LivaNova (NSDQ:LIVN) shares took a slight dip today on fourth-quarter results that beat the consensus projections for earnings but came up short on revenue.
The London-based medical device company posted losses of -$143.2 million, or -$2.96 per share, on sales of $287.6 million for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2019, for a 32% bottom-line gain on a sales decline of 3.2%.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were $1.00, 2¢ ahead of Wall Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $295.49.
In a news release, LivaNova CEO Damien McDonald noted that the company recorded strong sales numbers in its advanced circulatory support and epilepsy businesses, but saw those improvements offset by an unexpected component supplier issue for oxygenators, along with execution challenges around the rest of the world relating to distribution model changes.
“Our team is focused, and I am confident that the building blocks we have put in place in 2019 will enable us to achieve our financial and operational goals in 2020,” McDonald said in the release.
LivaNova said it now expects to log adjusted EPS of $3.10 to $3.30 in fiscal 2020, setting its sales guidance for the year at growth between 3% and 5%.
LIVN shares were down -0.9% at $66.04 per share in early-morning trading today.
Separately, the FDA yesterday issued an update on an October 2018 safety notice regarding LivaNova’s 3T heater-cooler system. The agency confirmed that it cleared a new version that includes changes to help reduce the risk of patient infections including updated labeling with validated cleaning and disinfection instructions and the 3T aerosol collection set.
In September 2017, a report emerged suggesting that approximately 12 children who underwent cardiac procedures at Children’s Hospital New Orleans earlier in the year were infected with myobacterium previously linked to the 3T systems.
