Expenses from recent acquisitions pushed Merit Medical (NSDQ:MMSI) into the red during the third quarter, but the medical device maker still managed to top Wall Street’s earnings forecast for the quarter.
CEO Fred Lampropoulos said Merit acquired bone biopsy assets from Laurane Medical; spinal implant maker Osseon; steerable “smart” guidewire maker IntelliMedical Technologies; and ITL Healthcare and its custom procedure pack business.
South Jordan, Utah-based Merit posted losses of -$3.6 million, or -7¢ per share, on sales of $179.3 million for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with profits of $973.0 million on sales growth of 14.2% during Q3 2016.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were 32¢, 3¢ above the consensus expectation on The Street.
“Despite challenges with the general conditions of summer selling, the company delivered earnings above expectations which demonstrates both our commitment and discipline to our financial and operating plan, which, except as discussed below, we are confirming for the balance of this year, as well as our announced plans for 2018 and 2019,” Lampropoulos said in prepared remarks.
The slide into red ink was due to $12.1 million spent on patents and a $778,000 reduction from the buyout of Argon Medical Devices earlier this year, Merit said.
The company said it’s lowering its full-year EPS forecast for the rest of the year on an R&D charge stemming from the IntelliMedical deal to 55¢ to 61¢, down from 80¢ to 86¢ previously. Adjusted EPS, however, are still pegged at $1.23 to $1.28 on sales of of $722 million to $727 million.
MMSI shares are off -11.5% to $36.90 apiece since the Oct. 25 earnings release.
