Earnings CONMED reported 4Q:09 sales of $190.6 million, up 3% over the year-ago period and beating estimates by $6.0 million. Arthroscopy sales rose 3% to $75.7 million. All growth rates exclude the effects of currency. 4Q:09 EPS of $0.37 beat... more
Earnings Johnson & Johnson reported 4Q:09 revenues of $16.5 billion, representing a 9% increase over the year-ago period and beating estimates by $0.8 billion. DePuy reported $1.5 billion in sales, up 10% over the year-ago period, with hip up 12%,... more
Earnings Biomet reported FQ2:10 (ended November 30, 2009) revenues of $696.0 million, up 5% over the year-ago period. Recon sales increased 6% to $528.4 million, with hip up 4%, knee up 8%, dental down 8% and extremity up 27%. Additionally,... more
On Thursday of last week, Zimmer, one of the largest companies in the industry, announced that it was undertaking a $1 billion bond offering to re-finanance its existing debt, invest in its business and support its stock repurchase program. This... more
Earnings aap Implantate reported nine-month revenue of EUR 25.6 million ($37.4 million), which represents a 6% increase over the year-ago period. The company said third-quarter highlights included the signing of several IP agreements that emphasize orthopedics, trauma ad spine. Artimplant... more
Earnings CONMED reported 3Q:09 sales of $175.5 million, down 2% from the year-ago period and beating estimates by $1.4 million. Arthroscopy sales were up 2% and powered instrument sales were flat. Non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.28 beat estimates by $0.12.... more
Earnings TranS1 pre-announced 3Q:09 revenues, saying sales for the quarter would be in the range of $6.8 to $6.9 million. This represents a 15% increase over year-ago sales, though it is below 3Q:09 guidance of $7.4 to $7.9 million. Analysts... more
Regulatory Active Implants Corporation received a CE Class III Certificate for its TriboFit Hip System. The system is made from a low-wear polycarbonate-urethane material that the company says shares some of the characteristics of human cartilage. MEDICREA received 510(k) clearance... more
Earnings Anika Therapeutics reported 2Q:09 revenue of $9.5 million, representing a 5% increase over 2Q:08 and missing estimates by $0.4 million. The company attributed revenue growth to both the ORTHOVISC and MONOVISC product lines, which contributed $5.6 million to total... more
Funding Alphatec Spine, Inc. has successfully completed a private placement of $10.0 million of shares of its common stock to one of its existing shareholders, HealthpointCapital Partners II, L.P. Alphatec plans to use the net proceeds of the private placement... more
Earnings CONMED reported 1Q:09 revenues of $164.1 million, representing a 7% decrease over 1Q:08 and missing estimates by $9.5 million. Arthroscopic devices contributed $63.9 million in revenue, down 8% over 1Q:08, with the decline due largely to a 24% decrease... more
Earnings Corin reported 2008 revenues of GBP 39.8 million ($57.6 million), an 8% increase over 2007 sales. The company also reported a pretax loss of GBP 3.9 million ($5.6 million), which reflected a GBP 5.2 million ($7.2 million) inventory write-down... more
Eighteen months after the Department of Justice entered into Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPA) with Smith & Nephew, Johnson & Johnson (Depuy), Zimmer and Biomet, and a Non-Prosecution Agreement with Stryker, the DOJ has announced it has dismissed the criminal charges... more
The orthopedic industry convened in Las Vegas last week for what was a slightly quieter AAOS than we've seen in recent years, shadowed by worries about the economy. More than new products and deals, the tone at this year's conference... more
Earnings Artimplant reported 4Q:08 revenues of SEK 4.6 million ($0.6 million), down from SEK 5.0 million ($0.8 million) in 4Q:07. During the quarter, the company reported sales of 900 Artelon Spacers (down from 1,100 in 4Q:07) and 300 units of... more
Earnings Kensey Nash reported FQ2:09 revenues of $20.8 million, up 6% over the year-ago period and beating estimates by $0.4 million. Net income for the quarter was $5.2 million, or $0.44 per diluted share, beating estimates by $0.04 and representing... more
