Tandem shuffles C-suite, beats The Street with Q4 results

Tandem Diabetes Care (NSDQ:TNDM) beat estimates on Wall Street today with its fourth-quarter and full-year financial results.

The company also announced today that its CEO, Kim Blickenstaff, plans to assume the role of executive chairman and that COO John Sheridan will become president and CEO on March 1.

Tandem posted fourth-quarter profits of $3.7 million, or 6¢ per share, on sales of $76.2 million for the three months ended Dec. 31. Quarterly sales were up 89% compared with the same period last year.

Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share were 2¢, ahead of consensus on The Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $56.4 million.

For the full year of 2018, Tandem posted a net loss of -$122.6 million on sales of $183.7 million.

“2018 was both extraordinary and transformative for our company, as we entered the year fighting for a place in the domestic insulin pump market and exited as a global leader in diabetes technology,” president & CEO Kim Blickenstaff said in prepared remarks. “All of the same catalysts that drove our growth in 2018 are still in place: our differentiated pump platform, automated insulin delivery algorithms, international expansion and the underlying passion of our employees to improve the lives of people with diabetes. Together, they present us with a tremendous opportunity for the year ahead.”

Earlier this month, the FDA reported that it established Tandem’s t:slim X2 insulin pump as the first in a new category of devices called ‘Alternate Controller Enabled Infusion Pumps’ or ACE pumps.

The newly-approved indication for Tandem’s t:slim X2 pump clears the device to communicate with compatible products, including insulin dosing software and continuous glucose monitors.

Want to stay on top of DDBN content? Sign up for our e-mail newsletter for a weekly dose of drug-device news.