Merit Medical Systems (NSDQ:MMSI) saw its bottom line drop dramatically during its 2nd quarter, thanks in part to some high-value temporary expenses, but the device maker’s otherwise promising financials got some attention from Wall Street last week.
Share prices were just above $13 when the company posted its earnings report on Wednesday, July 31, but jumped to above $14 by week’s end.
Excluding 1-time costs, the company’s adjusted earnings beat analysts’ expectations of 13¢ by 2 pennies. Merit’s bottom line dip reflects sunk costs from the acquisition of Thomas Medical, lost patents and an estimated 38% income tax rate, according to a company filing. Including the impact of the special costs, the company’s per-share earnings rang in at 9¢, down 35% from last year’s 14¢.
The South Jordan, Utah-based disposable device maker posted Q2 2013 profits of $3.8 million on sales of $109.9 million. That compared with Q2 2012 profits of $6.1 million on sales of $100.5 million. Overall Q2 sales increased by about 9.3% in 2013 over 2012, but profits slid about 38.4%.
"The 2nd quarter of 2013 was evidence of our plan for performance and profit improvement," said CEO Fred Lampropoulos in prepared remarks. "During the quarter we started up our new advanced manufacturing facility and consolidated our former facility in Murray, Utah onto our South Jordan campus. Although we anticipate that some ongoing expenses and start-up costs will continue during the 3rd quarter of 2013, we came in below cost estimates and 5 weeks ahead of our scheduled plan.
MMSI shares closed at $14.01 last night, but were down a few pennies in after-hours trading as of about 4:15 p.m.
