Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) beat Wall Street’s expectations with its 1st-quarter earnings, reporting a swing to black ink and raising its earnings guidance for the rest of 2014. But the medical device company missed estimates for its sales during the quarter, sending share prices down today on Wall Street.
First-quarter profits for Boston Scientific were $133 million, or 10¢ per share, on sales of $1.77 billion for the 3 months ended March 31. That compares with a net loss of $354 million during the same period last year and sales of $1.76 million, for top-line growth of 0.7%.
Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share were 20¢, ahead of the 18¢ expected on The Street, but analysts were looking for sales of $1.80 billion for Boston Scientific. Investors reacted by sending shares down 5.3% to $12.86 apiece as of about 10:15 a.m. today.
"I am pleased with our overall performance in the first quarter as our team delivered accelerated EPS and consistent revenue growth," president & CEO Mike Mahoney said in prepared remarks. "Our international businesses performed very well in the quarter as we continued to diversify geographically. We remain confident in both our outlook for the year and in our strategy."
Boston Scientific said it still expects 2014 sales of $7.30 billion to $7.50 billion, but raised its outlook on adjusted EPS, raising them from 75¢-80¢ to 77¢-82¢ and increasing its GAAP EPS forecast from 35¢-40¢ to 36¢-41¢. Second-quarter adjusted EPS are pegged at 18¢-20¢ (6¢-8¢ GAAP) on sales of $1.84 to $1.89 billion.