The North American Spine Society (NASS) adopted a new transparency policy requiring surgeons presenting at conferences to disclose both industry relationships and the dollar amount of any payments. Failure to disclose information could result in sanctions including suspension or expulsion... more
Earnings aap Implantate AG reported sales for the first nine months of 2008 of EUR 24.2 million ($35.0 million), up 30% from the same period last year. The company attributed the sales growth to the Traumatology & Orthopaedics division, where... more
Earnings CONMED reported 3Q:08 revenues of $179.4 million, up 9% over the year-ago period and beating estimates by $2.95 million. Arthroscopy was up 18% (17% constant currency), contributing $69.5 million to total sales. On a non-GAAP basis, diluted earnings per... more
M&A Wright Medical Group, Inc. acquired the RAYHACK System for wrist reconstruction, which consists of "procedure-specific bone-cutting guides and fixation plates that allow precise shortening and repositioning of the radius and ulna." The system will be available in the U.S.... more
Zimmer announced plans to acquire Abbott Spine for approximately $360 million in cash (a 3.3x revenue multiple.) Zimmer says the acquisition will add innovative products to their portfolio and augment the company's R&D capabilities. Zimmer's stock was flat in midday... more
Earnings Anika Therapeutics reported 2Q:08 revenue of $8.38 million, representing a 32% increase over 2Q:07 but missing estimates by $0.4 million. The company attributed sales growth to the strength of the Orthovisc line. Net income for 2Q:08 was $0.81 million,... more
Zimmer's announced yesterday that they would voluntarily suspend sales of the Durom Acetabular Component in the U.S. while they update the labeling and conduct further surgeon training on the product. As a result, the company is lowering full-year revenue guidance... more
Earnings Biomet reported FQ4:08 revenues of $635.6 million, an increase of 16% (10% constant currency) over the year-ago period. Sales increased 10% in the U.S and 24% (11% constant currency) OUS. Recon sales increased 17% worldwide (12% constant currency) to... more
M&A Kinetic Concepts, Inc. announced that it completed its acquisition of LifeCell Corporation. At the time of the expiration of the tender offer, 31.1 million shares of LifeCell common stock had been tendered representing approximately 90.75% of the outstanding shares... more
Earnings Alphatec Holdings reported consolidated revenues for 1Q:08 of $23.2 million, an increase of 19% from the year-ago period. U.S. revenues for the first quarter of 2008 were $18.6 million, an increase of 12% from the year-ago period. Asia revenues... more
Seven months after the company announced the signing of its Deferred Prosecution Agreement, Zimmer has introduced a revised corporate compliance model designed to "aggressively reduce" conflicts of interest. The updated model includes a number of new safeguards against potential ethical... more
M&A Kinetic Concepts, Inc. announced plans to acquire LifeCell for $1.7 billion, or $51.00 per share, which represents an 18% premium over LifeCell's closing price on Friday and a 26% premium over the 90-day volume weighted average trading price. KCI... more
Earnings Smith & Nephew announced 4Q:07 revenues of $967.0 million, beating estimates of $933.0 million and reflecting a 25% (reported) increase over 4Q:06. Adjusted earnings per share was $0.16, in line in estimates and up 10% over the year-ago period.... more
Earnings Kensey Nash reported FQ2:08 total revenues of $19.6 million, missing estimates by $0.05 million and up 14% over the year-ago period. Net sales of biomaterials products increased 15% to $11.5 million, which the company attributed to orthopedic sales. The... more
M&A ArthroCare Corp. acquired DiscoCare, Inc., whom the company describes as "a third-party billing and reimbursement service provider," for $25 million in cash plus potential future milestone payments. The company says, "This acquisition will allow ArthroCare to significantly expand its... more
Earnings Tutogen reported FY07 revenues of $53.8 million, an increase of 42% over FY06. The Company reported net income of $6.8 million, or $0.36 per fully diluted share in fiscal year 2007 compared to a net loss of $0.6 million,... more
Regulatory Amedica received FDA clearance for their Valeo™ Pedicle Screw system, a low profile and modular pedicle screw system intended for non-cervical pedicle fixation from the T1 through L5. Corin announced FDA clearance for additional sizes of its Cormet hip... more
