BOSTON—In the nearly two years since the sales-sucking black hole that was 2020, Boston Scientific has dug itself out of that earnings hole—and then some.
The company has posted seven straight quarters of upward sales growth since the beginning of 2021, the most recent of which saw the devicemaker calculate an 8.1% increase in the third quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2021.
And while the previous quarter’s relatively modest 5.4% growth marked a downshift from the 10% rise that kicked off the year—not to mention, from the gargantuan 53% increase Boston Scientific boasted in the second quarter of 2021—the latest results indicate a return to upward mobility, edging out the company’s own estimates for the quarter.
Its quarterly total added up to $3.17 billion, according to a Wednesday earnings report. Not only is that sales haul larger than Boston Scientific’s third-quarter results from the two preceding years, it also tops pre-pandemic levels: During the same period in 2019, the company clocked sales of just over $2.7 billion.
With its core businesses now arranged under two distinct umbrellas—thanks to a restructuring that kicked off at the beginning of this year—the medtech reported solid growth in both its medical surgical and cardiovascular divisions.
The latter was the stronger of the two. Encompassing the company’s cardiology and peripheral interventions businesses, it saw just over 9% in net sales growth. The MedSurg division—which includes endoscopy, neuromodulation, and urology and pelvic health categories—reported a year-over-year increase of 6.5%.
On a regional basis, the Americas led the way: The U.S. boasted a 12% rise for the quarter, dwarfed only by Latin America and Canada’s more than 20% increase. The Asia-Pacific and European, Middle Eastern and African regions, meanwhile, stayed close to stagnant compared to last year’s numbers.
Altogether, the results were slightly higher than Boston Scientific had expected; earlier this year, it predicted that it would generate sales growth of between 6% and 8% for the third quarter. Even so, the company slightly tempered its full-year expectations. After suggesting last quarter that sales growth for all of 2022 would land between 6.5% and 7.5%, it has now trimmed off that upper limit for a straightforward forecast of 6.5% growth for the year.
Boston Scientific’s third-quarter success came after a roller coaster ride of highs and lows for the company. The highs included CE mark clearance in Europe for its Lux-Dx insertable cardiac monitor system to detect arrhythmias and an expanded FDA approval for the Watchman FLX left atrial appendage closure device. It also closed the acquisition of Obsidio, developer of a hydrogel technology that aims to slow or stop the flow of blood to a tumor or other abnormality.
On the downside, the company announced in August that it had begun an investigation into a whistleblower letter detailing alleged violations of U.S. law governing international operations in its Vietnamese business. And in mid-September, it released results showing that the Sentinel device had missed its primary endpoint in a study examining the device’s ability to catch potentially dangerous debris that may come loose during transcatheter aortic valve replacement procedures.