What happened
Specialty healthcare device maker ZimVie (ZIMV 2.20%) was hardly a special stock for many investors on Thursday. The company's shares were down a vertigo-inducing 46% in late-session trading, on the back of quarterly results that widely missed analyst estimates.
So what
ZimVie, which specializes in devices and technology for the spine and dental segments, reported its fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 earnings after market hours on Wednesday.
These revealed that the company's net sales were just over $229 million for the quarter, 12% below those of fourth quarter 2021. Non-GAAP (adjusted) net income flipped from loss to gain; it came in at slightly under $4.3 million, or $0.16 per share, against the year-ago deficit of $9.4 million.
Citing a challenging economy as a drag on its results, ZimVie quoted its CEO Vafa Jamali as saying that in spite of it, "we launched several innovative products and drove significant operational progress in our first year as a company."
ZimVie was spun off from Zimmer Biomet in March 2022.
A leap into profitability is usually good news, but a double miss rarely is. Analysts tracking ZimVie stock were expecting much better from the company's fourth quarter; on average they were modeling $237 million on the top line, and $0.21 per share for adjusted net income.
Now what
Worse, the difference between ZimVie's guidance and prognosticator expectations was even wider. For the entirety of 2023, the company is projecting revenue of $825 million to $850 million, and adjusted net income of $0.30 to $0.50 per share. Analysts were collectively estimating almost $925 million and $1.29, respectively.
