Title
Earning Preview: Merit Medical this quarter’s revenue is expected to increase by 11%, and institutional views are bullishAbstract
Merit Medical Systems will report its quarterly results on February 24, 2026, Post Market, with consensus pointing to approximately $389.87 million in revenue and about $0.95 in adjusted EPS, as investors weigh margin execution, preliminary sales indications, and any updates tied to portfolio momentum and governance.Market Forecast
Consensus for the current quarter centers on revenue of $389.87 million, implying 10.97% year-over-year growth, adjusted EPS around $0.95, up 15.11% year-over-year, and EBIT of $77.04 million, up 20.23% year-over-year. The company has already indicated preliminary revenue between $389.00 million and $395.00 million, pointing to 10%–11% year-over-year growth; formal guidance on gross profit margin and net profit margin for the quarter has not been disclosed, so investors are using EPS and EBIT as the primary profitability markers.Merit Medical Systems’ main business continues to be anchored by its large multi-category portfolio, where the company has flagged steady demand and operational progress; preliminary revenue trends, alongside EBIT expectations, indicate sustained momentum supported by product breadth and execution. The most promising contributor remains the larger portfolio that delivered $366.43 million last quarter; given its approximately 95% mix, the company’s preliminary outlook for total revenue implies the portfolio should track close to low double-digit year-over-year growth for the current quarter in aggregate.
Last Quarter Review
In the prior quarter, Merit Medical Systems posted $384.16 million in revenue (+13.04% year-over-year), a gross profit margin of 48.52%, GAAP net profit attributable to shareholders of $27.76 million, a net profit margin of 7.22%, and adjusted EPS of $0.92 (+6.98% year-over-year). Revenue exceeded consensus by $12.25 million and adjusted EPS topped expectations by $0.09, while EBIT of $75.57 million grew 16.03% year-over-year and beat estimates by $8.42 million; sequentially, net profit declined 14.81%, indicating the quarter-on-quarter cadence remains a near-term focal point.One notable financial highlight was the combination of mid-teens EBIT growth and an above-consensus revenue print, which together reinforced operating leverage benefits despite sequential variability in net profit. Within the business mix, the portfolio associated with the company’s largest category generated $366.43 million last quarter, while the smaller category contributed $17.73 million; with total revenue up 13.04% year-over-year, the growth backdrop for the larger portfolio appears broadly consistent with the overall trend.
Current Quarter Outlook (with major analytical insights)
Core portfolio momentum and profitability watch
The current quarter’s setup is shaped by the company’s preliminary revenue indication of $389.00 million to $395.00 million and consensus of $389.87 million, framing expectations toward low double-digit year-over-year growth. Against that backdrop, the forecast for EBIT of $77.04 million (+20.23% year-over-year) and adjusted EPS of about $0.95 (+15.11% year-over-year) points to further operating leverage, provided gross margin performance remains in line with recent execution. Investors will likely parse cost controls, manufacturing throughput, and mix contributions for signs that margin discipline can be sustained near last quarter’s 48.52% gross margin level, even though there is no formal margin guidance for the period.Sequentially, management will be measured against a quarter where GAAP net profit fell 14.81% quarter-on-quarter, making consistency in the earnings cadence an area to watch. The interplay between price, volume, and product mix—especially across higher-value consumables—will influence both gross margin and EBIT conversion. While the company did not specify quarter-specific gross profit or net profit margin targets, the combination of preliminary sales, consensus EBIT, and EPS implies the market expects throughput and overhead absorption to remain constructive enough to support double-digit earnings growth.
The quality of revenue is also under scrutiny. The breadth of the portfolio and its recurring, procedure-driven demand characteristics tend to dampen volatility, but the magnitude of year-over-year growth will still be mapped against shipment timing, inventory normalization at distributors and hospitals, and any localized procurement dynamics. Given stable forecasting signals embedded in the consensus and company’s preliminary update, incremental upside or downside is likely to be determined by mix favorability and the efficiency of production and logistics in the quarter.
The most promising business this quarter
The portfolio that generated $366.43 million last quarter represents the largest growth opportunity in absolute dollars for the current quarter given its scale and share of sales. With the company’s preliminary total revenue outlook suggesting a 10%–11% year-over-year increase, the implied trajectory for the larger portfolio is to track close to the company average in aggregate unless mix shifts meaningfully. This setup increases the importance of product categories with differentiated clinical utility and long adoption curves, which typically support sustained unit growth and pricing resilience.From an execution standpoint, this quarter will likely hinge on replenishment orders in core product families and continued progress in adjacent use cases, which can incrementally expand addressable volumes within the existing customer base. Although segment-specific year-over-year growth rates were not disclosed for the quarter, the scale of the larger portfolio suggests it is most capable of delivering the incremental dollars required to meet the consensus revenue and EBIT forecasts. This also means any shortfall in that portfolio would need to be offset elsewhere, a challenging proposition given the smaller revenue base in the adjacent category.
