Why Abiomed Shares Popped

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Abiomed (NAS: ABMD) , a manufacturer of medical devices focused on the heart, rose just over 10% this morning following the company's fourth-quarter earnings results.

So what: For the quarter, Abiomed reported a huge jump in sales (43%) for its lead product, the Impella implantable heart pump, which helps patients' hearts recover from surgery or severe trauma. Total revenue for the quarter rose 31% to $37.3 million with the company reporting a profit of $0.06 per share. Although profit only met Wall Street's expectations, sales surpassed the consensus figure by $2.3 million. This also marked the first time in 15 years that Abiomed has reported an annual profit ($0.04 in EPS) -- better late than never, right?

Now what: Even though Abiomed didn't give specific earnings guidance, it did note in its report that sales growth should be in the 20%-25% range, or $152 million-$157 million. This is also ahead of the current $150.5 million consensus on Wall Street. But we have to ask ourselves if it's worth getting exuberant over a company that took 15 years off between turning a profit. I like the product pipeline and the sales potential is absolutely there, but it's going to take a lot more to get me to give Abiomed two thumbs-up than a $0.04 annual profit.

Craving more input? Start by adding Abiomed to your free and personalized watchlist so you can keep up on the latest news with the company.

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributorSean Williamshas no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen nameTMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen nameTrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle@TMFUltraLong.Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.

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