TELA Bio - Earnings Call - Q1 2025

Executive Summary

• Q1 2025 revenue was $18.5M, up 12% year over year and 5% sequential; gross margin was 67.6%, and net loss was $11.3M. Management reaffirmed FY2025 revenue guidance of $85–88M and expects 2025 OpEx to be flat vs 2024.
• Versus Wall Street, TELA delivered a revenue beat and an EPS miss: revenue $18.52M vs ~$17.35M consensus; EPS $(0.25) vs $(0.2075) consensus. EBITDA also missed consensus (actual ~$(10.2)M vs ~$(5.9)M consensus). Values retrieved from S&P Global.*
• Management cited unit growth in hernia products (OviTex units +29% YoY) and continued European strength (+17% YoY) as key drivers; PRS revenue grew ~2% YoY on stronger ASP despite a slight units decline (−3% YoY).
• Near-term catalysts: full US launch of larger OviTex PRS sizes in plastic & reconstructive surgery, stabilized sales force with the TM/AS structure, and clear tariff impact framing (50–100 bps gross margin headwind) that phases in from Q2–Q3.

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well

• Demand and mix: OviTex revenue grew ~15% YoY; PRS revenue grew ~2% YoY despite tough comp; European revenue rose 17% YoY. “We are reaffirming our 2025 revenue expectation of $85 million to $88 million…”.
• Sales force realignment showing traction: “We’ve seen real effectiveness from our new territory manager… and account specialist… structure… already yielded quality results.” As of the week of the call: 70 TMs and 22 ASs; 25 new hires trained YTD.
• Product innovation: Full US launch of larger OviTex PRS sizes to simplify complex procedures; surgeons no longer need to suture smaller pieces together for larger applications.

What Went Wrong

• Gross margin down modestly YoY: 67.6% vs 68.3% due to excess/obsolete inventory adjustments tied to new products; tariff headwind of 50–100 bps expected to phase in through Q2–Q3.
• EPS loss widened vs prior year given the absence of the prior-year $7.6M gain on sale of NIVIS in Q1 2024; net loss increased to $11.3M from $5.7M YoY.
• PRS unit volumes declined ~3% YoY off a strong Q1 2024; revenue growth was maintained on stronger ASP but volume softness was noted.

Transcript

Operator (participant)

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the TELA Bio First Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. Following the prepared remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Luisa Smith from Gilmartin Group.

Louisa Smith (Principal and Head of Investor Relations)

Thank you, Gerald, and good afternoon, everyone. Earlier today, TELA Bio released financial results for the first quarter 2025. A copy of the press release is available on the company's website. Joining me on today's call are Tony Koblish, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Roberto Cuca, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that during this conference call, the company may make projections and forward-looking statements regarding future events. We encourage you to review the company's past and future filings with the SEC, including without limitation, the company's annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, which identify the specific factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements.

These factors may include, without limitation, statements regarding product development and pipeline opportunities, product potential, the impact of various macroeconomic conditions identified in our filings, like changes in surgical procedural volumes, the regulatory environment, sales and marketing strategies, capital resources, or operating performance. With that, I will now turn the call over to Tony.

Tony Koblish (President and CEO)

Thanks, Luisa, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining TELA Bio's first quarter 2025 earnings call. I'll begin by reviewing the quarter and the factors that drove performance. I'll turn it over to Roberto for a more detailed review of the financials and our outlook, then share some closing thoughts before opening it up for your questions. We generated $18.5 million in revenue during the first quarter, representing 12% growth over the prior year and 5% sequential growth over the fourth quarter of 2024. In Q1, we saw strong demand for both OviTex and OviTex PRS reinforced tissue matrix products, with revenue for each growing approximately 15% and 2% respectively, with PRS coming off a particularly strong performance a year ago.

