The Dentsply Sirona (Nasdaq:XRAY) board’s audit committee continues to work with independent counsel and advisors to investigate potentially questionable financial practices.
The Charlotte, North Carolina–based dental products and technologies company announced yesterday that it is still unable to file official quarterly reports. It’s notified the Nasdaq markets that it cannot meet a previously agreed upon Aug. 14, 2022 deadline to file the reports and is seeking another extension until Nov. 7 to file.
Dentsply Sirona said it expects to report Q2 revenues greater than $1.005 billion; The Street is expecting $1.01 billion.
The company also expects diluted EPS at or above 26¢ and adjusted EPS at or above 60¢.
U.S. dealer inventory levels are normalizing, and recent product launches and pricing adjustments are providing additional benefits, the company said in a news release. On the flip side, Dentsply Sirona experienced ongoing supply shortages in Q2 and soft sales in China amid COVID-related shutdowns. XRAY shares as of midday were up more than 2% to $36.96 apiece.
The company first made the internal investigation public in a May 10, 2022 SEC filing that came out weeks after the company removed CEO Don Casey. Previous CFO Jorge Gomez soon left his new job at Moderna. John Groetelaars, who was CEO of Hillrom until its acquisition by Baxter late last year, is serving as interim CEO while a search is underway for a permanent replacement.
The May 10 SEC filing said the internal investigation is focused on the company’s use of incentives to sell products to distributors during the third and fourth quarters of 2021 and whether the incentives and sales impact were adequately accounted for and disclosed in SEC filings. The board’s audit committee is also looking into whether present and former members of the senior management used the incentives and other actions to achieve executive compensation targets, according to the filing.