Vivos Therapeutics has target price lowered at Roth Capital

Downtrodden med tech stock Vivos Therapeutics (Vivos Therapeutics Stock Quote, Charts, News, Analysts, Financials NASDAQ:VVOS) might stay volatile going forward but there’s still reason to be positive about the company’s underlying technology, according to Roth Capital Partners analyst Scott R. Henry, who provided a company note to clients on Wednesday. Henry maintained a “Buy” rating on the stock while lowering his target price from $4.00 to $2.00, which at press time represented a projected one-year return of 277 per cent.

Colorado-based Vivos Therapeutics, which offers a non-invasive, non-surgical or pharmaceutical treatment for dento-facial abnormalities, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and snoring, reported its second and third quarter 2022 financials last week, after dealing with an accounting-related delay on revenue recognition. The company reported $4.2 million in revenue for each quarter and EPS losses of $0.33 and $0.26 per share, respectively. (All figures in US dollars.)

Patients treated with The Vivos Method hit over 31,000 by the end of the third quarter compared to over 22,000 a year earlier, and the company said it has trained over 1,650 dentists in the use of The Vivos Method and related services compared to over 1,350 at the end of the Q3 2021.

“While we continued to face some headwinds in 2022, we believe we have reacted prudently.  We can now report that through a series of cost reduction initiatives, operational streamlining and new revenue opportunities, we are moving towards our goal of achieving positive cash flow operations in the next 12 to 18 months,” said Chairman and CEO Kirk Huntsman in a press release.

Looking at the quarterly numbers, Henry said the two revenues came in modestly above his forecasts of $3.9 million for 2022 Q2 and $3.7 million for 2022 Q3, but he said those results were offset by lower-than-expected gross margins and slightly higher expenses. The result was slightly greater-than-expected EPS compared to Henry’s $0.25 per share loss forecasted for both Q2 and Q3. 

On management’s prediction of cash flow breakeven in 12 to 18 months, Henry said that might be a bit of a stretch goal, as it would require significant cost cuts to current expenses and/or a positive rebound in gross margins. 

For the full 2022, the analyst is now calling for revenue and EPS of $15.9 million and negative $1.06 per share, respectively, and for 2023 revenue and EPS of $20.0 million and negative $0.40 per share, respectively.

“We remain optimistic in the value of the underlying technology. We do recognize that shares are more speculative (and likely volatile) given challenges in the dental market and the potential need for additional financing,” Henry wrote.