Additionally, we were very pleased with the continued strength in our European business, with 17% growth over the first quarter of 2024, reflecting what we believe to be an exceptionally attractive XUS opportunity for TELA Bio moving forward. Based on this performance, the strong morale of our commercial organization, and our continued confidence in their performance, we are reaffirming our 2025 revenue expectation of $85 million-$88 million, representing growth from 23%-27% over full year 2024. Let me provide some more insight into the continuing improvement and evolution of our commercial organization. We've seen real effectiveness from our new Territory Manager, or TM, and Account Specialist, or AS structure, which has already yielded quality results and shown signs of further potential upside.

As of this week, we have 70 territory managers and 22 account specialists across our region, and we plan to further augment these numbers with particular focus on the TMs, including by fostering talent from within the organization. Our improved training program gives us confidence that all new reps will be able to hit the ground running and contribute meaningfully within the first quarter or two of hiring. Year to date, we've trained a total of 25 new sales team members comprising 11 TMs and 14 ASs. We have seen very positive results across all of our trainings as we get the new reps into the field and have observed that the ASs have shown great enthusiasm, in addition to strong product and clinical knowledge based on internal assessments we conduct as part of our enhanced training program.

The new structure with ambitious ASs will allow TMs to further expand their networks while simultaneously staying in front of existing accounts and driving sales. Furthermore, in the event that a TM departs the company, an in-place AS enables continuity and account coverage, helping ensure customer relationships are maintained and business momentum is preserved. We also continue to see positive dynamics playing out within the broader hernia market with the shift away from plastic mesh and towards more natural repair products. It is to our benefit that the industry is transitioning away from permanent synthetic mesh, and we continue to be strongly positioned to capitalize on this shift. OviTex is equipped with strong and consistent clinical data showing the clinical value of this portfolio of products, and as a result, we continue to gain market traction this quarter.

We reached over 69,000 OviTex hernia implantations since inception, and OviTex IHR and Liquifix have seen great momentum, with over $1 million each in sales since the launch of 2024. We remain committed to bringing new and complementary products to market, and we recently announced the launch of two larger sizes of our OviTex PRS product, which has the potential to simplify more complex plastic and reconstructive procedures. Surgeons will no longer need to suture smaller pieces together for use in larger applications, increasing their OR efficiency, reducing costs, and establishing OviTex PRS as a premier repair solution with one of the broadest offerings for surgeon needs.

Year to date, we have presented the benefits of our products in front of more than 5,000 surgeons globally, with deep engagement of more than 1,500 surgeons through 25 industry and society meetings, two cadaver labs, numerous educational dinners and webinars, a live surgery symposium, and two standing room-only industry symposia, one in the U.S. and one in Europe. We also hosted our third annual Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Innovation Summit, bringing together leading surgeons to advance techniques in soft tissue reconstruction. Also of note, we participated in the prestigious Intuitive Connect meeting in April, attended by nearly 1,000 surgeons in our space, where we were headlined as one of the three top sponsors and one of only 14 invited industry attendees. We were also the exclusive sponsor of the general surgeon welcome reception for the meeting, including an OviTex IHR test drive on the DaVinci 5 workstation with Dr.

Paul Zotech of Indiana Hernia Center, a longtime OviTex user and TELA Bio key opinion leader and faculty member. Before I turn the call over to Roberto to review our financials, I'd like to address the current tariff environment and our exposure. As it stands today, there is a 10% tariff applied to products shipped into the U.S. from New Zealand, which is where the vast majority of our products are manufactured. Based on our long-term supply and license agreement, the tariff is shared equally by us and the manufacturer. Because of the relatively modest acquisition prices of our products, we expect that our share of the tariff will negatively affect our gross margin by no more than 50 to 100 basis points.

Additionally, we are working with our partner in collaboration to further reduce the tariff impact by shipping products, for example, intended for Europe, directly to our distribution facility there rather than via the U.S., as we've done historically. I'll now ask Roberto to view our financials in more detail.

