What happened
Shares of ViewRay (VRAY), the maker of the MRIdian Linac system, jumped 37% as of 11:40 a.m. EDT on Tuesday. Traders are bidding up shares in response to the announcement of the hiring of a new management team and the release of preliminary results from the second quarter.
So what
Here's an overview of the news that has captured investor's attention today:
- ViewRay has appointed Scott Drake as the company's new president, CEO, and board member. Scott Drake had previously served as CEO of Spectranetics Corporation, which is a medical device company that was acquired for $2.2 billion by Royal Philips in 2017. Drake replaces outgoing CEO Chris Raanes.
- Shar Matin has been named ViewRay's new COO. Shar Matin worked with Drake at Spectranetics from 2014 until the company was acquired.
- D. Keith Grossman has been appointed to the company's board. Grossman had previously served as CEO of Thoratec Corporation, which was ultimately acquired for $3.4 billion by St. Jude Medical in 2016.
- ViewRay announced that second-quarter revenue will be about $16 million. For perspective, Wall Street was only expecting $12.5 million in total revenue.
- Management also reaffirmed full-year 2018 revenue guidance of $80 million to $90 million.
Given the pedigree of the new management team and expectation-smashing results, it isn't hard to figure out why shares have caught fire today.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
ViewRay's solid second-quarter results suggest that the MRIdian Linac system is being well received by the market. That's great news for investors because this company needs to grow extremely rapidly if it hopes to reach profitability in the next few years.
Can ViewRay's new management team keep the company on the right track? That's still an unknown at this point, but since all of the new hires boast a history of business success, I think that the odds look favorable.
