medtronic’s August launch of a rechargeable sacral neurostimulation system known as InterStim Micro SNS.
In its earnings call, Cohen said that Medtronic had launched an “all-out effort” to siphon off business from Axonics.
Axonics announced FDA approval for its r-SNM rechargeable sacral neuromodulation system on April 14. U.S. physicians have implanted 5,500 r-SNM devices since its U.S. debut.
COVID-19 remains a wildcard for the company’s fourth-quarter performance. “While we are hopeful that the pace of elective procedures continues in the fourth quarter, we recognize that COVID hospitalizations have increased to levels not seen since the early days of the pandemic,” Cohen said in the earnings call.
A number of hospitals across the world are beginning to cancel elective procedures as they did in the early days of the pandemic. “I’m afraid, honestly, about what’s going to happen,” Cohen acknowledged. “Fact is, patients are nervous [about COVID-19] all over the United States.”
While the company’s stock was up at the close of trading, its shares had tumbled nearly -9% as of 5:40 p.m. ET.
But demand for the company’s technology continues to be high, Cohen noted. The CEO said recent surveys indicate that 93% of patients are satisfied with its technology.
