Shares of Varian Medical Systems (NYSE:VAR) jumps nearly 16% this morning after the medical device company posted 4th-quarter profit growth of more than 19% and full-year earnings growth of 7% even, beating Wall Street’s expectations.
Palo Alto, Calif.-based Varian reported fiscal 4th-quarter profits of 120.2 million, or $1.08 per share, on sales of $756.1 million during the 3 months ended Sept. 30. For the full year, profits reached $427.0 million, or $3.76 per share, on sales of $2.81 billion.
Analysts on The Street were looking for Q4 EPS of $1.03 and full-year EPS of $3.73, both handily beaten by Varian.
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"Varian’s core oncology systems and X-ray products businesses achieved solid growth in net orders and revenues helped by customer demand around the world for our newer products," president & CEO Dow Wilson said in prepared remarks. "Margins for our core businesses came in line with our expectations for the quarter given our continued shift to international markets and the comparable strength of the U.S. dollar. Our fourth quarter performance ends what has been a challenging year on a positive note."
VAR shares were trading at $67.23 as of about 12:40 p.m. today, up 15.7%.
Wilson said Varian expects revenue growth of 8%-9% for both its fiscal Q1 and fiscal 2013 and EPS of $4.06-$4.16. Excluding the 6¢-8¢ impact of the medical device tax, FY2013 EPS are forecast to be between $4 and $4.08, he said. First-quarter EPS are expected to reach 83¢-88¢, including a 2¢-3¢ restructuring charge.
During a conference call with investors, Wilson said the restructuring is aimed at boosting its presence in emerging markets.
"The restructuring is really pretty small. We’re offering an enhanced retirement package and we’re really kind of looking at how we redeploy some of our resources to those markets. That’s the game for us as we go forward," he said. "It’s really do we have the right resources in the right place given where our growth is, especially in the emerging markets."
