Amid the launch of its first over-the-counter wearable glucose tracker, Dexcom reported that its overall revenues in the U.S. declined year over year despite overall sales coming in slightly higher than expected.
Dexcom posted $994.2 million in revenue for the third quarter of this year, a 2% gain over the same period the year prior, to edge out Wall Street estimates. And, while international sales grew by 12%, its stateside take fell 2%. Total operating income reached $152 million.
The mixed-bag earnings report caused a 15% dip in the company’s share price late Thursday before it largely recovered during the next trading day to within less than a percentage point, at about $74.40.
Earlier this year, Dexcom’s stock dropped about 40% after it disclosed commercialization setbacks and reduced its annual revenue projections, saying that in the second quarter it saw not only fewer customers but also fewer dollars per customer.
Part of the issue was attributed to a realignment of its U.S. sales force, as the company looked to start pushing its over-the-counter Stelo continuous glucose monitor for adults with prediabetes or Type 2 diabetes and not taking insulin. The company also pointed to an unanticipated rise in the number of people obtaining rebates for its mainstay G7 CGM.
On an earnings call with investors this week, CEO Kevin Sayer said those were temporary challenges.
“Beginning with our U.S. sales force expansion, we are pleased to report progress and positive momentum as we move to apply learnings from the initial rollout and improve our commercial execution,” Sayer said.
“As we anticipated, our productivity metrics improved over the course of the third quarter as we implemented several changes to strengthen our sales effectiveness. Importantly, new customer starts returned to record levels in the third quarter as we gained greater traction in new and existing physician offices,” he added, saying that the company has expanded its prescriber base by nearly 35,000 clinicians since April.
And, following Stelo’s launch in August, Sayer said the company has kicked off its first business-to-business sales of the device. “This includes direct sales to certain clinicians, as one of the first requests we heard at the outset of Stelo's launch was the desire to have Stelo available for sale within their practices,” he said.
Dexcom recommitted to its previous sales forecast, estimating it would bring in about $4 billion to $4.05 billion for between 11% and 13% annual growth.
At the same time, the company reported that it has submitted a 15-day version of its G7 sensor to the FDA for review. Currently, the device can be worn for up to 10 days among users as young as 2 years old.
Dexcom also announced that its chief commercial officer, Teri Lawver, plans to retire at the end of this year. The company said she will stay on as an adviser through early 2025, with Sayer taking leadership of commercial operations as it searches for a replacement.