Irvine replacement heart valve maker Edwards Lifesciences Corp. on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter results that surpassed Wall Street’s expectations.
Edwards posted a fourth-quarter profit including items of $64.8 million, up 36% from a year earlier.
Excluding items, Edwards’ profit was up 31% to $66.1 million, surpassing analysts’ consensus estimate of $63.6 million. Wall Street estimates generally exclude items and charges.
The device maker’s quarterly sales rose 13% to $392.4 million.
Wall Street had looked for Edwards’ fourth-quarter sales to come in at $384.7 million.
In a release, the company said that its profit jump was the result of strong sales growth of its heart valves and other devices.
Heart valve sales came in at $226.1 million in the fourth quarter, a 20% rise.
Sales of less-invasive heart valves, which have been a major driver of Edwards’ rise on Wall Street, were up 87% to $65.3 million in the quarter.
For 2011, Edwards reiterated an expected sales forecast of $1.59 billion to $1.67 billion, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion.
The company didn’t give a specific profit outlook for 2011. Analysts expect Edwards to make $234.2 million for the full year.
Edwards could see a profit for the current quarter of $48 million to $50.4 million. Wall Street had been expecting a $51.6 million first-quarter profit.
