Alcon (NYSE:ALC) shares took a hit in pre-market trading today on first-quarter earnings that beat the consensus forecast.
ALC shares were down -6.2% at $69.88 in pre-market trading today.
The Geneva, Switzerland-based company posted earnings per share of 17¢ on sales of $1.9 billion for the three months ended March 31, 2021, registering revenue growth of 4.8% year-over-year.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were 49¢, 4¢ ahead of projections made by Wall Street analysts.
The company’s surgical segment registered 9.5% growth year-over-year in revenues, while its vision care business dipped -0.6% from its Q1 2020 sales numbers.
“The first quarter was a solid start to the year, with healthy sales, a return to 2019 core margin levels and the substantial completion of our separation activities. Strong commercial execution of our new product launches continues to drive market share gains despite the continued impacts of COVID-19,” Alcon CEO David Endicott said in a news release. “I want to thank the hundreds of Alcon associates who have spent the past two years working to complete our separation and establish our independence as the global leader in eye care. Their extraordinary work is allowing us to devote more time to accelerating innovation and driving above-market sales growth.
“Our recent success validates our continued investment in a robust product pipeline that will meet the future needs of eye care professionals and their patients.”
Alcon said it expects to log adjusted EPS of between $1.85 and $1.95 for the full year and set its sales guidance for between $7.8 billion and $8 billion.