Zimmer Biomet (NYSE:ZBH) today reported first-quarter results that failed to meet the consensus forecast on Wall Street, with the company warning that the COVID-19 pandemic will have a “significant negative impact” in Q2.
The Warsaw, Ind.–based orthopedic device giant lost $509 million, or –$2.46 per share, on sales of $1.78 billion for the three months ended March 31, 2020 — versus profits of $246 million, or $1.20 per share, on sales of $1.98 billion in Q1 2019.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were $1.70, 9¢ behind The Street, where analysts were looking EPS of $1.79 on sales of $1.79 billion.
“While our full first quarter results have been impacted by the global spread of COVID-19 and the deferral of elective procedures, our operational performance prior to the COVID-19 disruption was trending ahead of our expectations,” Zimmer Biomet CEO Bryan Hanson said in a news release.
Hanson pointed out that the company has significantly reshaped and evolved over the past two years. “This progress has better positioned us to address the COVID-19 challenge. We have an innovative and mobilized team, operational scale and increased financial flexibility — all of which we are using to support healthcare professionals and patients.”
Zimmer Biomet observed a decline in elective procedure volumes in the final weeks of the first quarter— and expects the pandemic to result in a significant negative impact in the second quarter of 2020. The company is not providing full-year guidance because it is unable to quantify the expected impact on its results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Investors reacted by sending ZBH shares down -2.85% to $117.16 apiece today in morning trading today. MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — was up 0.3%.
