Hearing implant maker Envoy Medical rises on nine-month earnings
Shares of Envoy Medical, a hearing implant maker, rose nearly 9% on Thursday, November 14, buoyed by earnings for the first nine months of the year. While the top line declined over 17% year over year, the company’s loss per share narrowed almost 60%. Earlier, Envoy Medical had announced U.S. regulatory approval to start trials on one of its hearing implants and CPT codes for another. The latter development paves the way for potential insurance coverage for the device.
Details
Envoy Medical stock gained 8.67% on the Nasdaq on Thursday to close at $2.13 per share. It is now up over 17% since the beginning of the year and more than 134% over the last 12 months.
In its nine-month financials released earlier in the day on Thursday, the company disclosed a revenue drop of more than 17% year over year to $183,000. This was attributed mostly to lower demand for battery replacements for its Esteem middle ear implant, along with supply chain issues. However, the loss per share for the same period narrowed significantly, falling nearly 60% to $1.03.
About the company
Envoy Medical develops fully implanted devices for people with hearing loss. Currently, its portfolio includes two products: One is Esteem, for adults with moderate or severe hearing loss, which has already been approved by the U.S. FDA. The device received five CPT codes in October from the American Medical Association, which marks the first step toward potential insurance coverage for Esteem. Healthcare providers and insurers use the codes to identify, track, and pay for medical services and procedures. Note that a bill in the U.S. Senate that would classify Esteem as a prosthetic, enabling coverage by the federal health insurance program Medicare, has yet to be passed.
The second product is the Acclaim implant for adults with severe or profound hearing loss that cannot be corrected by hearing aids. Until recently, it was classified as an experimental device. On November 1, the FDA granted Envoy approval to start clinical trials of Acclaim.
Analyst insights
According to MarketWatch, four analysts currently cover Envoy Medical. They unanimously rate the stock as a “buy,” with an average target price of $7.19 per share. This is more than three times the November 14 closing price.
