Warehouse problem causes big Q4 miss for Conmed

February 3, 2023 By Chris Newmarker

Conmed (NYSE: CNMD) released Q4 results that missed Wall Street projections by a wide margin due to a previously disclosed warehouse problem.

The Largo, Florida–based maker of surgical and patient monitoring products and services earned $26.6 million, or 86¢ per share, off of $250.9 million in sales for the quarter that ended Dec. 31, 2022. The results, posted yesterday evening, represented an 9% bottom-line gain and a top-line slide of 8%.

Adjusted to exclude one-time items, Conmed had earnings per share of 42¢. The amount was less than half of the 90¢ EPS consensus expected by Wall Street analysts, who predicted $302.51 million in sales.

Needham & Co. senior research analyst Mike Matson wrote in a report that Q4 miss shouldn't have been a surprise because Conmed had previously disclosed the warehouse software implementation problems.

"While this was a disappointing quarter, we expect CNMD to recover in 2023, and we maintain our Buy rating since we believe that it can sustain high-single-digit underlying revenue growth and that its EPS growth can accelerate as macro pressures ease," Matson said.

Investors initially appeared to also be forgiving about the miss. But by the afternoon today, CNMD shares were down more than 5% to $101.78 apiece. MassDevice‘s MedTech 100 Index, which includes stocks of the world's largest medical device companies, was up more than 14%.

"We are shipping at or above historical daily rates, and we continue to work diligently to increase our efficiency and capacity," Conmed CEO Curt R. Hartman said in a news release.

"I am pleased with our team's accomplishments in 2022, including the acquisitions of In2Bones and Biorez, the closing of our convertible senior notes offering, and the continued work on new product innovation across the company. We enter 2023 focused on execution and delivery of revenue and earnings growth."

Conmed expects full-year 2023 revenue between $1.170 billion and $1.220 billion and adjusted EPS between $3.20 and $3.45.

Filed Under: Business/Financial News, Diagnostics, Featured, MassDevice Earnings Roundup, News Well, Surgical, Wall Street Beat Tagged With: Conmed