Edwards Lifesciences posts posts Street-beating Q4, mixed-bag 2018 earnings

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) today posted fourth quarter and full year 2018 earnings that topped earnings per share expectations on Wall Street, but missed on full-year sales consensus.

The Irvine, Calif.-based company posted profits of $7 million, or 3¢ per share, on sales of $977.7 million for the three months ended December 31, seeing a swing to black ink on the bottom line while sales grew 10% compared with the same period during the previous year.

Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share for the quarter were $1.17, just in line with the consensus on Wall Street where analysts expected to see sales of approximately $976 million, which the company topped.

For the full year, Edwards Lifesciences posted profits of $722.2 million, or $3.38 per share, on sales of $3.7 billion, for bottom-line growth of 23.7% while sales grew 8.4% compared with the previous year.

After adjusting to exclude one-time items, earnings per share for the year were $4.70, in line with the consensus on Wall Street where analysts expected to see sales of $3.8 billion, which the company narrowly missed.

“We are pleased to report strong fourth quarter performance that delivered 10 percent sales growth on an underlying basis, consistent with our expectations, driven by our portfolio of innovative technologies.  For the full year 2018, we reported 10 percent growth on an underlying basis, also in line with our guidance.  Profitability was also strong in 2018, with adjusted EPS growing over 20 percent, even as we continued to invest aggressively in our innovation initiatives and infrastructure. We are as convinced as ever in the tremendous opportunity to improve patients’ lives by addressing deadly conditions and bringing significant value to the healthcare system,” chair & CEO Michael Mussallem said in a prepared statement.

The company reiterated financial guidance for the 2019 fiscal year, expecting to post adjusted earnings per share of between $5.05 and $5.30.

For its upcoming first quarter of 2019, Edwards Lifesciences said that it expects to post sales of between $950 million and $1.01 billion and adjusted EPS of between $1.15 and $1.25.

“Our strong 2018 performance reinforces our confidence in our focused innovation strategy and our longer term outlook, and we anticipate an exciting 2019 as we pursue important therapies that will benefit many more patients. We look forward to launching a number of new technologies as well as achieving important milestones across all of our product lines. We are confident that our differentiated strategy and focus on leadership will continue to create value and benefit the patients we serve,” Mussallem said in a prepared release.

Shares in Edwards Lifesciences rose 1% today, closing at $170.42.

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