Cantel Medical (NYSE:CMD) shares took a hit this week when the medical device company missed the consensus forecast with its fiscal second-quarter results.
Little Falls, N.J.-based Cantel posted a -42.1% profit slide to $18.8 million, or 45¢ per share, on sales of $224.5 million for the three months ended Jan. 31, for top-line growth of 5.4% compared with fiscal Q2 2018.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were 57¢, a nickel below the consensus on Wall Street, where analysts were looking for revenues of $226.9 million.
“We are pleased to see continued strong double-digit sales growth in our medical segment, which was partly offset by softer results in our life sciences and dental businesses. We expect continued momentum in our medical segment, and acceleration in our dental franchise in the second half of the year while managing through a challenging environment in our hemodialysis water business,” president & CEO Jørgen B. Hansen said in prepared remarks. “Our 5.4% reported sales increase was driven by organic growth of 5.3%, the impact from acquisitions of 1.1%, and an unfavorable impact from foreign currency of 1.0%. We continue to perform well internationally, where sales were up 7.3%, with 11.3% organic growth. Our U.S. business had a solid quarter and grew 4.7%.
“Our medical division had a great quarter, with double-digit growth in North America and Asia Pacific; we announced the acquisitions of Omnia and Vista Research Group, as well as successfully launched the first phase of our new ERP platform in our U.S. medical business,” Hansen added.
During a conference call with analysts yesterday, company officials said Cantel expects to report fiscal 2019 adjusted EPS of $2.34 to $2.39 on sales growth of 5% to 6% compared with fiscal 2018.
CMD shares lost -14.6% from their $84.28 close Feb. 27, closing yesterday at $73.52 apiece. The stock was trading at $73.54 per share as of late morning today, up 0.03%.
