Abiomed (ABMD), a maker of temporary heart pumps, reported its fiscal third-quarter results on Thursday.
Sales continue to grow at a robust rate thanks to strong demand in both domestic and international markets. Net income grew at a triple-digit rate yet again, but that was mostly a result of easy year-over-year comparisons.
Abiomed's third quarter: The raw numbers
|
Metric |
Q3 2019 |
Q3 2018 |
Year-Over-Year Change |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Revenue |
$201 million |
$154 million |
30% |
|
GAAP net income |
$44.9 million |
$13.4 million |
235% |
|
Earnings per share |
$0.97 |
$0.29 |
234% |
Data source: Abiomed.
Image source: Getty Images.
What happened with Abiomed this quarter?
- Domestic sales of Impella grew 27% to $166 million. International sales jumped 59% to $17.3 million, primarily thanks to strength in Germany and Japan.
- Impella 2.5 and CP are now available at roughly 1,300 sites in the U.S., the Impella 5.0 is available at 578 sites, and Impella RP is now at roughly 400 sites in total.
- Reorder rate remained slightly above 100%.
- 13 new sites were opened in Japan during the quarter, bringing the total to 48 hospitals in Japan now offering Impella to patients.
- Gross margin declined 80 basis points to 83%, attributable to mix and "manufacturing investments."
- Operating margin expanded 200 basis points to 31.1%.
- The triple-digit growth in net income is largely a result of the $22 million one-time tax bill included in the results in the year-ago period. On a normalized basis, EPS growth would have been 26%.
- Cash balance at quarter end grew to $458.2 million. The company remains debt free.
- Abiomed won regulatory clearance in Europe for its Impella Connect product, which enables remote viewing of the Impella console in the cloud.
What management had to say
CEO Michael Minogue commented that the company recently celebrated an important patient milestone:
We are proud of our 100,000th patient milestone and we will continue to grow the field of heart recovery and improve patient outcomes by partnering with our customers to use real-world data to identify and validate best practices and protocols. We remain focused on disciplined execution and sustainable growth so that even more patients around the world can benefit from heart recovery.
CFO Todd Trapp credited Abiomed's strong revenue growth to "solid performance across all geographies" and noted that this was the company's 17th consecutive quarter of greater than 25% revenue growth. Trapp also touched on the various investments that are being made across the business to drive future growth:
We're investing in new products and enhancements like SmartAssist, Impella Connect, Impella 5.5 and Impella ECP. We're focused on clinical research and potential new indications like STEMI. We've expanded our manufacturing capacity in both Danvers and Aachen to support future demand and we also continue to add to our industry-leading commercial team and provide education and 24/7 hospitals support, all with a focus on improving patient outcomes.
Looking forward
The strong growth allowed management to boost its full-year fiscal 2019 guidance again. The company now expects revenue to be about $780 million, up from its prior range of $765 million to $770 million. This full-year sales guidance implies that fiscal fourth-quarter revenue will be about $280 million, which represents 25% growth.
The increased sales leverage for the year is expected to drive a higher operating margin, too. The company is now guiding for fiscal year 2019 operating margin to land between 29% to 29.5% This is a smidge higher than the midpoint of its prior guidance.
Check out the latest Abiomed earnings call transcript.
