Insulet (Nasdaq:PODD) today reported first-quarter financial results that came in well ahead of the consensus forecast on Wall Street.
Shares of PODD ticked up 5% to $175.79 before the market opened today. However, at midday, shares were down 8.2% at $153.78 apiece, potentially in response to scrutiny over U.S. trends and new patient starts.
The Acton, Massachusetts-based automated insulin pump developer reported profits of $91.1 million. That equals $1.30 per share on sales of $761.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2026.
Insulet recorded a significant bottom-line gain from profits of $35.4 million this time a year ago on a sales increase of 33.9%.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share came in at $1.42. That landed 22¢ ahead of expectations on Wall Street. Sales also topped the estimates as experts projected $729.9 million in revenue.
Insulet said its sales growth exceeded the high end of its guidance range of 25% to 27% at constant currency rates. Total Omnipod revenue reached $758.4 million, rising 36.9%.
Recent highlights for the company include Omnipod rollouts in the Middle East, as well as advances in fully closed-loop insulin delivery. The company also kicked off the year with its debut at CES. Insulet also noted that it repurchased 1.25 million shares of common stock.
For the full year, Insulet now expects total revenue growth between 21% and 23%. That marks a 1% increase at both ends from the company’s prior guidance provided in February.
Ashley McEvoy, Insulet president and CEO, said:
“We started the year strong, delivering continued growth momentum and robust operating margin expansion in the first quarter. Our team executed on our strategic priorities, growing our global Podder community and strengthening our leadership in the AID market, and we are raising our total company revenue growth outlook to reflect our progress. We are confident in our ability to achieve our long‑term growth objectives by accelerating innovation, developing our markets, strengthening our commercial engine, and scaling our global operations.”
McEvoy will be taking part in a keynote conversation at DeviceTalks Boston May 27-28 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Learn more and register here.
More from Insulet leadership on the company’s Q1 earnings call
On the company’s first-quarter earnings call, McEvoy touted growth in new customer starts year-over-year. However, she also noted “greater-than-normal seasonality,” which the company attributes to the annual reset of deductibles impacting patient co-pays and co-insurance. As a result, Insulet saw what appeared to be a “slower start to the year across the U.S. diabetes category.”
Insulet also has plans for a rollout of a next-generation Omnipod algorithm, outlined last year. McEvoy expects that launch this quarter. Simulated analyses demonstrated a 5% improvement in time in range when switching target glucose settings from 120 milligrams to a new, 100-milligram option offered by the algorithm.
McEvoy also touched on the company’s recent serious recall for the Omnipod 5, saying the team “rapidly responded” and “implemented targeted fixes for the applicable manufacturing process.”
“Manufacturing disposable, sophisticated electromechanical devices at consumer scale and medical quality is a complex process,” McEvoy said. “We continue to believe that our ability to meet the unique manufacturing demands of tubeless AID remains a source of strategic and financial advantage.”
Analysts on the call pointed to potential conservatism in the company’s guidance for 2026. CFO Flavia Pease said that expanded access globally, including with new sensors like Dexcom’s G7 15 Day and Abbott’s coming dual analyte sensor, should help drive growth and allay concerns over the guidance.
“We feel very, very confident that we have the right innovation and commercial levers to continue to support the 20% growth that we put out,” Pease said.
McEvoy added that the company refined its strategy when she took over a year ago, marking a slight shift in how it approaches guidance.
“Our goal is to outperform, and our quarter one results reflect this, along with our increasing full year outlook for the year,” she said.
The analysts’ take
BTIG analysts Marie Thibault, Alexandra Pang and Sam Eiber maintained a “Buy” rating for Insulet after the earnings release.
The analysts note that U.S. starts declined as a result of the seasonality mentioned by McEvoy. This, the analysts say, could also be attributed to the expiration of enhanced ACA subsidies.
“Management believes this was temporary and noted they have been seeing improving trends on a month-over-month basis during the quarter and into April,” the analysts said. “The voluntary medical device recall did not impact new customer starts in the quarter. Utilization and retention rates have remained stable along with a slight pricing benefit.”
Additionally, the analysts note that Insulet intends to expand its salesforce and invest in innovation while building out capacity across operational, manufacturing and quality management functions. They also stress company management’s confidence in its long-term outlook.
“We see this as a solid start to the year and though we think investors continue to scrutinize the U.S. AID market and coming competitive dynamics, we think that [Insulet] can sustain strong growth throughout the rest of the year,” the analysts said.
