Boston Scientific shares drop on Q4 sales news

Shares in Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) dropped 8% this morning on news of disappointing fourth-quarter sales.
The company’s preliminary earnings report showed sales for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2019 coming in at $2.9 billion, below the $2.91 billion that analysts were expecting. The unaudited sales figure represents organic growth of 7.3%, missing the company’s own guidance of 8% to 9%.
Sales of cardiac rhythm devices were off the most, by -3.3%, according to a company statement released this morning.
For the full year 2019, Boston Scientific reported preliminary sales of $10.74 billion, which is up 9.3%  and falls within the company’s guidance range of 9% to 9.5% percent. Cardiac rhythm device sales were off 0.6% for the full year, the company reported.
Boston Scientific estimated that it will exceed its previously issued guidance for Q4 2019 earnings of 22¢ to 25¢ and 72¢ to 75¢ per share for the full year 2019, “primarily due to a significant non-cash tax benefit arising from an intra-entity asset transfer of intellectual property completed in the fourth quarter of 2019.” Adjusted Q4 EPS should fall within previously issued guidance of 42¢ to 45¢ per share and between $1.55 and $1.58 per share for the full year 2019, the company noted.
BSX recovered slightly by late morning, trading down 7.14% at $42.22.
Original Article: (https://www.massdevice.com/boston-scientific-shares-drop-on-q4-sales-news/)