Top Performer for Tues: Kinetic Concepts (KCI)

Shares of Kinetic Concepts, Inc. (KCI - Snapshot Report) are up more than 6% so far today after announcing second-quarter EPS that surpassed the consensus. That gain is enough for KCI to make the Zacks #1 Rank Top Performers List for Tuesday.

KCI is a leading global medical technology company devoted to the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of innovative, high-technology therapies and products for the wound care, tissue regeneration and therapeutic support system markets. The company is part of the Medical Products industry, and is the only company from that space on the Zacks #1 Rank List, which includes 231 stocks today.

Volume is currently at about 1.4 million shares, which is sharply higher than the average of 667,000.

Second Quarter EPS Beats

Earlier today, the company announced adjusted earnings per share of 98 cents, which matched the year-ago result and beat the consensus by 2 cents.

Meanwhile, revenue totaled $491.3 million, which is up 6% year over year from $462.1 million. Some significant developments in the quarter included a 22% gain in Regenerative Medicine revenue, a 3% rise in Worldwide Vacuum Assisted Closure (V.A.C.) revenue on a constant currency basis and an approximately 2% rise in North American V.A.C. Therapy revenue.

(By the way, according to the company, the V.A.C. Therapy System has been clinically demonstrated to promote wound healing through unique mechanisms of action while reducing the overall cost of treating patients with complex wounds.)

"We recently introduced our highly innovative open abdominal wound system, AbThera, to operating room surgeons in the U.S. and Europe and we are on track with our plans for the launch of V.A.C. Therapy in Japan," stated President and CEO Catherine Burzik. "We look forward to the second half of the year with confidence."

KCI reaffirmed its previous outlook for 2009 of adjusted EPS between $3.95 and $4.10 on total revenue of $1.95 billion to $2 billion.

Earnings Estimates on the Rise

Now, we'll have to wait and see how today's quarterly report will impact the views of the analysts.

However, even before its second-quarter report, earnings estimates on KCI had been moving in the right direction. Analysts currently expect earnings per share of $3.87 for this year, which is up 11.5% from $3.47 over the past 2 months.

Expectations for next year are up 5% in that time to $4.18, which also marks an 8% advance over the profit estimate for the current year.