The mostly positive report comes two weeks after Warsaw, Indiana–based ZB closed its $1.2 billion purchase of Paragon 28, a deal representing a significant play in the foot and ankle surgical treatment space. The company has ambitious goals to transform over the next decade as it expands beyond ortho, including in areas such as cardiac surgery and consumer healthcare, CEO Ivan Tornos explained during a keynote interview with DeviceTalks Editorial Director Tom Salemi during our DeviceTalks Boston show last week.
“We aspire to be the boldest medtech company on Earth,” Tornos said. “We’ll start with orthopedics, and then we’ll move into other areas. And being the boldest medtech company on Earth is having the courage to solve some of the most meaningful challenges in healthcare.”
Zimmer Biomet earned nearly $183 million, or 91¢ per share, from $1.909 billion in sales for the quarter ended March 31, 2025. The bottom line was up 5.7% and the top line was up 1.1% compared with the same quarter a year ago.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, EPS was $1.81. The result was 4¢ ahead of the consensus of Wall Street analysts, whose expected EPS of $1.77 and revenue of $1.9 billion.
The effects of integrating with Paragon 28 and the uncertainty surrounding Trump administration tariffs will result in full-year-adjusted EPS of $7.90–8.10, down from $8.15–8.35. Zimmer Biomet officials expect the present tariff proposals from the administration will create a $60–80 million profit headwind for the company this year.
In morning trading today, ZBH shares were down more than 9% to $92.97 apiece, while the S&P 500 was down slightly.
Tornos said in a news release: “We’re excited about the momentum in U.S. Hips, fueled by our revamped portfolio inclusive of the Z1 triple-taper femoralh hip system, HAMMR automated hip surgical impactor system, as well as navigation capabilities, and believe the early enthusiasm from surgeons for our new Oxford cementless partial knee positions us well to accelerate growth in the second half of the year. The recently completed acquisition of Paragon 28 is another bold step toward our innovation and diversification ambitions, expanding our SET business with leading technologies and a dedicated commercial channel in the high-growth foot and ankle segment.”
Truist analysts, including Richard Newitter, have a hold rating on ZBH stock. In a note today, they said they think investors want management to be “as conservative as possible given mixed/poor execution vs. (likely overly aggressive) goals established at the beginning of last year.”
At BTIG, Ryan Zimmerman and Iseult McMahon kept their hold rating but lowered their price target on ZBH shares. “ZBH’s inventory levels suggest that tariffs will show up more meaningfully in FY26. ZBH has offsets but without clarity on the exact impact, shares may carry increased risk especially with the step-up in growth in 2H25.”
Where Zimmer Biomet CEO Tornos sees future growth
At DeviceTalks Boston, Tornos spoke of ZB harnessing data to tackle pain, cut surgery times, and further reduce infection rates from joint replacements. He noted that the rate of prosthetic joint infections is 1–2% — which seems low — but the chance of dying from such infections is higher than some cancers.
“We will be that bold company that solves infections through technology, surgical algorithms and whatnot,” Tornos said.
During Zimmer Biomet’s earnings call today, Tornos noted that iodine-surface-treated implants can prevent bacterial colonization and biofilm formation. He announced that the company is launching an iodine-treated hip implant in Japan later this year, and the technology will eventually come to the U.S.
“We do have a pathway to get this into the U.S., and it is going to be transformational. It is the only platform in the world that has data on preventing biofilm formation on the implant surface by eluting over a prolonged period of time,” Tornos said.
Zimmer Biomet is also forging partnerships, changing its product mix, and rethinking contracting capabilities to serve the fast-growing ambulatory surgery market faster and smarter, Tornos said at DeviceTalks Boston.
In the longer term, Tornos sees a time when less than 50% of the business will involve orthopedics. First, it will expand into adjacent areas, including sports medicine. The company is also investing in biologics and materials. Next, ZB will become even more active in neurological procedures, cardiac surgery and consumer healthcare.
Tornos said M&A will play an important role: “We recently acquired a great company called Paragon 28, and that is not the last company we’re going to be acquiring [during] my tenure.”
As for tariffs, Tornos expressed optimism that the medtech industry will eventually secure an exemption — much as it did during the U.S.-China trade war during the first Trump administration. But even if the industry isn’t exempted, Zimmer Biomet will leverage the crisis and get better. Tornos noted that Zimmer Biomet was founded nearly 100 years ago, in 1927. The company has survived multiple economic crises, major wars, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Said Tornos: “I’m concerned about the patient, and we’re going to prevail.”
