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Edwards Lifesciences' (EW) THVT Likely to Drive Q4 Earnings

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Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (EW - Free Report)  is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2017 earnings on Feb 1, after market close.

Edwards Lifesciences has outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the preceding four quarters, with an average positive earnings surprise of 10.2%. Let’s take a look at how things are shaping up prior to this announcement.

Key Catalysts

Similar to the prior quarter, Edwards Lifesciences is expected to gain from strength in Transcatheter Heart Valve Therapy segment (THVT). Banking on continued therapy adoption across all geographies, with notable strength in the United States, the company is expected to maintain this bullish trend in the fourth quarter of 2017 as well. In the United States, transcatheter heart valve sales grew 20% year over year in the third quarter. Outside the United States, the underlying growth rate was 21%, with strong contribution from Japan.

 

In the last reported quarter, growth in THVT was driven by excellent clinical performance results from SAPIEN 3 as well continued strong therapy implementation across all regions.

Also, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for THVT net sales of $509 million reflects an increase of 17.8% from the year-ago quarter. Overall, fourth-quarter revenues are projected at $862.86 million.

Here are the other factors that might influence Edwards Lifesciences’ fourth-quarter results:

Investors are bullish on the Harpoon Medical acquisition, which was completed on Dec 6, 2017, with the intention to enhance the Surgical Heart Valve Therapy portfolio. However, the buyout is not expected to contribute significantly to fourth-quarter revenues.

Meanwhile, the INTUITY Elite valve system was approved for Medicare's new tech add-on payment effective Oct 1, 2017. This recognized INTUITY as the latest technology to provide substantial clinical improvement over conventional valves. The company believes that many hospitals will be helped by this add-on payment over the next year and this should simplify adoption of this rapid-deployment valve that shortens minimally invasive and complex procedures.

Edwards Lifesciences expects sales in 2017 to meet the high end of the $3.2-$3.4 billion range.

Moreover, we note that the company projects total sales between $855 million and $895 million and adjusted earnings per share of 84 cents to 94 cents for the fourth quarter.

However, the company expects some changes in fourth-quarter gross margin. Earnings are expected to be impacted by foreign currency fluctuation.

Also, tough competition in the cardiac devices market and reimbursement issues continue to raise caution.

Here is what our quantitative model predicts:

Edwards Lifesciences has the right combination of two main ingredients — a positive Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or higher — for increasing the odds of an earnings beat.

Zacks ESP: The Earnings ESP for Edwards Lifesciences is +1.3%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Edwards Lifesciences carries a Zacks Rank #3, which increases the predictive power of ESP.

Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings of 90 cents reflects a 20% improvement on a year-over-year basis.

Other Stocks Worth a Look

Here are a few other medical stocks worth considering as they have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (BIO - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +4.45% and a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Myriad Genetics (MYGN - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +0.42% and a Zacks Rank #3.

Henry Schein (HSIC - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +0.09% and a Zacks Rank #3.

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