Edwards Lifesciences narrowly topped Wall Street's sales expectations late Tuesday, but EW stock tumbled after the medtech giant's earnings missed the most bullish forecasts.
During the January quarter, Edwards earned 60 cents per share, beating the average estimate of analysts polled by FactSet by 3 cents. But on the high side, analysts hoped to see 62 cents a share. Sales came in ahead of expectations at $1.34 billion.
The company's earnings rose 11% and sales advanced 10% vs. the year-earlier period. Sales popped 13% on an underlying basis, which discounts exchange rates, business development and other one-time factors.
In after-hours trading on today's stock market, EW stock toppled 4.3% near 111.30.
EW Stock: Replacing Faulty Heart Valves
Edwards Lifesciences sells the technology to replace faulty heart valves without resorting to open-heart surgery. In 2020, sales hit a pothole after the Covid pandemic stretched hospital resources.
January remained challenging as the omicron variant swept the globe, Edwards Lifesciences Chief Executive Michael Mussallem said in a written statement.
"We were pleased with our first-quarter results despite the pronounced impact that omicron had on hospital capacity, resources and procedure volumes in January," he said. "Our supply chain team delivered, and our field employees continued to support the skilled clinicians and patients who count on Edwards."
The company's biggest business is replacing aortic valves through a process called transcatheter aortic heart-valve replacement, or TAVR. In the first quarter, sales from that division jumped 14% on an underlying basis, to $881 million. That beat EW stock analysts' call for $861 million.
International expansion continues apace. First-quarter sales outside the U.S. grew 20%.
"The company continues to see excellent opportunities for international expansion as TAVR adoption remains low," Edwards said in a news release.
Surgical, Critical Care Sales Pop
Edwards Lifesciences also replaces the mitral and tricuspid valves, and sells the tools to surgically replace diseased heart valves. Tricuspid and mitral sales were $27 million, while surgical sales rose 6% on an underlying basis to $221 million.
Its critical care division saw 11% underlying sales growth, bringing in $212 million.
For the year, Edwards expects to earn $2.50-$2.65 per share on $5.5 billion to $6 billion in sales. EW stock analysts predicted adjusted profit of $2.55 a share on $5.76 billion in sales.
EW stock broke out of a cup-with-handle base with a buy point at 125.21 in mid-April. But shares have since tumbled well below that point.
Follow Allison Gatlin on Twitter at @IBD_AGatlin.
