Halyard Health ticks up on Q4 sales, earnings beats

Halyard Health (NYSE:HYH) shares gained today in pre-market trading after the company reported 4th-quarter results that topped the consensus forecast on Wall Street.

Alpharetta, Ga.-based Halyard, the Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) spinout that debuted back in October 2014, posted profits of $10.0 million, or 21¢ per share, on sales of $410.0 million for the 3 months ended Dec. 31. That amounts to a -31.0% profit slide on sales growth of 2.1% compared with Q4 2015.

But adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share were 50¢, 6¢ ahead of The Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $401.7 million.

For full-year 2016, Halyard swung from red to black, reporting profits of $39.8 million, or 85¢ per share, on sales of $1.59 billion. That compares with 2015 losses of -$426.3 million on sales growth of 1.1%; adjusted EPS of $1.97 was again 6¢ ahead of the consensus, which called for sales of $1.59 billion.

“Last year we met our financial goals, completed our 1st acquisition and took strategic steps to advance the company’s transformation into a leading medical devices company. Progress of our transformation is evident from the increasing shift in our portfolio to medical devices, which generated the majority of our operating profit,” chairman & CEO Robert Abernathy said in prepared remarks. “In 2017, we will remain focused on delivering our plan and using our strong financial position to invest in growth opportunities. I am confident in our strategy and in our team’s ability to execute.”

Halyard said it expects to report adjusted EPS of $1.70 to $2 even this year, on constant-currency sales growth range of 0 to 2%.

HYH shares were up 2.6% to $42.50 apiece this morning before the markets opened, after closing down slightly at $41.44 last week.

The post Halyard Health ticks up on Q4 sales, earnings beats appeared first on MassDevice.

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