Avanos Medical (NYSE:AVNS) shares ticked up today on first-quarter results that just about matched the consensus forecast.
The Alpharetta, Georgia-based company posted profits of $5.8 million, or 12¢ per share, on sales of $197.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022, for a bottom-line gain from losses of $7.6 million this time last year on sales growth of 9.2%.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were 26¢, registering level with projections on Wall Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $197.8 million.
“Coming off last year’s solid finish, we maintained our momentum through the first quarter while adding OrthogenRx to our portfolio,” Avanos CEO Joe Woody said in a news release. “I am very pleased with our first quarter results despite persistent global economic headwinds. We met our customers’ orders and meaningfully improved our gross margins in the face of inflationary pressures and a difficult supply chain environment, and we remain confident in our ability to continue to do so through the back half of the year.
“Additionally, the OrthogenRx business [acquired in January] performed as expected, confirming our belief that our acquisition strategy, combined with solid organic execution, positions us to meet our longer-term financial goals.”
Avanos reaffirmed its previous guidance for 2022, with projections of adjusted EPS between $1.55 and $1.75 and revenues between $830 million and $850 million.
AVNS shares were up 2.3% at $29.86 per share in early-morning trading today. MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — was down 0.8%.