Dentsply International (NSDQ:XRAY) managed to miss Wall Street’s mark for its 3rd-quarter earnings despite a nearly 50% bottom-line surge, as acquisition costs pushed its earnings per share 5¢ under analysts’ expectations.
York, Pa.-based Dentsply posted profits of $79.9 million, or 55¢ per share, on sales of $704.0 million for the 3 months ended Sept. 30, representing profit growth of 49.6% on a top-line gain of 1.2%.
Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, including a $1.2 million charge related to acquisition, EPS were reduced to 51¢. Analysts on The Street were looking for adjusted EPS of 56¢.
"Dentsply made solid progress in the 3rd quarter, achieving growth in each major geographic region and in each of our principal product categories. This growth, combined with strong improvement in adjusted operating margins and lower interest costs, drove record earnings for the 3rd quarter. Market conditions are generally consistent with what we had anticipated earlier in the year, and thus we are maintaining our expectations for fiscal 2013 adjusted earnings per diluted share in the range of $2.33 to $2.38," chairman & CEO Bret Wise said in prepared remarks.
Investors were sanguine about the results, sending XRAY shares up 0.1% to $45.03 apiece as of about 11 a.m. today.
