Henry Schein (NSDQ:HSIC) shares ticked up this morning on fourth-quarter results that topped the consensus forecast.
The Melville, New York-based company posted profits of $147.2 million, or $1.05 per share, on sales of $3.3 billion for the three months ended Dec. 25, 2021, for a 3.2% bottom-line gain on sales growth of 5.2%.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were $1.07, 16¢ ahead of Wall Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $3.1 billion.
Henry Schein’s dental sales increased by 9.4% year-over-year, although the company’s $1.1 billion in medical sales represented a 3.2% dip from 2021. Excluding sales of personal protective equipment (PPE) and COVID-19-related products, sales increased by 3.6%, as PPE and COVID-19-related products were in higher demand this time last year, according to a news release.
“Despite the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic, we are pleased to report excellent full-year 2021 financial results, including an outstanding fourth quarter that exceeded our expectations,” Henry Schein Chairman and CEO Stanley M. Bergman said in the release. “We have updated our 2022 financial guidance based on this latest view of our businesses.
“The updated guidance reflects the execution of two key strategic priorities contained in our 2022 to 2024 strategic plan: continuous operational improvement in our distribution businesses leading to exceptional customer experience and profit improvement, complemented by increasing the overall contribution of our technology and value-added services businesses and our dental specialty products, which have higher sales growth and higher operating margins.”
Henry Schein said it now expects to log GAAP diluted EPS of between $4.75 and $4.91 in 2022, representing growth between 7% and 10% compared to the company’s GAAP diluted EPS in 2021. It also represents growth of 5% to 9% over Henry Schein’s 2021 adjusted EPS.
HSIC shares were up 1.6% at $77 per share in pre-market trading today.
