HeartWare International (NSDQ:HTWR) reported strong sales growth amid widening losses for the 4th quarter and 2011, and Wall Street showed some love.
The Framingham, Mass.-based heart pump maker raked in $82.8 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2011, a 50% bump from $55.2 million in 2010. Losses, however, widened to $55.1 million, or $3.94 per diluted share. Analysts had forecast a loss of $3.17 per diluted share for 2011.
HeartWare touted a 50% jump in heart pump sales, with 932 systems sold worldwide in 2011 and a record 266 pumps sold in Q4, the most for any single quarter to date, according to SEC filings.
Fourth-quarter sales grew 11%, to a record-setting $23.1 million, but losses tripled to $21.6 million, or $1.53 per diluted share.
HeartWare president & CEO Doug Godshall attributed some of the spending to boosting commercial operations in Europe, investing in launch preparations for the company’s HVAD and preparing clinical trials for new platforms.
The HVAD system, designed for end-stage heart disease patients who are waiting for a transplant – a so-called “bridge-to-transplant” therapy – is set for review before the FDA’s circulatory system devices panel in April.
"We are intensely focused on preparing for our April 25, 2012, advisory committee panel meeting for our BTT pre-market approval application,” Godshall said in prepared remarks. "We have increased investment related to U.S. launch readiness and for preparation to commence human clinical trials of our next-generation platform, the MVAD system, in 2012.”
HeartWare saw a significant jump on The Street, with shares trading 7% higher at $76.41 as of 1 p.m. today.