NuVasive reports 36.3% increase in first-quarter 2010 revenue

NuVasive, Inc. (Nasdaq: NUVA), a medical device company focused on developing products for minimally disruptive surgical treatments for the spine, announced today financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2010.

NuVasive reported first quarter revenue of $109.1 million, a 36.3% increase over the $80.0 million for the first quarter 2009 and a 2.0% increase over the $106.9 million for the fourth quarter 2009.

Gross profit for the first quarter 2010 was $89.6 million and gross margin was 82.2%, compared to a gross profit of $67.0 million and a gross margin of 83.8% for the first quarter 2009. For the fourth quarter 2009, gross profit was $88.9 million and gross margin was 83.2%.  

Total operating expenses for the first quarter 2010 were $86.7 million compared to $70.4 million in the first quarter 2009 and $84.7 million in the fourth quarter 2009.  

On a GAAP basis, the Company reported net income of $1.1 million, or $0.03 per share, for the first quarter 2010.  

On a Non-GAAP basis, the Company reported net income of $8.3 million, or $0.21 per share, for the first quarter 2010.  The Non-GAAP earnings per share calculations for the first quarter exclude on a pre-tax basis (i) intellectual property litigation costs of $1.3 million; (ii) acquisition related costs of $0.4 million; (iii) stock-based compensation of $6.4 million; and (iv) amortization of intangible assets of $1.4 million.

Cash, cash equivalents and short and long-term marketable securities were $208.1 million at March 31, 2010.

Alex Lukianov, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "We exceeded our expectations, achieving revenue growth of over 35%, driven by continued adoption of the XLIF® technology, stronger traction from our new product launches, and aided in part by the positive reimbursement progress during the quarter.  Our financial performance across earnings and operating cash flow signal a great start to what will be another outstanding year.  Today's results mark NuVasive's 24th quarter, and 6th year, of consecutively meeting or exceeding expectations as a public company.  Our keen focus on being the most creative spine technology company in the world and achieving exceptional results through speed of innovation, Absolute Responsiveness®, and superior clinical outcomes will continue to drive us toward our goal of becoming the #4 global spine company."

Full Year 2010 Financial Guidance:

• Revenue of $480 million to $500 million
• GAAP EPS, net of tax and "If-converted" method, of $1.58 to $1.70
• Non-GAAP EPS, net of tax and "If-converted" method, of $1.13 to $1.25
• Non-GAAP Operating Margin of ~17%

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Information

Management uses certain Non-GAAP financial measures such as Non-GAAP earnings per share, which exclude intellectual property litigation expenses, acquisition related items, non-cash stock-based compensation, and the amortization of intangible assets.  Management does not consider these costs in evaluating the continuing operations of the Company.  Therefore, management calculates the Non-GAAP financial measures provided in this earnings release excluding these costs and uses these Non-GAAP financial measures to enable it to analyze further, and more consistently, the period-to-period financial performance of its core business operations.  Management believes that providing investors with these Non-GAAP measures gives them additional important information to enable them to assess, in the same way management assesses, the Company's current and future continuing operations.  These Non-GAAP measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative for, GAAP, and may be different from Non-GAAP measures used by other companies.  Set forth below are reconciliations of the Non-GAAP financial measures to the comparable GAAP financial measure.