Edwards Lifesciences posts lower-than-expected sales of heart device; shares fall

(Reuters) -Edwards Lifesciences Corp on Wednesday reported a rise in third-quarter sales, but lower-than-expected sales of the company's artificial heart valves pushed the device maker's shares down 7% after the bell.

Medical device makers are lately benefiting from a rebound in non-urgent procedures that were otherwise delayed by pandemic-induced curbs, along with the easing of staffing pressure in the United States.

However, heart surgeries have not recovered as fast as some other procedures, hurting medical device makers banking on a strong rebound.

Sales of Edward's transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), a device used to perform minimally invasive surgery for people with heart valve disease, rose 11% to $960.9 million in the third quarter.

Analysts had expected TAVR sales of $964.40 million, according to LSEG data.

CFO Scott Ullem said the company expects to end up in the middle of the range for the full-year sales growth forecast of its TAVR devices, which is 10% to 13%.

TAVR, which is Edward Lifesciences' lead product segment, is facing an increased competition from rivals like Abbott, Boston Scientific and Medtronic.

Edward reiterated its full-year forecast for profit, total revenue, and sales of its TAVR devices.

For the fourth quarter, the company expects total sales between $1.45 billion and $1.53 billion, below analysts' expectation of $1.54 billion.

For the quarter ended Sept. 30, revenue came in at $1.48 billion in line with the analysts' estimates.

Excluding items, for the reported quarter, the company reported a profit of 59 cents per share, which was also in line with estimates.

(Reporting by Khushi Mandowara in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)