Merit Medical: 4Q Earnings Snapshot

SOUTH JORDAN, Utah (AP) _ Merit Medical Systems Inc. (MMSI) on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter net income of $15.4 million, after reporting a loss in the same period a year earlier.

On a per-share basis, the South Jordan, Utah-based company said it had profit of 27 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 54 cents per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 43 cents per share.

The maker of disposable medical devices posted revenue of $258 million in the period, also surpassing Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $250.4 million.

For the year, the company reported a loss of $9.8 million, or 18 cents per share, swinging to a loss in the period. Revenue was reported as $963.9 million.

Merit Medical expects full-year earnings in the range of $1.84 to $1.98 per share, with revenue in the range of $990 million to $1.01 billion.

Merit Medical shares have increased almost 2% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $56.46, a rise of 46% in the last 12 months.

_____

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on MMSI at https://www.zacks.com/ap/MMSI