(Reuters) – Stryker Corp forecast 2024 profit above Wall Street estimates on Tuesday, banking on a post-pandemic pick-up in volume for certain surgical procedures at hospitals to drive sales for its medical and surgical devices.
Shares of the med-tech firm rose 3.2% to about $327 after the bell.
Demand for medical devices has recently seen a surge as older adults in the United States are returning to hospitals for procedures such as joint replacements that were put off during the pandemic.
The joint-implant maker sees its 2024 per share profit in the $11.70-$12.00 range, above analysts’ estimates of $11.56, according to LSEG data.
Larger rival and industry bellwether Johnson & Johnson, which also reported better-than-expected medical device unit sales last week, said it expected med-tech related procedures to remain high in 2024.
Stryker, which offers implants for joint replacement, trauma and spine-based surgeries, surgical equipment, among other products, recorded full-year 2023 sales of $20.5 billion, beating estimates of $20.28 billion.
The Michigan-based company sees 2024 organic net sales growth to be in the range of 7.5% to 9.0%.
Its quarterly revenue rose 11.5% to $5.82 billion, compared with estimates of $5.60 billion.
Sales at Stryker’s medical surgery and neurotechnology unit, rose 12.5% to $3.43 billion, while sales in the orthopedics and spine segment rose 11.6% to $2.39 billion.
On an adjusted basis, the company reported a profit of $3.46 per share for the quarter ended Dec. 31, beating analysts’ estimates of $3.27.
(Reporting by Puyaan Singh and Pratik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)