Inari Medical
(Nasdaq: NARI)
shares took a hit today on second-quarter results that came in mixed compared to the consensus forecast.
Shares of NARI fell 10% to $47 apiece in midday trading today. MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — rose slightly.
The Irvine, California-based thrombectomy device developer reported losses of $31.3 million. That equals 54¢ per share on sales of $145.8 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2024.
Inari recorded a massive bottom-line slide from profits of $2.1 million this time last year despite a 22.5% sales uptick.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, losses per share came in at 38¢. That landed 23¢ behind expectations on Wall Street. Sales narrowly edged out the forecast as experts projected $143.8 million.
“Our second quarter performance was driven by strong adoption of our market-leading solutions across our VTE, Emerging Therapies and international businesses,” said Drew Hykes, CEO of Inari Medical. “Our field team is making meaningful progress supporting our hospital customers in building VTE programs, allowing more patients to benefit from our solutions. We are also pleased with the progress of our new products, including the recent launch of VenaCore, as well as positive reimbursement updates benefiting LimFlow. Looking ahead to the second half of the year, we are confident in continued momentum across all three of our growth drivers and look forward to our PEERLESS data release.”
Inari raised its full-year revenue guidance to between $594.5 million and $604.5 million, marking a $2 million increase at both ends. The company said it expects to reach sustained operating profitability in the first half of 2025, too.
The analysts’ view
BTIG analysts Marie Thibault and Sam Eiber say the PEERLESS data release is the next major catalyst for the company. The analysts attributed the poor investor reaction to the results to expectations for a bigger beat on Inari’s U.S. core VTE segment.
Additional factors could include competitor commentary and news of a retirement near the top of the company. However, the analysts say the reaction was “unwarranted.”
“NARI has remained a solid operator, continuing to exceed expectations despite competitive noise,” the analysts wrote. “To us, maintaining core growth while advancing international expansion and new products is the right approach for long-term, sustained total company sales growth.”
Inari also has a C-suite change coming
The company also announced that CFO Mitch Hill intends to retire as the company already has a successor lined up.
Hill plans to retire on Oct. 1, 2024. He spent four decades in various senior financial roles before taking over as CFO at the company in 2019.
Kevin Strange, Inari’s current SVP of Finance, Accounting, Strategy and Business Development, has been selected to replace him.
Strange joined Inari as VP, strategy and business development in 2020. He took on his current role last year, leading Inari’s day-to-day financial and accounting operations. Before Inari, he spent more than 15 years in various financial and business development roles in the medical device space.
“Over the last five years, Mitch helped build and scale a robust financial, operating, and technology foundation for Inari,” said Hykes. “He also led our IPO in May 2020 and helped us identify and develop Kevin Strange as his successor. We thank Mitch for his myriad contributions to Inari and his unwavering commitment to our patients.
“Looking ahead, I couldn’t be more confident in the leadership Kevin will provide as Inari’s next CFO. In addition to being a highly experienced financial executive, Kevin is deeply passionate about Inari’s mission. He is uniquely qualified to lead our finance and accounting organization into the next phase of growth. I expect a seamless transition of the CFO role from Mitch to Kevin.”
Thibault and Eiber say the retirement shouldn’t signal anything negative about Inari or the market.
“We have interacted with Mr. Strange several times over the past year, including in person during our NDRS with NARI earlier this spring,” they said. “We think he is well-qualified for the role and will offer a similar approach to guidance and commentary.”