Earnings Anika reported 3Q:07 product revenues of $7.28 million, up from $5.49 million in 3Q:06. The company attributed the sales growth to strong domestic and international sales of ORTHOVISC®. Net income for 3Q:07 was $1.8 million, or $0.16 per diluted... more
Earnings ArthroCare Corp. reported 3Q:07 total revenues of $78.5 million, an increase of 21% over the comparable quarter. Revenues missed estimates by $0.11 million. The company reported net income of $11.1 million, or $0.39 per share, up 28% over 3Q:06... more
Earnings Biomet reported FQ1:08 sales of $552.3 million, up 9% over the comparable quarter. The company reported a net loss for the quarter of $42.9 million, down from an income of $104.4 million for FQ1:07. The company attributed the loss... more
Legal Federal prosecutors announced on Thursday the terms of a settlement with Zimmer, Depuy, Biomet, Smith & Nephew and Stryker following an investigation into physician compensation practices. Zimmer, Depuy, Biomet and Smith & Nephew entered into deferred prosecution agreements and... more
Regulatory Inion Oy received FDA approval for its implant material BioRestore in dental and cranio-maxillofacial applications. The product is designed to fill bony voids or gaps in the skeleton. BioRestore is currently being reviewed by the FDA for use in... more
Earnings Globus Medical announced 2Q:07 revenues of $30.2 million, an increase of 52% over the comparable quarter. The company attributes the revenue growth to the expansion of its sales and distribution footprint, product introductions in its fusion, MIS and biomaterials... more
Earnings Large Joint: Exactech announced 2Q:07 revenue of $31.6 million, beating estimates of $29.9 million and up 19% from the comparable quarter. CEO Bill Petty attributed the growth to "acceptance of our new products and continuing success of our products... more
Earnings Stryker reported revenues of $1.46 billion, beating estimates of $1.44 billion and increasing 16% from $1.26 billion in 2Q:06. 2Q:07 earnings were $269.1 million, or $0.65 per share, beating estimates of $0.61 and up from $0.52 in the comparable... more
A DOJ investigation into surgeon compensation practices by Biomet, Depuy, Smith & Nephew, Stryker and Zimmer in 2005 could reach a settlement "as soon as this summer," according to the Star-Ledger's John P. Martin. Current terms of the settlement are... more
Earnings BioMimetic Therapeutics reported a 1Q:07 net loss of $5.7 million or $(0.34) per share, beating estimates of $(0.37) and comparing to a net loss of $3.8 million, or $(2.22) per share, in 1Q:06. The company reported revenues of $0.25... more
Biomet announced it gained FDA clearance to market the first vitamin E stabilized highly crosslinked polyethylene acetabular cup liner. Using the trade name E-Poly, Biomet's product uses the antioxidant vitamin E to reduce wear of the poly liner as oxidation... more
Earnings Biologics Integra LifeSciences announced 1Q:07 revenues of $123.0 million, beating estimates of $119.25 million and reflecting a 60% increase over 1Q:06. Net income for the quarter was $9.07 million, or $0.33 per share, meeting analysts' estimates. President and CEO... more
Earnings Spine Kyphon reported that worldwide revenues in 1Q:07 increased 40% to $128.1 million, which includes $18.1 million in X-STOP® Interspinous Process Decompression (IPD®) sales from the St. Francis acquisition. In the U.S., revenues increased 34% to $101.1 million, while... more
Today, Zimmer announced the replacement of long-time President & CEO, Ray Elliott who will remain as Chairman of the Board until November 2007. His replacement will be David Dvorak who has been Group President, Global Businesses and Chief Legal Officer.... more
Last week, we attended the Society for Biomaterials' annual conference. The event showcases the latest academic research and its broad applications across medical specialties. Roughly a third of the poster presentations focused on orthopedics, and most of the rest related... more
Today's Wall Street Journal features an article on growth in the orthopedic market. Journalist Karen Richardson indicates that innovative, long-lasting and high-margin products are driving investment opportunities. An aging population and increased life expectancy bode well for manufacturers like Stryker... more
