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What's in Store for Edwards Lifesciences (EW) in Q1 Earnings?

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Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (EW - Free Report) is slated to report first-quarter 2021 results on Apr 20, after market close.

In the last-reported quarter, the company posted a negative earnings surprise of 5.66%.

Let's see how things have shaped up prior to this announcement.

Factors at Play

Critical Care

The first-quarter results are again expected to reflect a mixed performance by the core Critical Care product group. The pandemic has continued to impact procedural volumes in the segment on lesser hospital and physician office visits. Despite robust demand for products used in cardiac surgeries, procedural deferrals over the past few months are expected to adversely impact the overall top line.

Also, an expected decline in HemoSphere orders from hospitals in the United States due to the pandemic-led continued limit on capital spending is likely to have weighed on the top line.

However, management is optimistic about robust customer adoption of the TruWave disposable pressure monitoring devices despite the challenging pandemic-led market conditions. These are likely to be reflected in the first-quarter results.

Surgical Structural Heart

Within the Surgical Structural Heart Group, the company is expected to have witnessed continued business recovery during the first quarter after being adversely impacted by pandemic-led disruptions. Edwards Lifesciences is optimistic about a robust global adoption of its premium RESILIA tissue valves, including the INSPIRIS aortic surgical valve and the KONECT aortic valve conduit. The INSPIRIS valve utilization, akin to the previous quarter, is expected to have continued with strong sales momentum in the first quarter, banking on increased demand by patients. In Europe, the HARPOON mitral valve repair system is expected to have continued its momentum in the first quarter as well.

However, management is concerned about the continued influx of COVID-19 patients in hospitals over the past few months, which has limited surgical procedures. This is likely to result in depressed first-quarter revenues.

Other Factors at Play

Within the Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement arm, the company is expected to have continued to record increased global sales in the first quarter, banking on robust adoption of the SAPIEN valve platform. The momentum of the SAPIEN 3 Ultra platform is likely to have continued during the first quarter as well, primarily due to strong customer adoptions. Further, the company’s top line is expected to have benefited from favorable clinician feedback on improved paravalvular leak performance of the SAPIEN 3 Ultra.

However, despite robust customer adoption of the SAPIEN platform, the resurgence of COVID-19 infections is likely to have impacted procedural volumes. This is expected to have led to softer revenues in the to-be-reported quarter.

Outside the United States, the SAPIEN 3 transcatheter heart valve is likely to have witnessed strong customer adoption in both China and Japan.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the segment’s first-quarter revenues is pegged at $761 million, implying a decline of 1.9% from the sequentially last quarter’s reported figure.

The company’s Transcatheter Mitral and Tricuspid Therapies segment’s PASCAL transcatheter valve repair system and the newly-introduced PASCAL Ace are likely to have continued their strong momentum in the first quarter. Further, sales proceeds from the PASCAL ACE implant system and progress of both transfemoral EVOQUE and SAPIEN M3 platforms are likely to have contributed to the first-quarter top line.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the segment’s first-quarter revenues is pegged at $14.5 million, implying an uptick of 38.1% from the year-earlier quarter’s reported figure.

The Estimate Picture

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter 2021 revenues is pegged at $1.16 billion, suggesting an improvement of 2.8% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter 2021 earnings is pegged at 47 cents, indicating a fall of 6% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.

What Our Model Suggests

Per our proven model, a stock with the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) has higher chances of beating estimates. However, this is not the case here as you can see:

Earnings ESP: Edwards Lifesciences has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Stocks Worth a Look

Here are a few medical stocks worth considering as these have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings this reporting cycle.

The Cooper Companies, Inc. (COO - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +4.43% and a Zacks Rank of 2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Heska Corporation has an Earnings ESP of +280% and a Zacks Rank of 2, at present.

AbbVie Inc. (ABBV - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +2.54% and is a Zacks #2 Ranked stock.

5 Stocks Set to Double

Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2020. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth.

Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.

Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>

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