Orthofix posts Q1 EPS, sales miss

Orthofix (NSDQ:OFIX) today reported first quarter fiscal year 2019 earnings that missed Wall Street’s expectations for both sales and earnings per share.

The Lewisville, Texas-based company posted profits of $897,000, or 5¢ per share, on sales of $109.1 million for the three months ended March 31, seeing profits shrink 82.8% while sales grew 0.4% when compared to the same period during the previous year.

Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were 27¢, 9¢ behind the Wall Street consensus, where analysts expected too see sales of approximately $110.6 million, which the company also missed.

“For the first quarter, our top and bottom line results were slightly better than anticipated and we remain confident about our expected sales acceleration throughout the remainder of the year and into 2020, as we previously guided. Regarding the M6-C artificial cervical disc, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of the M6-C disc was certainly the most important highlight of the first quarter for the company. We recently released the compelling results of the full two-year data from the M6-C IDE clinical study and announced the first commercial U.S. patient implants, which marks the beginning of a measured launch of the M6-C disc in the U.S., including the ramp-up of training and certification of surgeons. Encouragingly, we continue to receive a very high level of interest and enthusiasm from physicians and distributors alike.” Mason continued, “Lastly, in addition to our strong first quarter sales of our Biologics products, we initiated a limited market release of FiberFuse DBM, a differentiated demineralized bone matrix with handling characteristics similar to our market-leading Trinity Elite stem cell allograft,” prez & CEO Brad Mason said in a press release.

The company released updated guidance for the full fiscal year 2019, expecting to see sales of between $472 million and $477 million with adjusted EPS of between $1.75 and $1.82.

Shares in Orthodox rose 1.2% today to close at $57.36, and have not moved in after-hours trading as of 4:05 p.m. EDT.

Last month, Orthofix released data from a study of patients implanted with its M6-C artificial cervical disc showing a significant improvement in neck and arm pain, function and quality of life scores.