Investing.com -- Shares in Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (N:EW) rose sharply in after-hours trading, after the global leader in the science of heart valves and hermodynamic monitoring saw its revenues surge by more than 12% for the third quarter.
Over the third quarter of fiscal year, which ended in late September, Edwards Lifesciences saw its sales increase to $615.5 million, amid strong sales growth in its nonsurgical heart valves. The Southern California-based company's underlying sales, which excludes the effects of foreign currency translation, surged by 13.6% for the period. Nevertheless, the effects of a stronger dollar tamped down on revenues, which fell below analysts' forecasts of $631 million for the period.
In addition, the company reported Transcatheter Heart Valve Therapy (THV) sales of $296.1 million, a 10.8 percent growth rate over the third quarter from 2014. It comes as the company continues preparations for the rollout of its SAPIEN 3 valve for the treatment of high-risk patients suffering from severe aortic stenosis. In June, the company received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for commercial use of its most advanced transcatheter aortic heart valve. The SAPIEN 3 valve has been commercially available in Europe since January, 2014.
"Strong third quarter results were driven by total underlying sales growth of 14 percent," said Edwards Lifesciences CEO Michael A. Mussallem in a statement. "Adoption of our SAPIEN 3 transcatheter valve system continued to propel our growth, which exceeded our projections. Furthermore, the growing body of compelling clinical outcomes gives us confidence that with expanded evidence, larger populations of patients suffering from aortic stenosis will be eligible for (aortic valve replacement)."
For the year as a whole, Edwards Lifesciences increased its underlying sales forward guidance to between $1.1 billion and $1.2 billion. In terms of non-GAAP earnings per share, the company also increased its full-year outlook to a range of $4.43 to $4.53.
"Based on our year-to-date results and the strong demand for SAPIEN 3, we now expect our underlying THV sales in 2015 to be at the high end of our previously estimated 25 to 35 percent growth rate," Mussallem added.
Shares in Edwards Lifesciences jumped 8.61 or 5.86% to 155.50 in after-hours trading.