Ultrasound and miniPACS vendor Acuson has announced that its first-quarter financial results will fall below company expectations and analysts' estimates. For the period (end-April 1), Acuson expects to report revenue between $110 million and $112 million, with earnings of $.05 and $.07 per share. Analysts' expectations ranged from $0.11 to $0.12 per share, according to the Mountain View, CA-based vendor.
While orders for the firm's core ultrasound products met expectations and showed strong growth over the first quarter of 1999, later-than-expected receipt of those orders resulted in the company's failure to achieve revenue targets, according to Acuson CEO and chairman Samuel Maslak.
In addition, sales of Acuson's new KinetDx PACS offering were lower than expected. Although initial customer acceptance of KinetDx has been positive, it took longer than anticipated to roll out the product, Maslak said. Volume shipments of KinetDx began in March.
Strong sales of the firm's Cypress low-cost echocardiography system were a bright spot in the quarter, according to Acuson. Targeted at the low-to-mid-range echocardiography market, Cypress will begin shipping in the middle of the year.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writersApril 18, 2000
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