NxStage Medical Inc. saw impressive gains in its home- and critical-care businesses during the fourth quarter, helping offset a slight decline in consumables sales and leading the manufacturer of home dialysis equipment to a smaller net loss during the three months ended Dec. 31, 2009, compared with year-ago levels.
NxStage markets the NxStage System One, a portable hemodialysis system allowing patients with severe kidney disease to remove toxins from their blood at home rather than traveling to dialysis clinics several times a week. The Lawrence, Mass.-based firm generated a best-ever $40.5 million in revenues during the fourth quarter, up 14 percent from $35.7 million reported during the same period in 2008.
Revenues grew in both the home-care segment and critical-care segments by as much as 30 percent during the quarter, topping the company’s estimates for the period. As expected, sales for the company’s in-center segment — which provides traditional dialysis clinics with supplies and is responsible for about 40 percent of overall revenues at NxStage — fell $700,000 during the quarter, to $16 million.
NxStage reported a net loss of $43.5 million, or 93 cents per share, during 2009, which includes a $8.7 million, 19-cent net loss during the fourth quarter. Those results compare with a $51.2 million net loss in 2008 and a $9.8 million loss during the final three months of 2008.
Looking ahead, company officials forecast first-quarter 2010 sales of between $38 million and $39.5 million and a net loss of between $9 million and $10 million, slightly bettering analysts’ consensus predictions. The executives also provided earnings and revenue guidance for the full year, stating they expect an overall net loss of $28 million to $33 million on as much as $170 million in total sales.