Mazor Robotics (NSDQ:MZOR) shares rose today after releasing 2nd quarter earnings that put the company above The Street’s expectations for earnings per share, but slightly behind on revenue.
The company said it sold a total of 11 Renaissance surgical robotic systems, with 6 installed in the U.S. and 2 systems which included brane modules during the quarter.
Mazor reported losses of $4.1 million, or 9¢ per share, on sales of $8.3 million for the 3 months ended June 30.
That amounts to a 97.8% increase in losses as sales grew 6.2% compared with the same period last year.
After adjusting to exclude 1-time items, losses per share were at 9¢; Analysts on Wall Street were looking for adjusted earnings per share of 11¢, which Mazor topped, and revenue of $8.5 million, which the company slimly missed.
“This was a strong quarter for Mazor, culminated by several achievements that significantly enhance our growth prospects and position us for continued success. We reported the second highest number of Renaissance purchase orders received in a single quarter, demonstrating the market’s growing interest in our surgical guidance systems. As reported earlier this quarter, we entered into two strategic agreements with Medtronic which we expect to accelerate our market penetration providing more clinicians and their patients with access to the Mazor X, the new transformative surgical guidance platform for spine surgeries that we recently unveiled. We have pioneered the field of spine robotics and Mazor X will create a new standard of care by which to measure technologies in this field, thus maintaining our leadership position for the foreseeable future,” CEO Ori Hadomi said in a press release.
Shares went up approximately 5% since opening at $21.46, closing at $22.60 for the day.
In May, Mazor said it inked a 2-phase deal with Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) for its robot-assisted spine surgery technology that includes a co-promotion agreement and an equity investment that could see Medtronic wind up with a 15% stake in the Israeli company for as much as $42 million.
Caesarea, Israel-based Mazor said the 1st phase of the deal calls for Medtronic to acquire 15 Mazor systems this year. It also makes Medtronic Mazor’s sole partner for developing and commercializing robot-assisted spine surgery devices; if both meet their milestones by the endof 2017, the deal is slated to progress to the 2nd phase. Mazor said its already working with Fridley, Minn.-based Medtronic on the development of “synergistic” spine products “and will begin working closely together to meet designated sales targets through a defined methodology for cooperation.”
The 2nd phase involves a 3-step equity investment by Medtronic, in which the world’s largest pure-play medtech maker would 1st pay $12 million for a 4% stake in Mazor. The 2nd tranche, triggered by Mazor achieving operational milestones, would see Medtronic acquire a 6% stake at the 20-day average share price for MZOR stock. In the 3rd tranche, triggered by the 2nd tranche and the execution of a global distribution agreement – but executed at Mazor’s discretion – Medtronic would buy another 5% stake, again at the 20-day MZOR average. Mazor said Medtronic can cap the 2nd and 3rd tranches at $20 million apiece.
