By Christiana Sciaudone
Investing.com -- Align (NASDAQ:ALGN) Technology soared more than 34% on Thursday, a day after it reported third quarter results at the close that soundly beat expectations.
The maker of Invisalign teeth straighteners posted profit of $1.76 a share on $734.1 million in revenue. Those numbers easily topped analyst expectations for EPS of $1.28 and revenue of $592 million, respectively. Shipments also came in above consensus.
The company said positive signs continued into the fourth quarter: "Our overall revenue momentum has continued into October and we are encouraged by positive feedback from Invisalign providers," Chief Executive Officer Joe Hogan said in a statement.
Analysts praised the results. Piper, SVB Leerink and Stifel all raised their price targets on the stock. Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) analyst Brandon Couillard said the "striking velocity" of Align's recovery partly reflects an unexpected "Zoom effect" of adult consumers using pent-up disposable income on a better smile, according to Thefly.com.
Competitor SmileDirectClub (NASDAQ:SDC) Inc. was also higher after the results, up 13%.