West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) shares dipped slightly despite third-quarter results that topped the consensus forecast.
The Exton, Pa.-based company posted profits of $82.3 million, or $1.09 per share, on sales of $548 million for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2020, for a 46.2% bottom-line gain on sales growth of 0.3%.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were $1.15, 16¢ ahead of Wall Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $510.1 million
The company saw 22.1% growth in its proprietary products segment, with high-value product (HVP) components representing over 65% of segment sales, while its biologics market unit saw double-digit growth.
Contract-manufactured products chipped in with 14% growth in the segment with healthcare-related injection and diagnostic devices providing strong sales figures.
“Third-quarter results were robust across the entire business, led by HVP and biologics,” West president & CEO Eric Green said in a news release. “Additionally, we benefited from incremental sales related to the COVID-19 pandemic including components used with treatments and supporting therapies as well as potential vaccines currently in clinical trials.
“I am proud of our team members for their relentless passion and sense of urgency to help our customers and the patients we jointly serve. Continued excellence in executing our market-led strategy and our global operations position us well for the remainder of the year and into 2021.”
West said it now expects to log adjusted EPS of between $4.50 and $4.55, compared to a prior range of $4.15 and $4.25, and updated its prior sales guidance for between $2.10 billion and $2.11 billion.
WST shares were down -1.1% at $281.33 per share in mid-afternoon trading today. MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — was up 2.4%.
