Steris (NYSE:STE) shares took a hit today — a day after reporting third-quarter results that missed the consensus forecast on Wall Street.
Shares of STE dipped more than 9% at $195.42 apiece by midday trading today. MassDevice‘s MedTech 100 Index, which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies, was up more than 10%.
The Dublin, Ireland-based provider of sterilization services and other infection prevention tech posted profits of $123.8 million in the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2022. That amounts to $1.24 per share on sales of $1.215 billion.
Steris recorded a 13.8% bottom-line slide on sales growth of 0.6%.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share totaled $2.02. That fell 17¢ shy of expectations on Wall Street. Sales fell just short, too, as analysts anticipated revenues of $1.27 billion.
Dan Carestio, Steris president and CEO, pointed to 7% constant currency organic revenue growth “in a challenging environment.” He said supply chain conditions improved despite remaining constraints for electronic components. Those constraints and other supply chain issues still hampered the company’s third-quarter performance.
Carestio added that modest improvement and a “significant capital equipment backlog” for Steris’ healthcare and life sciences businesses provide encouragement, though.
“We anticipate continued supply chain improvements, which will aid in reducing our backlog and allow us to achieve more normal lead times for our customers over the coming quarters,” said Carestio.
Steris projects that its 2023 revenues may come in below previous expectations. The company cut its guidance from 8% growth to 6% growth. Reflecting this, it anticipates adjusted EPS to range between $8 and $8.10.