Sunny San Diego hosted this year's AAOS meeting, and with more than 470 exhibitors wall-to-wall on the Convention Center floor, it was the biggest Academy yet. One of our cab drivers said, as we were driving away from the conference... more
Earnings Tutogen announced results for first fiscal quarter ending December 31, 2006. Total revenues increased 43% to $11.5 million, compared to $8.0 million in the comparable quarter of fiscal year 2006. U.S. revenues increased 50%, and international revenues increased 27%... more
After the markets closed on Friday, Zimmer announced an agreement to acquire Endius, Inc., a Massachusetts-based spine company. Endius has developed a minimally invasive instrument kit, Atavi, and associated implants for spinal fusion. The Atavi comes as a cartridge the... more
Earnings Kyphon Inc. announced 4Q:06 sales totaling $112.6 million, an increase of 31% over the $85.8 million in net sales reported for the 4Q:05. Net income for 4Q:06 increased 228% to $12.2 million, or $0.26 per diluted share, compared to... more
Zimmer reported 4Q:06 earnings of $1.02 per share on revenue of $933.6 million, beating analysts' estimates of a profit of 99 cents per share on revenue of $925.8 million. $933.6 million represents a 10% increase (8% constant currency) over 4Q:05.... more
Earnings ORTHOsoft reported 3Q:06 revenues of CAN $3.8 million (US $3.3 million), up 59% from CAN $2.4 million (US $2.1 million) in 3Q:05. ORTHOsoft manufactures computer aided orthopedic surgery devices, and they attribute the 3Q:06 growth to increased navigation systems... more
Zimmer announced this morning that Ray Elliott is planning a 1H:07 retirement from his role as President and Chief Executive Officer. The Company also added that Mr. Elliott will remain as Chairman for at least one year from today. Elliott... more
Earnings: Langer reported their 3Q:06 results on Tuesday, which included a net loss of approximately $553,000, or $.06 per share on a fully diluted basis. Compared to 3Q:05, there was a net income $236,000, or $.02 per share on a... more
Earnings Biologics: Orthovita reported 3Q:06 product sales came in at $11 million, up 32% compared to 3Q:05. Net loss for the quarter was $3.7 million, or a loss of $0.07 per share. The Company beat analysts' EPS estimates by $0.02,... more
This morning Smith & Nephew issued a statement confirming speculations that it has been speaking with Biomet. The Company stated that it, "it has held very preliminary talks with the US medical devices company, Biomet Inc. No agreement has been... more
Appointment: Orthovita, Inc. has appointed Albert J. Pavucek, Jr. Vice President Corporate Controller. Mr. Pavucek was with PDI, Inc. serving as Vice President, Finance and Operations. Awards & Recognition: Smith & Nephew plc announced that two of its products, the... more
Appointment: Ranier Technology Limited has appointed John C. Moran to its Board of Directors. Previously, Mr. Moran was a President of Synthes Spine and a Director of Spine Solutions, Inc. Active Implants Corporation (AIC) has hired Richard Treharne, PhD. as... more
Earnings: Biologics: Tutogen reported 3Q:06 sales of $10 million and a net loss of $1.1 million, or $0.07 per fully diluted share compared to the same quarter last year. The Company would have experienced breakeven results without ~$1.1 million in... more
Late last week, Tutogen Medical Inc. rejected a bid from Zimmer Holdings, Inc. for $5-$6 per share. (Current 52 week range for the stock is between $2.50 - $6.29). Zimmer currently owns 33.2% of Tutogen's common stock, and back in... more
As we have previously discussed in several posts, since April the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has planned to release new Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) regulations for FY 2007. Late Tuesday CMS issued this much-anticipated IPPS rule,... more
Earnings Results: Biologics: Anika Therapeutics announced 2Q:06 net sales increased 11% to $7.1 million. Product revenues grew 74% while licensing, milestone and contract revenue was down 77%. The large product sales growth was partially driven by higher demand for OrthoVisc®;... more
