What happened
Wednesday was a hump day to forget for specialty medical device maker Conformis (CFMS +0.00%). Investors weren't happy with a guidance cut from the company, and expressed their displeasure by trading its shares down by 10.6%.
So what
Conformis, which specializes in products used in hip replacement procedures, revealed in a business update that it expects less product revenue than previously anticipated for its current third quarter. The new expectation is for a top-line result of $13.7 million to $14.3 million. That's notably below the preceding estimate of $15.5 million to $16.5 million.
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The reasoning behind this is a development that has plagued numerous companies throughout the healthcare field since the start of the coronavirus pandemic -- patients postponing non-essential procedures. This is done likely out of fear of contracting COVID-19 from a fellow patient in a crowded waiting room, or simply of leaving the home in the first place to risk exposure to strangers with the disease.
Conformis has witnessed this dynamic firsthand. "Over the last four weeks, we have experienced heightened levels of rescheduled and deferred procedures due to the rise of cases of COVID-19 and the delta variant," the company wrote in its update.
Now what
Nevertheless, Conformis added that it still has confidence in its growth projections for 2022 and later periods.
The company meanwhile will endeavor to bring potentially reluctant patients into the doctor's office. "Our team continues to work with our provider network to get needed procedures scheduled and performed so our patients can reclaim living without pain when walking or other daily activities," it wrote.
