Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) today reported third-quarter results that came in ahead of the consensus forecast, raising its 2024 guidance again.
The company’s CEO also said on its third-quarter earnings call that Boston Scientific expects to close its acquisition of Axonics in the fourth quarter of this year.
“We’re excited to add this excellent business into Boston Scientific and our Urology business,” said Mike Mahoney, chair and CEO, Boston Scientific.
Boston Scientific agreed to pay $3.7 billion to add the Axonics urology technologies to its portfolio in January. That deal was put on hold, though, as the FTC requested additional information regarding the acquisition.
Truist analysts initially described it as a big Q3 beat. However, shares of BSX were down more than 3% to $84.70 apiece in morning trading today. This could be a reaction to company officials sharing on the call that they had paused a trial evaluating the Farapulse pulsed-field ablation system for expanded indications. Boston Scientific said the pause had nothing to do with adverse events, but rather, investigators wanted to gain more understanding, and they expect the trial to resume imminently.
BTIG analysts Marie Thibault and Sam Eiber said the trial pause led to shares trading down “despite a stellar report.”
“Expectations were running high for Boston Scientific into this Q3 print and results did not disappoint,” they wrote. “But we and investors were caught off guard by commentary on a temporary pause for the AVANT GUARD trial studying pulsed field ablation (PFA) as first-line therapy in persistent [AFib]. While we do not think there is cause for alarm since the ‘unanticipated observations’ are not life-threatening, the hyperfocus on Farapulse means BSX is trading down despite a stellar report. We think this is short-sighted, especially since enrollment is expected to resume soon, but acknowledge wariness about anything going wrong with a key product and potential TAM-expanding effort.”
A look at the third-quarter results
The Marlborough, Massachusetts-based medtech company reported profits of $468 million for the quarter. That equals 32¢ per share on sales of $4.21 billion for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2024.
Boston Scientific recorded a 7.1% bottom-line slide despite a sales increase of 19.3%.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share came in at 63¢. That landed 4¢ ahead of expectations on Wall Street. Sales also topped estimates as experts forecast $4.04 billion in revenue.
Both of Boston Scientific’s main business units — MedSurg and Cardiovascular — drove growth. MedSurg grew by 10.3% year-over-year, while Cardiovascular sales increased 25% from the same period a year ago. Endoscopy (7.8% growth), Urology (10.3%) and Neuromodulation (17%) drove MedSurg. Cardiovascular had growth in Cardiology (29.2%) and Peripheral Interventions (11.8%).
Highlights for the quarter included the closing of the $1.18 billion acquisition of Silk Road Medical and CE mark approval for the Acurate Prime TAVR system, among other milestones.
“Our sustained high performance is a testament to the strength of our talented global team, differentiated portfolio and category leadership strategy,” said Mahoney. “We continue to gain momentum driven by our product pipeline, clinical evidence and commercial execution that position us well for the long term.”
Boston Scientific increased its full-year guidance on the back of the strong results. The company previously projected sales growth between 13.5% and 14.5% and adjusted EPS between $2.38 and $2.42. It now expects full-year sales growth of 16.5% and adjusted EPS between $2.45 and $2.47.
Boston Scientific has changes in EMEA
Mahoney said on the company’s earnings call that a company leader in EMEA plans to retire at the end of the year.
EVP and President, EMEA, Eric Thépaut plans to retire at the end of December. Thépaut joined Boston Scientific Europe in 1996 and earned roles of increasing responsibility over the nearly three decades that followed. Before taking over EMEA, he served as VP, Interventional Cardiology and Structural Heart, Europe, starting in 2012.
The company selected Xavier Bertrand, VP of Peripheral Interventions, EMEA, to take over.
