Anika Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANIK) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Jim Sidoti: All right. And then if you look at the quarter you reported 14% growth for joint preservation and that’s without any contribution from the new sales folks and you’re very early in the launch cycle for Integrity and RevoMotion and X-Twist. So, is it fair to say that you — I know you said double-digit growth, but that’s a pretty general term. Would you be disappointed if joint preservation didn’t accelerate from the 14%?

Mike Levitz: Jim, it’s Mike. I’ll take that question. We were very pleased given as you said how early we are with these new product launches to see that 14% growth number. And that growth was — the double-digit nature of that growth was driven by the new products. That being said, we also benefited in the quarter from strong international sales and some of that is timing because of the lumpiness of that business. And so that’s why — that’s reflected in our guidance for the year of 9% to 10% growth for the year in joint preservation. So, we’ll give more clarity around the full year guidance in terms of specifics next year. But I think the key takeaway from our perspective is it’s great to now have these products on the market. It’s great to see the initial feedback that we’re getting. It is still early but we’re excited for what that can ramp and we do expect that to be double-digit growth here in 2024 in joint preservation.

Jim Sidoti: Okay. All right. Thank you.

Cheryl Blanchard: Thanks Jim.

Operator: Thank you. And our next question today is a follow-up from George Sellers. Please go ahead.

George Sellers: Thanks for the additional question. I’m just curious as we think about 2024 and nearing that breakeven net income point, how much of that margin improvement is related to positive mix associated with some of these new product launches versus just maintaining the cost controls that you mentioned earlier?

Mike Levitz: That’s a great question. If you look at where we’re trending right now, we hit breakeven this quarter. So, I think we’ve demonstrated that we have line of sight to doing that. I think we have a lot of exciting things happening in 2024 and we’re expecting that revenue growth to be healthy as we said. I think, it’s a good question. The new products are all within that higher gross margin level in line, with our multi-year targets. And so as those new products continue to ramp, that is very helpful to us from a mix perspective. I think that managing the cost side also matters too. So, I think it’s just we’re not that far frankly, from doing that right now. I think it’s a combination of the growth. Having finished what we needed to finish in driving these new products, we can now manage the spending. And so I think it’s within our control, to deliver on those results now that we’ve done the work that we did here in 2023.

Q – George Sellers: Okay. Great. And thank you again, for taking the additional question.

Cheryl Blanchard: Thanks, George.

Operator: Thank you. And our next question is a follow-up from Mike Petusky of Barrington Research. Please go ahead.

Q – Mike Petusky: Thanks. Just a couple of quick ones. I guess sort of cool Mike, to see the cash balance go up and the free cash generated in the quarter. And I’m just wondering, as you sort of look out with seemingly a bunch of positive things that are converging here. I mean would your hope be that positive free cash is going to be sort of a regular part of the story going forward?

Mike Levitz: Well, first of all, I’ll say, yes, we were very pleased with the growth in cash in the quarter. And I think it reflects the health of the business. In terms of specific cash guidance, I think what I want to say is a couple of things. I think, first of all, we talked about the improving profitability next year. That will definitely help on the cash side. Again, we’re in a good solid place this year. If we didn’t have the non-recurring charges, we had this year and the spend associated with that we’re in a good place already and we believe we’re improving next year from that. The other things that will impact cash next year, in part some of it depends upon Cingal and what that time line is going to be because we may need to make some investments to be able to support the manufacturing of that.