Cyberonics Q4 Adj Profit Tops View, But Sales Miss; Guides 2015 EPS In Line

(RTTNews) - Medical technology company Cyberonics, Inc. (CYBX) reported Wednesday a profit for the fourth quarter that grew from last year, reflecting tax gains and sales growth. Adjusted earnings per share topped analysts' expectations by a penny, while quarterly net sales missed their estimates. The company also provided earnings and sales outlook for the full-year 2015.

"In the fourth quarter, we again achieved record net sales, income from operations, adjusted non-GAAP net income, and adjusted non-GAAP earnings per share. International unit sales and revenue, with and without the 126-unit single country sale of $2.6 million, also reached new records," President and CEO Dan Moore said in a statement.

The Houston, Texas-based company recorded net income of $18.43 million or $0.68 per share for the fourth quarter, higher than $11.53 million or $0.41 per share in the prior-year quarter.

Results for the latest quarter include a discrete tax benefit of $0.13 per share, while year-ago quarter included $0.05 per share of impairment of investment.

Excluding items, adjusted net income for the quarter was $0.55 per share, compared to last year's $0.46 per share.

On average, ten analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.54 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimate typically exclude special items.

Worldwide net sales for the quarter grew 9.5 percent to $74.85 million, from $68.34 million in the same quarter last year, but missed eight Wall Street analysts' consensus estimate of $76.70 million. Worldwide unit sales improved 8.3 percent to a record 3,723 units.

U.S. net product sales increased 3.7 percent to a record $58.2 million from last year, with U.S. epilepsy unit sales recovering strongly.

International net sales rose 36.5 percent on a constant currency basis to a record $16.7 million, of which a single contract accounted for $2.6 million. International unit sales also grew 23.9 percent to a record 1,241 units.

The company noted that Europe continued to deliver double-digit unit growth with a quarterly unit increase of 18 percent over the prior-year quarter. Latin America has again demonstrated consistent and impressive growth.

Income tax expense for the quarter nearly halved to $4.94 million from $8.83 million last year.

As part of its continued commitment to focus on growth in core epilepsy market, the company recently appointed Rohan Hoare as Chief Operating Officer and Dr. O'Neill DeCruz as Chief Medical Officer.

Looking ahead to fiscal 2015, Cyberonics expects earnings in a range of $2.33 to $2.39 per share, on projected net sales between $300 million and $307 million. Street is currently looking for full-year 2015 earnings of $2.38 per share on annual revenues of $315.20 million.

CYBX closed Tuesday's regular trading session at $59.68, down $1.47 on a volume of 0.52 million shares.