Asensus Surgical (NYSE:ASXC) shares slid today on fourth-quarter results that missed the consensus sales forecast.
The Research Triangle Park, North Carolina-based surgical robotics company posted losses of $15.9 million, or 7¢ per share, on sales of $2.1 million for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2021, for a slight bottom-line further into the red despite sales numbers that were more than tripled from this period a year ago.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, losses per share were also 7¢, falling even with projections on Wall Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $1.5 million
Asensus Surgical President and CEO Anthony Fernando said in a news release that, despite headwinds throughout 2021, the company — formerly known as TransEnterix — grew its active installed base and produced the highest procedure volumes in the Senhance surgical robot’s commercial history.
“As we look towards 2022, we expect to continue to drive the global adoption of Senhance through our market development and portfolio expansion efforts while at the same time focusing on the ongoing development of the platform’s innovative digital capabilities to deliver on the promise of performance-guided surgery,” Fernando said.
Asensus did not provide financial guidance for 2022 but confirmed that it expects to initiate 10 to 12 Senhance systems and anticipates the full-scale commercialization of articulating instruments globally during the year.
The company also expects to file for FDA 510(k) clearance for Senhance for a pediatric indication and plans to receive CE mark approval in Europe for expanded machine vision capabilities for its intelligent surgical unit (ISU).
ASXC shares were down 3.9% at 74¢ per share in mid-morning trading today. MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — was practically even.