Mako Surgical (NSDQ:MAKO) met Wall Street’s forecasts for its 4th-quarter and full-year financial numbers, but MAKO shares are sliding on The Street this morning after opening near their 52-week high.
The Ft. Lauderdale-based robotic surgery system maker reported losses of $5.6 million, or 14 cents per share, on sales of $32.9 million for the 3 months ended Dec. 31, 2011, amounting to a 122.5% addition to the top line and a 43.1% reduction in net losses, compared with the same period in 2010.
For the full year, losses widened by 6.6%, to $36.1 million or 89 cents per share, on sales of $84.5 million – making for a 90.8% sales increase.
MAKO shares were down 1.0% to $36.99 today as of about 10:40 a.m. Shares got a bump last September when the company launched its Rio robotic hip replacement device, which may help explain The Street’s lackluster reaction today.
“We are pleased with our strong operating results for the fourth quarter and the full year 2011, particularly our 91% growth in revenue from the prior year. In addition, we believe the increased level of RIO system sales, initial interest in our hip application, increased MAKOplasty procedure volume and utilization trends point to the clinical value of our technology,” president & CEO Dr. Maurice Ferre said in prepared remarks. “We anticipate that our positive results in 2011 will carry forward into 2012 as we continue to drive the adoption of MAKOplasty.”
On a conference call with analysts, Ferre said the company should be able to address 70% of the hip replacement market if the FDA grants its third 510(k) application for its hip system. Mako expects to sell 56 to 62 Rio systems worldwide this year, CFO Fritz LaPorte added, noting that ⅔ of those placements are expected during the 2nd half of 2012.
"We also anticipate that our customers will perform 11,000 to 13,000 Makoplasty procedures and we expect that 40% of these procedures will be performed in the 1st half of the year and 60% will be performed in the 2nd half," LaPorte said. "With regard to cash burn, we anticipate that we will burn $25 million to $30 million in cash during 2012, the majority of which will occur in the first half of the year. Based on this we would anticipate ending the year with approximately $30 million in cash."
Mako reported cash and equivalents of $58.7 million as of Dec. 31, 2011.