In yesterday's quarterly report press release Zimmer shared more information on the nature of the recent DOJ investigations into the Orthopedics Industry. The ongoing investigation is related to a price-fixing scheme, initiated by one of Zimmer's competitors at a specific... more
Last Sunday, Floyd Landis won the Tour de France. Although this victory has been called into question today by doping allegations, his next big battle is going to be tackling the avascular necrosis in his right hip caused by a... more
Appointment: Biomet, Inc. appointed Charles E. Niemier as President of EBI's operations following the resignation of its former president, Bart J. Doedens, M.D. Mr. Niemier has been a member of the senior management team and Board of Directors for more... more
Appointments: Tutogen Medical appointed Dr. Karl Koschatzky to the position of Managing Director. Dr. Koschatzky will replace Manfred Kruger, who was Tutogen's President of International operations and Managing Director of the German subsidiary. IsoTis OrthoBiologics appointed James William (Jim) Poser,... more
Zimmer announced today that it received FDA approval of its Premarket Approval Application (PMA) to market the Trilogy AB® Ceramic-on-Ceramic Acetabular System. Zimmer originally submitted its request for approval to market the Trilogy AB products in December 2004. The product... more
Smith & Nephew announced today that it had received a subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, for documents relating to possible antitrust issues over the manufacture and sale of orthopedic implant devices, joining its peers Zimmer, Biomet,... more
Appointment: Spine Wave announced that it has elected Ron Pickard to its Board of Directors. In addition to his role on the Board, Mr. Pickard will be actively involved in key projects including the development and commercialization of Spine Wave's... more
Zimmer Holdings Inc. said Friday the Justice Department's antitrust division subpoenaed company documents pertaining to an investigation of possible violations of federal criminal law, including possible violations of antitrust laws, involving the manufacture and sale the Company's standad lines of... more
Appointment: Smith & Nephew appointed Michael G. Frazzette as President of the Endoscopy division and a member of the Company's Group Executive Committee. Mr. Fazzette recently served as President & CEO of MicroGroup, Inc., a private, equity-owned contract manufacturer of... more
Each year, hundreds of millions of people injure the cartilage in their knees, shoulders and other joints. Today Zimmer Holdings and ISTO Technologies announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved ISTO's Investigational New Drug (IND) application... more
Final results for the 26 publicly-traded orthopedic companies* in 1Q:06 showed that orthopedic sales for first quarter increased by 9.2%, as reported. Now that Medtronic has reported its spine revenues, total aggregated sales for those 26 companies came in at... more
Appointment: Stryker Corp. appointed three officers to the company: Luciano Cattani, Vice President, Group President, International; Elizabeth A. Staub, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance, Stryker Corporation and Bronwen R. Taylor, Chief Compliance Officer, Stryker Corporation. Mr. Cattani... more
The first group of orthopedic companies reported their 1Q:06 this week and took in $5.3 billion so far. The total aggregated revenues for the quarter were up by 7% from $4.9 billion in 1Q:05. The industry netted $637.8 million, a... more
Our regular readers will remember that a few months ago, Zimmer and HCA had an unusually public fight. To briefly review, HCA entered into volume discount contracts with Zimmer, Stryker and DePuy. At year end, the implant companies reported HCA... more
Many orthopedic companies will be reporting their 1Q:06 results in the next few weeks. The table below provides a listing of conference call dial-in numbers and webcasts for the investment community. How the overall orthopedic industry fared in the first... more
Dane Miller of Biomet called it quits a week after releasing its 3Q:06 earnings report. Last week, the Company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.43 which was in line with Street's estimate but did not meet analysts' expectation for... more
This week at HealthpointCapital, we compiled a brief synopsis of the 2006 Orthopedic Industry, projecting that total revenue in 2006 will grow by 12% for the year. Appointment: Two notable extremities companies named their new CEOs this week: Wright Medical... more
