(Reuters) – GE HealthCare Technologies Inc raised its annual profit forecast on Tuesday, after beating quarterly earnings estimates due to easing supply chain issues that had largely impacted electronic components during the pandemic.
The X-ray and ultrasound machine maker managed to keep its costs in check while also seeing an improvement in production and pricing due to availability of electronic components, an issue it had been grappling with along with other industries.
GE HealthCare’s cost of products rose nearly 9% in the second quarter from a year ago, compared to a faster 11% growth in sales. A surge in demand for healthcare services is driving recovery in the purchase of capital intensive equipment.
Johnson & Johnson and Abbott Laboratories, which make medical devices like heart stents and implants, surpassed quarterly profit estimates last week as patients underwent their delayed procedures.
GE HealthCare on Tuesday reported total quarterly sales of $4.8 billion, in line with analysts’ estimates. Of this, $2.6 billion came from sales of imaging devices such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and $839 million from ultrasound devices.
GE HealthCare is one of the three companies that split from General Electric earlier in January.
The healthcare equipment firm operates four medical device businesses – imaging and ultrasound devices, patient care solutions and pharmaceutical diagnostics – with imaging being the largest.
On an adjusted basis, the medical device maker now expects 2023 profit of $3.70 to $3.85 per share, up from its previous forecast of $3.60 to $3.75 per share.
Excluding items, GE HealthCare earned 92 cents per share in the quarter ended June, ahead of Refinitiv IBES estimates of 87 cents per share.
(Reporting by Khushi Mandowara in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
