Zoll reported record numbers in its top and bottom line for fiscal year 2011, sending its stock up 23 percent overnight.
Zoll shares were trading at $44.35 in the early afternoon today, up from last night’s $35.98 close.
The company’s 2011 sales hit a record high of $523.7 million, 18 percent higher than the $444 million posted last year.
The Chelmsford, Mass.-based resuscitation devices maker also logged record earnings of $31.3 million, 65 percent over 2010 profits of $19 million. Earnings per share jumped 60 percent from last year’s 87 cents to $1.39 for 2011.
In a separate release, Zoll also announced a $50 million stock buyback allowance.
"We have ample liquidity, no debt, and generated in excess of $40 million in cash from operating activities during our 2011 fiscal year,” CEO Richard Packer said in a press release. "We are pleased that our strong balance sheet allows us to demonstrate our confidence in our future prospects, without sacrificing our pursuit of those business opportunities in front of us.
“2011 was a very strong year for ZOLL. Our annual revenues exceeded $520 million for the first time, making us the clear leader in the resuscitation market," Packer added in prepared remarks. "We were particularly happy to outperform our bottom-line. The key revenue drivers included a strengthening of our core defibrillator business along with continued growth in both our LifeVest and Temperature Management businesses.”
The biggest sales boost came from Zoll’s LifeVest device, the only wearable cardiac defibrillator on the market in the U.S., which contributed $111 million for the year, a 57 percent jump compared to $70.7 million for 2010.
The company’s temperature management business followed, up 38 percent jump to $26 million, compared to last year’s $18.9 million.
The surge on The Street still doesn’t bring Zoll back from a 27 percent slide following news in August of a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services review of the reimbursement scheme for the LifeVest.
Zoll’s shares dropped hard and fast after that news, to close at $44.46 August 8, down 27 percent. The company had set a high-water mark just a week earlier, opening at $70.82 August 1 after a strong third-quarter earnings report.
Shares moved up on news earlier this week that North Carolina’s Division of Medical Assistance approved Medicaid coverage for LifeVest.