Tissue bank company, Tutogen Medical ("TTG"), was contacted by Zimmer's representative earlier today seeking for a possible increase in investment or acquisition. We expect that Zimmer ("ZMH") will eventually acquire all assets of TTG since ZMH CEP (formerly Centerpulse) holds... more
Looking ahead to the AAOS 73rd Annual Meeting on March 22-26, 2006 taking place at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, we wanted to post the latest information on Company Analyst meetings that will be held in Chicago: -... more
Financing: BioMimetic Therapeutics, Inc. filed a registration statement for an Initial Public Offering. Earnings: Medtronic 3Q Earnings climb 23 percent. CryoLife fourth quarter 2005 revenues increased 13% over fourth quarter 2004 Gross margins for full year 2005 increased to 53%... more
Tuesday seemed to bring to an end a battle that has been brewing behind the scenes since early in the fall and began in the press a week ago. In the end, Zimmer hit HCA right between the eyes and... more
Zimmer reported adjusted earnings of $0.86 which was a 21% increase over the 4Q:04 and $0.03 higher than analyst expectations. Revenues totaled $848 million for the 4Q:05 which was a 9% increase on a constant currency basis. Hip and knee... more
There has been a lot of focus over the past six months on pricing in the orthopedic device market. Two topics generating fear have been (1) HCA's purchasing practices and (2) gainsharing. This week, Melissa Davis of The Street.com wrote... more
Zimmer Holdings was busy this week, issuing three press releases to announce a management reorganization, a stock buyback plan and the approval of its ceramic-on-ceramic hip system. The stock jumped 4% during the week as well. On Tuesday, the Company... more
Since we have one more week until the arrival of the holiday season, many companies are wrapping up their businesses as they patiently await for fiscal year 2005 to end. So far, December has been a good month for orthopedic... more
Appointment: OrthoSoft announced that Max Link has joined its Boards of Directors. With over 25 years of experience, Mr. Link is a very well-recognized individual in the medical device and pharmaceutical industry. He was CEO and Chairman of Centerpulse when... more
[Editor's note: We welcome attorney Susan Berson of Mintz, Levin as a guest blogger. See her profile here.] Earlier this year, the government announced investigations of several device manufacturers charging that the manufacturers were offering inappropriate incentives to referring physicians... more
This article was co-authored by Huyen Nguyen and John McCormick. As we move into the fourth quarter earnings calendar, we look back to third quarter reported earnings with some interesting thoughts. (1) Due to natural disasters, some major orthopedic players... more
It has been a busy week for many CEOs and CFOs in the orthopedic device sector. In the past two weeks orthopedic companies reported 3Q:05 sales of $4.7 billion which was a 12% increase over the 3Q:04. Net earnings for... more
Is Wall Street's shrill reaction to hip and knee implant pricing concerns overblown? Even with sophisticated econometric tools such a question is difficult to evaluate because we are dealing with an expectations driven phenomenon. So we have our doubts about... more
The decline in the valuations of the orthopedic stock prices has reached epic proportions. The 7 leading orthopedic companies which derive a majority of their revenues from hip and knee sales are on average 30% off their 52-Week Highs. Biomet... more
This week, we decided to post the Orthopedic News Roundup for Thursday, instead of Friday due to the upcoming holiday. Clearly the biggest headline this week is the announcement of a take-over bid by Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation ("MTF") for Osteotech... more
Thanks to one of our readers who reminded me that I should add international dial-in numbers to the conference calls list. Since most of the companies have already reported their earnings, I am providing you with replay information in case... more
Earnings: Please refer to the table (below) for individual company sales and earnings. It's all about earnings this week... Biologics: Clearly, the big winner this week is LifeCell Corp. who reported strong earnings on Monday stock was up 24% at... more
