Oct. 20, 2009 (PR Newswire) -- SAN DIEGO, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NuVasive, Inc. (Nasdaq: NUVA), a medical device company focused on developing products for minimally disruptive surgical treatments for the spine, announced today financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2009.

NuVasive reported third quarter revenue of $94.9 million, a 41.8% increase over the $66.9 million for the third quarter 2008 and a 7.3% increase over the $88.5 million for the second quarter 2009.

Gross profit for the third quarter 2009 was $76.5 million and gross margin was 80.6%, compared to a gross profit of $54.7 million and a gross margin of 81.8% for the third quarter 2008. For the second quarter 2009, gross profit was $71.8 million and gross margin was 81.1%.

Total operating expenses for the third quarter 2009 were $70.4 million compared to $77.7 million in the third quarter 2008 and $67.3 million in the second quarter 2009. Operating expenses include $0.6 million of acquisition related costs, a $2.0 million reversal of a leasehold termination charge and $0.8 million related to intellectual property litigation.

On a GAAP basis, the Company reported net income of $5.1 million, or $0.13 per share, for the third quarter 2009.

On a Non-GAAP basis, the Company reported net income of $11.0 million, or $0.28 per share, for the third quarter 2009. The Non-GAAP earnings per share calculations for the third quarter exclude (i) stock-based compensation of $5.2 million; (ii) amortization of acquired intangible assets of $1.4 million; (iii) acquisition related costs of $0.6 million; (iv) intellectual property litigation costs of $0.8 million, and (v) the reversal of a leasehold termination charge of $2.0 million.

Cash, cash equivalents and short and long-term marketable securities were $200.2 million at September 30, 2009.

Alex Lukianov, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "NuVasive is pioneering the lateral approach with our proprietary XLIF® procedure and MAS® platform. We continue to take market share and expand our addressable market by broadening the application of our technology throughout the spine. We are the only company with the ability to laterally address a wide range of applications in the lumbar and thoracic spine, from single level procedures to complex multi level deformity corrections. We are pleased with our financial performance in the third quarter of 2009, and are confident in our strategy to become the #4 global spine company."

Updated 2009 Financial Guidance

NuVasive is updating its full year 2009 financial guidance as follows:

Revenue:

    --  $365 million to $367 million; up from previous guidance of $360 million
to $365 million

Gross Margin:

    --  Gross Margin of approximately 81%

EPS:

    --  GAAP: earnings per share of $0.11 to $0.14; up from previous guidance of
$0.06 to $0.08

    --  Earnings per share of $0.27 to $0.30 excluding adjustments per the
enclosed table; up from previous guidance of $0.25 to $0.27

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Information

Management uses certain Non-GAAP financial measures such as Non-GAAP earnings per share, which exclude intellectual property litigation expenses, the reversal of leasehold termination charges, acquisition related costs, stock-based compensation, and the amortization of acquired intangible assets. Management does not consider these costs in evaluating the continuing operations of the Company. Therefore, management calculates the Non-GAAP financial measures provided in this earnings release excluding these costs and uses these Non-GAAP financial measures to enable it to analyze further, and more consistently, the period-to-period financial performance of its core business operations. Management believes that providing investors with these Non-GAAP measures gives them additional important information to enable them to assess, in the same way management assesses, the Company's current and future continuing operations. These Non-GAAP measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative for, GAAP, and may be different from Non-GAAP measures used by other companies.