Edwards Lifesciences
(NYSE: EW)
shares dipped slightly today on fourth-quarter results that topped the consensus sales forecast.
Shares of EW fell 0.2% to $88.11 in early-morning trading today. MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — fell 0.3%.
The Irvine, California-based company posted profits of $369.9 million. That equals 61¢ per share on sales of $1.53 billion for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2023. Edwards recorded a 7.2% bottom-line slide on sales growth of 13.8%.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share came in at 64¢, equaling projections on Wall Street. Sales narrowly topped expectations, as analysts forecasted $1.5 billion in revenue.
TAVR and Critical Care sales drove the revenue beat, with growth of 13% and 11% in those segments, respectively. Critical Care sales growth is particularly noteworthy, given that Edwards plans to spin that business off this year.
Recent highlights for Edwards include the early FDA approval for the Evoque tricuspid valve and CE mark for the Mitris Reslia TAVR. Edwards expects particular growth for the latter as it executes a disciplined European launch.
“In 2023, our team made significant progress advancing transformational therapies for patients while delivering strong financial performance. Full-year sales increased 12 percent, including impressive growth across each of our four product groups,” said Bernard Zovighian, Edwards CEO. “We exited the year with strong momentum driven by our broad portfolio of innovative therapies. In 2024, we anticipate launching multiple breakthrough technologies globally and advancing important clinical trials as we embark on a new era of structural heart innovation. These breakthroughs, along with significant unmet patient needs, give us confidence in our ability to accelerate growth in 2025 and beyond.”
The analysts’ view on Edwards
Edwards reaffirmed its 2024 guidance and noted that it expects stronger performance in its TMTT business with the early Evoque approval. The company projects sales growth between 8%-10% to between $6.3 billion and $6.6 billion. It expects full-year adjusted EPS to range between $2.70 and $2.80.
BTIG analysts Marie Thibault and Sam Eiber continue to rate Edwards as “Neutral,” despite what they describe as “a spate of good news” recently.
“We applaud EW’s achievements but also note that the immediate impact to revenue is likely relatively small,” they wrote. “We continue to see much to look forward to and believe with its strong margin profile and extensive product pipeline.”
The analysts say the company needs larger TAVR beats, more visibility on TMTT adoption or meaningful operating margin increases to justify a “significantly higher stock price.” That rationale led to the maintained “Neutral” rating.
“Still, we think the recent stock rally more than reflected these wins and that the bar remains high to impress investors,” they said.