About six months ago I had an individual come into my office asking about an article he had recently read in a local newspaper regarding hip resurfacing. The man was approximately 40 years old and was too young for a... more
With most of the major large joint market share leaders reporting their 1Q:05 financials, we examine the strength of the market. At first glance revenue growth of hip products seems to be slowing while knee growth accelerates. Hips We estimate... more
During the 4Q:04 Zimmer beat analyst expectations by $0.07 in earnings-per-share and $18 million in revenues. For their encore, Zimmer reported 1Q:05 adjusted earnings-per-share (diluted) of $0.75 and revenues of $829 million which was exceeded analysts' forecasts by $0.08 and... more
The healthcare industry has long been the subject of regulation by complex laws that do not exist in other industries and which, under certain circumstances, may seem almost excessive and counter-intuitive. The enforcement of these laws has been significant and... more
We have aggregated the 4Q:04 and 3Q:04 reported revenues (includes the effects of foreign currency) for 16 public orthopedic companies. Although we would have liked to use revenue growth rates which excluded foreign currency, a majority of the companies report... more
After Stryker and DePuy reported somewhat modest financial reports two weeks ago, it seemed like many industry analysts and experts were talking of a potential slowdown in orthopedic growth. Then Zimmer reported revenues of $800 million for the 4Q:04 which... more
Direct-to-consumer advertising has become the most powerful means of marketing pharmaceuticals over the last decade. For years we have seen these strange advertisements which typically only mention the name of a drug and the manufacturer, but withhold any information regarding... more
Zimmer also beat earnings expectations by $0.03 per share. Hip revenues rose 14%, knees revenues were up 16% but spine declined 2%. These percentages were as reported. We give the constant currency numbers later in this note. Guidance for the... more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (Pennsylvania and New Jersey) breathed new life last week into an otherwise moribund case against Zimmer. In remanding the case back to a lower court, which had dismissed it earlier, the... more
It is like a broken record; another solid orthopedic earnings report and investors dump shares, again. In similar fashion to Stryker, Exactech and Wright Medical, Zimmer (NYSE: ZMH) beat analysts earnings expectations and investors reacted by selling shares. The difference... more
It seems that orthopedic investors have it in their mind this earnings season that unless a company crushes its numbers and guides significantly to the upside, they will dump shares. This happened to Stryker, Exactech and Wright Medical and now... more
What if Ray Elliott could take a dollar and grow it to $1.30 over the course of a single year - and do it year in and year out for a decade? What if the number of customers asking for... more
Device Applicant 510(k) Decision Date 1 acumed lower extremity congruent plate s acumed llc K033639 1/15/2004 2 titanium cannulated interference screw advanced biomaterial K033749 2/23/2004 3 aesculap absorbable craniofix aesculap, inc. K040080 3/31/2004 4 abc caudal and cranial extension... more
We tabulated the five largest general orthopedic companies' financial results for the 1Q:04. The companies include Stryker, Zimmer, Biomet, Smith & Nephew and Wright Medical, each of which has a market capitalization in excess of $1 billion. Although many subscribers... more
Zimmer reported its 1Q:04 financial results on Monday evening and on Tuesday morning held a 2 hour and 15 minute conference call with industry analysts to discuss its results. Although some analysts may believe that 2 hours is too long... more
The 2004 American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons hit with the speed and intensity of a tornado. It wasn't a destructive tornado but rather a whirlwind of innovative technology and merger activity. Biomet (BMET:NASDAQ) couldn't wait for the official Academy to... more
