Edwards Lifesciences shares down on mixed-bag Q1 earnings release

Shares in Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) have fallen in after-hours trading today after the medical device maker posted first quarter earnings that beat earnings per share expectations, but missed sales consensus on Wall Street and showed shrinking profits.

The Irvine, Calif.-based company posted profits of $206.6 million, or 96¢ per share, on sales of $894.8 million for the three months ended March 31, seeing profits shrink 10.3% while sales grew 1.3% compared with the same period during the previous fiscal year.

Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were $1.22, well ahead of the $1.11 consensus on Wall Street, where analysts expected to see sales of $932.4 million, which the company missed.

“We are pleased with our start to 2018 with first quarter total adjusted sales of $938 million, consistent with our expectations.  This represents 9% underlying sales growth, and positions us for 10 to 11% underlying sales growth this year. Therapy adoption of transcatheter heart valves once again drove the majority of our growth, aided by solid performance in our other product lines.  Adjusted EPS grew 30%, even while investing aggressively and making significant progress in our transcatheter mitral and tricuspid therapies. Most importantly, even more patients are benefiting from our life saving technologies than ever before,” chair & CEO Michael Mussallem said in a prepared statement.

Edwards released updated guidance for its full year, saying that it is confident it will hit the higher end of between $3.5 and $3.9 billion in sales. The company said it also reaffirmed its adjusted EPS expectations of between $4.50 and $4.70 for the year.

For its upcoming second quarter, Edwards said it expects to post sales of between $950 million and $1 billion, with an adjusted EPS of between $1.05 and $1.15.

“We are confident in our outlook for continued strong sales growth, and we remain passionate about helping more patients around the world.  We continue to focus on driving organic growth with leading innovative technologies, while aggressively investing in our future.  Our foundation of leadership positions us well for continued longer-term success and greater shareholder value as we pursue multi-billion dollar market opportunities,” Mussallem said in a press release.

Shares in Edwards Lifesciences have fallen 7.9% so far in after-hours trading, at $124.05 as of 4:30 p.m. EDT.

Earlier this month, Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) said that the European Patent Office revoked a patent owned by Edwards in the latest round of their ongoing spat over transcatheter aortic valve replacements.

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