Edwards Lifescience boosts 2020 guidance amid strong TAVR sales

January 30, 2020 By Chris Newmarker Leave a Comment

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) saw its stock jump in after-hours trading today after the company boosted its 2020 guidance amid positive fourth-quarter TAVR sales.

The Irvine, Calif.–based cardio device and critical care monitoring company’s Q4 results were mixed. But there was also the news that worldwide TAVR sales were up 30% year-over-year in Q4, to $763 million, with continued “impressive strength” in the U.S. The strong TAVR sales report appears to have allayed investor worries after a Jefferies report last week suggested a potential step down in U.S. TAVR sales in December.

Edwards is now projecting 2020 sales of $4.6 to $5.0 billion versus the company’s previous range of $4.5 to $5.0 billion. The company also boosted its full-year adjusted earnings per share guidance to $6.15 to $6.40 versus the previous guidance of $6.05 to $6.30.

For the three months ended Dec. 31, 2019, Edwards reported profits of $280.2 million, or $1.32 per share, on sales of $1.17 billion, versus a profit of only $7 million, or 3¢ per share, off $977.7 million for the same quarter a year ago.

Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were $1.46, three pennies behind The Street, where analysts were looking EPS of $1.49 on sales of $1.14 billion.

“We invested aggressively in transformative therapies in 2019 and this will continue in 2020 as our commitment has never been greater,” CEO Michael A. Mussallem said in a news release.

Investors reacted by sending EW shares up more than 5% to $246.25 apiece in after-hours trading.

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