Hillrom (NYSE:HRC) today reported fourth-quarter results that exceeded the consensus forecast on Wall Street, and company officials foresee stronger-than-expected earnings in the coming months.
The Chicago-based maker of hospital beds, patient monitoring and diagnostic equipment and more reported profits of $42.4 million, or 63¢ per share, on sales of $705.3 million for the three months ended September 30, 2020, for a bottom-line gain of 52% and sales down –10% compared with Q4 2019. Revenue in Q4 2020 included $35 million from one-time COVID-related purchases.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were $1.17, 10¢ ahead of The Street, where analysts were looking EPS of $1.07 on sales of $696.4 million.
“We delivered on our fiscal fourth-quarter expectations and achieved full-year adjusted earnings growth of 9%, in line with our original guidance range provided a year ago,” Hillrom CEO John Groetelaars said in a news release.
“I’m very proud of our progress in 2020 toward our vision of Advancing Connected Care, the extraordinary efforts to support peak customer demand, and steps we have taken to accelerate Hillrom’s business transformation,” Groetelaars said. “With compelling value propositions across our diverse portfolio of connected solutions, we enter fiscal 2021 with encouraging recovery trends, confidence in our future growth prospects, and an unwavering commitment to enhancing shareholder value.”
Hillrom expects revenue to drop –3% to –5% during the current quarter, as well as the full fiscal year 2021. The company during Q1 2021 projects adjusted earnings of $1.05 to $1.10 per diluted share — higher than the 96¢ per share that’s presently the consensus on The Street.
Investors reacted by sending HRC shares up more than 4% to $92.06 apiece by late morning trading today. MassDevice‘s MedTech 100 Index, which includes the stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies, is up slightly.
