Medical device manufacturer Stryker Corporation failed to meet Wall Street projections for the first quarter on Thursday, as the company faced declining demand for surgical implants and equipment used in complicated medical procedures including spine and joint surgeries.
The Michigan-headquartered firm, known for producing joint replacement devices and bone repair implants, kept its yearly earnings forecast unchanged at $14.90 to $15.10 per share on an adjusted basis.
Following the earnings announcement, Stryker’s stock price dropped 1.8% during after-hours trading.
The company’s performance may have been impacted by a damaging cyber incident that occurred in March, when the Iranian-affiliated hacking collective Handala took credit for attacking Stryker’s computer systems. This breach reportedly disrupted company operations, restricted system access, and caused delays in some surgical procedures.
While company employees and contractors posted on social media claiming the hacking group’s logo appeared on their computer login screens, Reuters could not independently confirm these reports.
In the competitive orthopedic device market, Stryker faces rivalry from major players Zimmer Biomet and Johnson & Johnson, with all three companies vying for dominance in areas including hip and knee replacement surgery, trauma care, and sports medicine treatments.
Revenue from Stryker’s largest division, medical surgery and neurotechnology, climbed 5% to reach $3.21 billion during the quarter, though this fell below analyst projections of $3.83 billion.
The orthopedics division performed better, generating $2.81 billion in sales for a 6.3% increase that exceeded analyst forecasts of $2.51 billion.
For the quarter ending March 31, Stryker recorded overall revenue of $6.02 billion, which came in under the $6.35 billion that analysts had anticipated, based on LSEG data.
On an adjusted basis, the company posted earnings of $2.60 per share, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 per share.