Beyond headline sales, profitability sensitivity within the larger portfolio is paramount. Delivery timing, regional mix, and the ratio of higher-margin consumables to hardware will influence gross margin realization, which in turn will drive how close EBIT lands to the $77.04 million consensus. If product mix skews toward categories with more favorable manufacturing yields or logistics profiles, the margin tailwind can enhance EPS versus the $0.95 expectation.
Stock-price drivers and what the market will react to
The stock’s near-term move will likely be most responsive to the interplay of four datapoints: reported revenue versus the $389.87 million consensus, adjusted EPS versus $0.95, any updates on margin trends relative to the 48.52% gross margin most recently disclosed, and management’s qualitative or quantitative commentary for calendar 2026. Since the company already pre-announced preliminary revenue in the $389.00 million to $395.00 million range, the risk-reward into the print leans more on profitability delivery, especially whether EBIT and EPS beat the 20.23% and 15.11% year-over-year growth hurdles implied by consensus. Any explicit commentary on manufacturing utilization, cost of goods sold line items, and logistics efficiency would be additive for margin visibility.Investors will also look for indications of how leadership transitions and board-level changes are shaping governance and strategic execution. The company appointed a new board chair on January 5, 2026, which follows the leadership change in late 2025; sell-side commentary has framed governance as stable, and confirmation of operational continuity would help underpin confidence in the 2026 trajectory. Finally, commentary on capital deployment—whether toward process optimization, targeted product development, or small-scale tuck-in opportunities—could provide context for sustaining mid-teens EPS growth beyond the current quarter.
A further point of sensitivity involves the composition of revenue between larger and smaller product families. The smaller category accounted for $17.73 million last quarter; while it is unlikely to determine the revenue headline in isolation, tangible signs of acceleration could carry an outsized sentiment effect because of its optionality and operating leverage potential on a small base. Conversely, if the larger portfolio tracks in line with the pre-announced company revenue range, the market may focus on whether gross margin and working-capital efficiency convert that revenue into EBIT and EPS ahead of expectations.
Analyst Opinions
Across the January 1, 2026 to February 17, 2026 window, the balance of published views is bullish. On January 9, 2026, coverage indicated that Merit Medical Systems pre-announced preliminary fourth-quarter revenue of approximately $389.00 million to $395.00 million, a year-over-year increase of 10%–11% and above the consensus figure cited at that time. On February 6, 2026, BTIG Research initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $107 price target; the same coverage noted the average rating is Buy with a mean price target of $104.27. In early February 2026, additional commentary referenced sustained operating momentum and governance clarity, reinforcing a constructive stance. A separate February 2026 note highlighted “above-consensus growth” paired with a reaffirmed Buy rating; together, these inputs reflect a unanimous bullish tilt during the period reviewed.The ratio of bullish to bearish opinions in this period is 100% bullish. The prevailing arguments emphasize durable revenue execution, early visibility from the company’s preliminary revenue disclosure, and the prospect of operating leverage that supports double-digit EPS growth. BTIG’s $107 initiation underscores the belief that current commercial traction and expense discipline can underpin the mid-teens earnings expansion implied by the $0.95 adjusted EPS consensus. Complementary Buy ratings in February echo the framework that recent leadership transitions have not disrupted commercial or operational cadence, and that board-level changes contribute clarity rather than uncertainty.
Analysts also focus on the magnitude and quality of any potential beat versus the current quarter’s expectations. Given consensus for revenue at $389.87 million (+10.97% year-over-year), EBIT at $77.04 million (+20.23% year-over-year), and adjusted EPS at $0.95 (+15.11% year-over-year), the street appears to be modeling a balanced mix of organic demand, production efficiency, and mix benefits. In this context, incremental upside would most likely come from better-than-anticipated gross margin performance and disciplined operating expenses, both of which could create a path to EPS ahead of consensus even if revenue lands near the midpoint of the pre-announced range. The bullish camp’s case is that recent performance provides a credible template for such execution.
In the near term, research desks indicate that guidance commentary for the coming quarters will shape how durable the current revenue and profit cadence appears. The unanimous Buy posture among the institutions cited in the review period is tied to the view that the company can sustain low double-digit revenue growth while converting that growth to mid-teens EPS gains, supported by portfolio breadth and operational consistency. With preliminary revenue signaling already in the market and recent quarters demonstrating the capacity to outperform consensus, analysts see a higher probability that the upcoming print aligns with or exceeds the modeled profile.
On balance, the majority conclusion within published research in the period under review is that Merit Medical Systems is positioned to meet or modestly exceed the quarter’s revenue and earnings benchmarks, assuming steady gross margin and disciplined expense control. The concentration of Buy ratings and supportive narratives regarding operating momentum and governance further indicates that institutional expectations are skewed toward a favorable outcome. As such, the prevailing recommendation framework suggests that the market will reward confirmation of the current consensus trajectory, especially if commentary implies continuity into the subsequent quarters of 2026.