Penumbra stock gapped up Wednesday after the medtech company beat fourth-quarter expectations, though its revenue guidance came in shy.
The Alameda, Calif.-based company sells tools and systems that perform thrombectomy. This is the process of mechanically removing a blood clot.
During the fourth quarter, Penumbra earned an adjusted 97 cents per share on $315.5 million in sales. Earnings climbed almost 28% and topped projections by 7 cents. Sales rose about 11%. Forecasts called for a lower $311 million, Needham analyst Mike Matson said in a report.
Penumbra stock jumped 12% to 30376. Shares hit their highest point since mid-2023.
Penumbra Stock Jumps On Thrombectomy Sales
Matson noted overall thrombectomy sales grew 17% year over year in constant currency, improving from 14% growth in the third quarter. Overall sales came in at $222.7 million, ahead of his estimate for $211.7 million. He noted Penumbra's Lightning Flash and Bolt products drove the growth.
Meanwhile, embolization and access growth was 5%, mirroring the third quarter. Embolization does the opposite of thrombectomy — it blocks a blood vessel to stop bleeding, treat cancer and aneurysms, and close of abnormal blood vessels.
This segment missed forecasts, bringing in $$98.6 million in sales vs. Matson's call for $99.5 million. Penumbra exited several low-reimbursement international markets during the quarter.
Matson kept his hold rating on Penumbra stock.
Guidance Comes In Light
The company guided to $1.34 billion to $1.36 billion in sales, up 12% to 14%. Penumbra expects its U.S. thrombectomy business to grow 19% to 20% this year, driven by its computer-assisted vacuum thrombectomy products.
The outlook came in a hair light, lagging expectations for $1.362 billion, Matson said. But he noted Penumbra didn't offer any insight into its Thunderbolt product. Thunderbolt is in testing for patients with acute ischemic stroke.
Thunderbolt "could become a significant growth driver when it is launched," he said. Penumbra still hasn't presented data from its most recent study, called Thunder, to the Food and Drug Administration. And there are two conferences in July and November where the company could present the results of the Thunder study.
Top 2% Profitability
Penumbra stock is trading well above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, MarketSurge shows.
Shares have a strong IBD Digital Composite Rating of 96. This means Penumbra stock ranks in the top 4% of all stocks when it comes to fundamental and technical measures. Shares also have a nearly perfect EPS Rating of 98, a 1-99 measure of recent profitability.
Follow Allison Gatlin on X/Twitter at @AGatlin_IBD.
