What happened? 

Shares of Alphatec Holdings (ATEC 0.59%) were rising sharply on Thursday after the company released preliminary third-quarter results on Wednesday evening. The holding company's stock was up by 27.9% as of 12:34 p.m. EDT today, after rising by as much as 37.4% earlier in the day.

So what

For the third quarter, Alphatec Holdings expects its total revenue to come in between $40.7 million and $41.1 million, which would represent a year-over-year increase of roughly 40% at the midpoint. The company's third-quarter revenue is also set to come in ahead of the $30.98 million analysts were expecting on average. The medical device company derives the bulk of its revenue from its U.S. operations. 

Five upward-bound arrows on a blackboard.

Image source: Getty Images.

For the third quarter, Alphatec expects its U.S. revenue to be between $39.7 million and $40 million, representing an increase between 41% and 43% versus the prior-year quarter. The company also expects its U.S. gross margin to improve slightly from the 70.8% it recorded during last year's third quarter to between 71% to 73%. Lastly, it expects a negative adjusted EBITDA between $1.7 million to $2.2 million. Last year, the company reported a negative EBITDA of $3.2 million.

Now what

Alphatec will announce its full third-quarter results on Nov. 5. After yesterday's sneak peek, though, it seems clear that the healthcare company will report strong results. No wonder, then, that enthusiastic investors are bidding up shares of Alphatec Holdings today.