What happened
Niche healthcare company Artivion (NYSE: AORT) was an outlier of a stock on Friday, rising nearly 6% higher on the back of a far better-than-expected bottom line. After reporting a surprise profit for its fourth quarter following market close on Thursday, the company's shares surged the next day, in contrast to the slumping S&P 500 index that ended the day 0.3% lower.
So what
Artivion, which concentrates on products and solutions for heart heath, posted revenue of $79.4 million. That matched its result for the fourth quarter of 2021. On the bottom line, however, the company recorded a dramatic improvement. According to non-GAAP (adjusted) standards, it booked a net profit of $4.2 million, shaking out to $0.10 per share. That was much better than the $141,000 adjusted loss of the year-ago period.
It also blew past the average analyst estimate -- collectively, prognosticators keeping an eye on Artivion stock were expecting the company to land relatively deep in the red. They were modeling a $0.12 per-share adjusted net loss. As for revenue, they weren't far away from the actual result, with an average estimate of $79.9 million.
Artivion sounded a very hopeful note about the future, quoting CEO Pat Mackin as saying that the company is "confident that we have meaningful opportunities to grow our total addressable market through pipeline development. We also anticipate maintaining momentum with our existing portfolio in our current markets."
Now what
Artivion proffered guidance for full-year 2023. It believes its constant-currency revenue growth will come in at 8% to 12% over the 2022 level, and its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) will rise by over 20%. It did not provide net earnings guidance.