Stryker grew sales in 2015, expects the same for 2016

In reporting preliminary results for last year, the Kalamazoo-based Stryker (NYSE: SYK) said global sales topped $9.9 billion. Sales grew at a slightly higher rate on the fourth quarter, 6.4 percent, reaching $2.7 billion.

KALAMAZOO — Stryker Corp. grew sales by more than 6.1 percent in 2015 and expects to see similar growth in 2016.

In reporting preliminary results for last year, the Kalamazoo-based Stryker (NYSE: SYK) said global sales topped $9.9 billion. Sales grew at a slightly higher rate on the fourth quarter, 6.4 percent, reaching $2.7 billion.

“Stryker is extremely well-position for the future,” Chairman and CEO Kevin Lobo told investors today at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. “We feel very good about our sales momentum. We fully expect that momentum to continue to 2016.”

The preliminary sales data led Stryker to slightly adjust earnings guidance for 2015 to between $5.09 and $5.12 per share, an increase of 7.6 percent to 8.2 percent over 2014. Stryker previously said in October that it expected 2015 earnings to be in the range of $5.07 to $5.12 per share.

The corporation reports full sales and earnings for 2015 on Jan. 26.

The earnings expectations for 2015 include 25 cents per share for the impact of foreign currency exchange rates and 13 cents per share from the federal excise tax on medical devices that Congress delayed for two years as part of a budget deal signed by President Obama in December. Stryker intends to reinvest any savings from the 2.3 percent medical device tax into driving growth, Lobo said.