Merit Medical’s Q4 earnings top estimates as 2017 profits surge

Merit Medical (NSDQ:MMSI) shares got a jump today from the medical device company’s fourth-quarter results, which beat expectations for both sales and earnings.

The South Jordan, Utah-based company yesterday post profits of $6.8 million, or 13¢ per share, on sales of $190.9 million for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2017, for a bottom-line slide of -9.3% on sales growth of 21.0% compared with Q4 2016.

Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were 33¢, a penny ahead of the consensus on Wall Street, where analysts were looking for revenues of $187.6 million.

Full-year profits rose 36.8% to $27.5 million, or 55¢ per share, on sales growth of 20.5% compared with 2016, to $737.9 million. Adjusted EPS were $1.28 for the year.

“We have now closed the final year of our initial three-year plan,” founder, chairman & CEO Fred Lampropoulos said in prepared remarks, noting that Merit expects to move production ofthe biopsy assets it acquired last month from Becton Dickinson (NYSE:BDX) to its Tijuana, Mexico plant over the next several months.

“We believe the substantial investments of the past, along with a long-term vision of the future, continued discipline, and a keen eye on the present will continue to present a substantial opportunity for stakeholders and value for our shareholders,” Lampropoulos said.

Merit said it expects to report adjusted EPS of $1.57 to $1.69 on sales of $838 million to $851 million this year.

MMSI shares, which closed down -3.0% at $45.50 apiece yesterday, opened up 2.0% at $46.40 and reached a high of $49.50 before subsiding to $46.30 per share in early trading, up 1.8%.

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