Greatbatch (NYSE:GB) shares are up this morning after the medical device company reported a profitable 3rd quarter and beat Wall Street’s expectations for per-share earnings.
Frisco, Texas-based Greatbatch posted profits of $11 million, or 44¢ per share, on sales of $167.7 million for the 3 months ended Sept. 27. Greatbatch posted losses of $7.6 million during the same period last year; the most recent quarter represents a 4.0% top-line gain.
Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share were 57¢, 3¢ ahead of expectations on The Street.
"The 3rd quarter proved to be another solid performance from the team with top-line organic growth and operating leverage yielding an 18% increase in adjusted operating income and a 24% improvement in adjusted diluted EPS," president & CEO Thomas Hook said in prepared remarks. "Our sales and marketing investments and consolidation initiatives are contributing to our revenue improvement and operating margin expansion. For the 5th consecutive quarter, we have increased our adjusted operating income and adjusted diluted EPS in comparison to the prior year. We expect these initiatives to continue to pay dividends for the remainder of 2013 and will position Greatbatch to meet its long-term objective of maintaining at least 5% constant-currency organic revenue expansion and at least double that growth rate for adjusted diluted EPS over time."
Greatbatch affirmed its guidance for the rest of the year, saying it expects sales to reach the midpoint of its prior guidance of $660 million to $680 million. Adjusted EPS are pegged to reach or exceed prior guidance of $2.05-$2.15, according to a press release.
