Masimo’s hurricane of change apparently hasn’t been an ill wind–at least in their investors’ view. Masimo, a medical device company with an audio brand unit, Sound United, had another year in the red. A net income loss of $304.9 million is usually enough to send investors and analysts into paroxyms of despair, but that didn’t happen on the Q4/FY24 investor call on Tuesday 25 February. Au contraire. Based on Ted Green’s excellent reporting on his audio business website, Strata-gee, the analysts were “thrilled”–and the stock climbed, ending $10 up today in a downer of a market. What gave them hope was a brand new CEO, Katie Szyman, with an impressive track record from BD and Edwards Lifesciences, CFO Micah Young, and the general energy of the team that contrasted sharply with previous management calls. Moreover, under that negative number was good news and a cleanup on Aisle 5 that Ted ferreted out from the large pile of SEC-filed documents:
- Sound United, the giant barnacle on the Masimo ship, is well on its way to a sale. They have already written down $304 million for all remaining goodwill, the sale “is in the later stages of the process” and may be wrapped as early as Q1. Sound United will no longer be reported on for 2025, so forward reports will be only the healthcare portion of the business.
- The $1.4 billion healthcare business grew 10% in constant currency (9% versus 2023). Importantly, based on 2024 performance, the forward business picture is excellent: the incremental value of new contracts was $432 million, they shipped over 232,000 technology boards and monitors, pulse oximetry consumables were up 14%, co-oximetry & hemodynamics consumables grew 13%, capnography & gas monitoring consumables grew 27%, and brain monitoring consumables grew 19%. In fact, all healthcare numbers were up versus 2023.
- A strategic realignment that prioritized projects, reviewed the product portfolio, wrote off R&D, and had corresponding layoffs/severance charges was completed by December, resulting in charges of $128 million against Q4.
- Ancillary businesses (my term) have been wrapped up or disposed of: Willow Laboratories (formerly Cercacor Labs), Masimo Foundation, Like Minded Media Ventures (LMMV), and Like Minded Laboratories (LML).
This Editor invites you to read more from Ted on the results as well as profiles of Ms. Szyman and Mr. Young. Ms. Szyman’s statement on why she was there and her purpose was the kind you’d wish your CEO would deliver. After complimenting the interim CEO Michelle Brennan, Mr. Young, and COO Bilal Muhsin on their plan in refocusing on healthcare:
“[I]n the big two weeks that I’ve been here, honestly, I think that Micah and Bilal know this business really well, and they’re the ones that put together the plan. So, I have a lot of confidence in the plan that was put together and the ability to drive profitable growth going forward. I think the area that I’m going to be focused on for the next quarter is really trying to better understand how to expand our leadership position in our core markets. And then, second, focusing on the healthcare innovation – this company has great technology and great innovation, and now that we’ve narrowed it down to the Healthcare space, I’ll be working with the team to build out how we actually execute on commercial excellence on soo many of these great innovations that we have.
This is all a good start–and Mr. Market seems to be happy. Now to deliver on their value proposition. Masimo earnings release
On the legal front, it’s hardly been wrapped up. Former CEO Joe Kiani submitted a Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) Notice (PDF attached) to the California Labor & Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) for multiple Labor Code violations concerning wages, multiple stock options, and severance owed to Mr. Kiani under his employment agreements. The PAGA Notice alleges the six Politan directors acted in bad faith, first to force Mr. Kiani out of Masimo, then to “devise a post-hoc and pretextual termination for “Cause”” under his employment agreement over the following month. This follows on the Delaware Chancery Court January filing requesting dismissal of Masimo’s charges against the severance agreement as filed in the improper venue–Delaware, not California [TTA 30 Jan]–but takes a different approach direct to the LWDA. It’s notable in being filed not only against Masimo but against the six board members. The penalties reaching back to the directors could total over $100 million in statutory penalties – 65% of which would be payable to California. There is no projection on how quickly the LWDA would act nor if their decision once reached could be appealed. Developing. Disclosure: This Editor received the PAGA Notice and information from a strategic communications representative of Joe Kiani. The interpretations and summaries of the filings are your Editor’s.
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