Asensus Surgical (NYSE:ASXC) shares dipped today on fourth-quarter results that came in mixed compared to the consensus forecast.
The company provided an outlook for the year ahead that includes the expected clearance of a regulatory hurdle, though.
Shares of ASXC fell 2.6% to 67¢ apiece in early-morning trading today. MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — ticked up 0.8%.
The Research Triangle Park, North Carolina-based surgical robot maker posted losses of $17.9 million. That amounts to losses of 8¢ per share on sales of $2.5 million for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2022.
Asensus’ bottom line slipped deeper into the red by about $2 million. Sales came in 0.4% behind the same period one year ago.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share 7¢. That landed 1¢ ahead of expectations on Wall Street. However, sales fell 1.4% shy of analysts’ forecast.
Looking ahead to 2023
Highlights from the quarter included the initiation of five programs with the company’s Senhance surgical robot platform. Ahead of 2023, Asensus announced more big news, including multiple partnerships and the unveiling of the next-generation Luna surgical robot.
In 2023, Asensus expects to initiate 10-12 new Senhance programs. It also anticipates FDA clearance for a pediatric indication for Senhance, plus further developments with the Luna system. The company declined to provide financial guidance for the year ahead, though.
“We continued to see strong adoption and utilization trends as more surgeons across the globe were performing procedures using Senhance, and we made significant progress in the development and launch of cutting-edge digital surgical capabilities to help surgeons perform better, more consistent surgery,” said Anthony Fernando, Asensus Surgical president and CEO. “As we look to the future, we are incredibly excited about the opportunity we have to revolutionize patient care through performance-guided surgery.”