NxStage plunges on 4Q loss and outlook
NEW YORK --Shares of dialysis product maker NxStage Medical Inc. sank to an annual low Tuesday after the company reported a larger-than-expected loss in the fourth quarter, and forecast losses beyond analyst estimates in the coming year.
NxStage said its loss widened to $17.4 million, or 47 cents per share, from $10.4 million, or 37 cent per share a year ago. The company said it took $3.2 million in unexpected charges related to its October buyout of medical device maker Medisystems Corp., a former supplier to NxStage.
Revenue more than tripled to $29.9 million, with $15.7 million in sales coming from Medisystems. Revenue from chronic home dialysis products doubled, and critical care product sales more than doubled.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected NxStage to report a smaller loss of 34 cents per share on $28 million in sales, however, and the stock tumbled $3.32, or 26 percent, to $9.43 in heavy trading. Earlier, the stock fell to $8.05, its lowest price since January 2007.
In the first quarter, NxStage said it expects to lose between 38 cents and 41 cents per share, excluding stock-based compensation costs, on revenue of $29 million to $31 million. For the year, it expects to lose $1.41 to $1.52 per share on $130 million to $140 million in sales.
Analysts were expecting a loss of 30 cents per share on $30 million in revenue in the first quarter, and a full-year loss of 92 cents per share on $136.7 million in revenue.
In 2007, NxStage's loss grew to $1.86 per share, and revenue nearly tripled to $60 million.
The company said it was working with dialysis centers to provide treatment to 2,223 end-stage kidney disease patients at the end of 2007. It expects that number to rise to a range of 3,700 to 4,100 patients at the end of 2008. 