The 4Q:03 conference call offered the first glimpse into how Zimmer's (NYSE:ZMH) integration of Centerpulse was progressing. Ray Elliott, CEO of the “New Zimmer”, offered some insights. Zimmer currently has “100 fulltime employees managing 250 major integration projects and 1,700... more
Zimmer reported an abridged 4Q:03 financial report last week along with updated guidance for 2004. While many investors have come to expect Zimmer to exceed analyst expectations, we thought the 4Q:03 could represent the most difficult challenge for the Company... more
Capital markets aren't rational. Otherwise, they'd have longer memories. A year ago, when Zimmer was trading at $40.01, DJ Orthopedics was at $3.66, Encore was at $3.20 and LifeCell was at $2.89, you couldn't buy an orthopedic or medical device... more
Was anyone surprised? Since late 2000, Zimmer had an exclusive distribution alliance agreement with Implex. The agreement concerned Implex's unique metal foam (our word) that offered the surgeon a metal implant with a dramatically higher amount of porosity than traditional... more
For the third quarter, with three more companies yet to report, public orthopedic companies have reported that their sales grew 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. To put that into perspective, U.S. GDP grew at a 7.2% annual rate in the... more
86.7% of the outstanding shares of Centerpulse held by individual shareholders or Incentive Capital have been tendered to Zimmer. Ray Elliott, CEO of Zimmer Holdings, is now an ex-officio member of the American Swiss Foundation Board of Directors. (The Foundation... more
Max Link, Centerpulse’s CEO, could get severance pay of nearly five million Swiss francs ($3.53 million) if he leaves the firm within a year of Zimmer's takeover. (Centerpulse, by the way, has declared that its recommendation to shareholders to vote... more
To our surprise, as well as most of the analyst on Wall Street, Smith & Nephew publicly announced its decision not to up its current offer of approximately $2.5 billion in order to triumph Zimmer Holdings approximate $3.1 billion offer.... more
Rejected one year ago... Medtronic came back with new data and CMS, while rejecting InFuse again using one analytical approach found another way to show that InFUSE does indeed meet the threshold requirement for receiving a new technology add-on payment.... more
Zimmer: There is no doubt in our mind that Zimmer is grabbing market share – quickly. It is clear that MIS at Zimmer is bigger than instruments and implants; it is really about (aside from improving patient outcomes) reimbursement. CEO... more
Despite being asked by the Merrill analyst to comment on the prospects for the Next Gen product (manufactured by Zimmer... oops, she meant Next Generation), Biomet's CEO, Dane Miller, was his usual wry self as he announced that overall sales... more
The most valuable orthopedic company in world according to Wall Street is Stryker (SYK:NYSE) at $13.9 billion. With sales this year expected to top $3.5 billion and earnings to clear $2.15 per share, Wall Street is willing to pay 32x... more
On Tuesday of this week, Zimmer's offer becomes official. We think Smith and Nephew will call Zimmer and raise. To stay in, Zimmer will likely have to throw more chips in the pot. Of course, we don't quite know what's... more
It's 8 days and counting. There's been quite a bit of maneuvering on both sides but until Zimmer's offer is official on June 17th, 2003, nothing of substance can happen. This is patently obvious on the Centerpulse website which gives... more
Smith and Nephew (SNN) appeared to be gaining ground last week against Zimmer's strong bid to acquire Swiss based Centerpulse as the Financial Times of London published a series of stories that called into question the stability of Zimmer's offer.... more
We collected a variety of comments this past week about Zimmer's counter bid for Centerpulse. Some came over the email transom, others from phone interviews. The sources included CEOs, surgeons, hospital administrators, VPs of marketing, Zimmer distributors, Centerpulse distributors and... more
Earnings season starts this week with the Tuesday, April 15th release of DePuy/Acromed's first quarter results (as buried in JNJ's release) and continues until mid-May when Sofamor Danek's numbers for the April quarter (Medtronic, Sofamor Danek's parent, is on an... more
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