Roberto Cuca (COO and CFO)

Thanks, Tony. As you mentioned, revenue for the first quarter of 2025 increased 12% year over year to $18.5 million, with revenue from OviTex growing 15% and OviTex PRS revenue growing 2% for the year. This growth was primarily due to an increase in unit sales of our hernia products, resulting from the addition of new customers and growing international sales. OviTex unit sales grew 29% for the quarter, while PRS unit sales declined slightly 3% for the quarter after an unusually strong first quarter in 2024. Stronger ASP for PRS offset this effect to provide incremental PRS revenue growth year over year. Gross margin was 67.6% for the first quarter, compared to 68.3% for the prior year period. The decrease was primarily due to excess and obsolete inventory adjustments to the percentage of revenue, which resulted from the introduction of newer generation products this year.

Sales and marketing expense was $16.6 million in the first quarter, compared to $17.5 million for the prior year period. The decrease was primarily due to lower compensation costs from a decrease in headcount and lower consulting and travel expenses, which were partially offset by higher commission expense on an increased revenue base. General and administrative expenses were $3.8 million for the first quarter, compared to $3.8 million in the prior year period. R&D expense for the first quarter was $2.5 million, compared to $2.4 million in the prior year period. Loss from operations was $10.5 million in the first quarter of this year, compared to $4.8 million in the prior year period. The difference was largely attributable to the recognized gain of $7.6 million from the sale of the NIVUS product line in the first quarter of 2024.

Net loss was $11.3 million in the first quarter, compared to $5.7 million in the prior year period, similarly affected by the sale of the NIVUS product line last year. We ended the first quarter with $42.8 million in cash and cash equivalents. We are reiterating the 2025 guidance, which anticipates revenues to range from $85 million-$88 million, representing growth of 23%-27% over the full year 2024. We also expect that operating loss and net loss will decrease over the course of the year and will be lower in 2025 than in 2024. We expect that operating efficiency improvements will result in 2025 OPEX being flat compared to 2024. With that, I'll hand the call back to Tony for closing remarks.

Tony Koblish (President and CEO)

Thank you, Roberto. Looking ahead in 2025, we are positioned very well coming off of a strong first quarter. After recalibrating our commercial organization to adjust to market dynamics and position us for success moving forward, we have the momentum to continue meaningful growth. OviTex is a truly differentiated solution, and as the world moves away from plastic mesh, TELA Bio is emerging as a leader with a clinically validated portfolio to support that shift. Finally, I would like to thank all those at the company who contributed to our success this quarter. Your commitment to increasing utilization of our exceptional products is making a positive difference in people's lives around the world. With that, I will now ask Gerald to open the line for your questions. Please go ahead.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. At this time, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. As a reminder, to ask a question, you will need to press star 11 on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question comes from Frank Tatakian from Lake Street Capital Markets. The floor is yours.

Frank Takkinen (Senior Research Analyst)

Great. Thanks for taking the questions. Congrats on the nice rebound and getting back to double-digit growth. I was hoping to ask one first on kind of cadencing of revenue through the back half of the year. Good to see a strong start and good to hear you've got 25 new reps trained year to date. What are really the key factors to continuing sequential growth through the end of the year? Maybe any color on the cadencing of that revenue would be helpful as well.

Roberto Cuca (COO and CFO)

I'll start, and Tony can jump in. Last year, we had a somewhat unusual year with disruptions in the second and fourth quarter. As a historical precedent, last year is not very helpful. If you look at the three years prior, they all have very similar cadences, which we've talked about with investors in the past. We tend to have a bigger step up from the first to the second quarter, a smaller step up from the second to the third quarter affected in large part by the summer holidays in North America, and then a bigger step up again from the third to the fourth quarter. We expect to see that pattern recapitulated this year coming off of the first quarter that we just had. What drives that cadencing and the growth from quarter to quarter is just continued traction by our reps.

All of the reps' quotas increase quarter to quarter throughout the year. With the introduction of our new AS class, our associate sales reps, their assistance revenue capture, share capture at practices allows the reps to continue focusing on getting new physicians using the products and driving that growth.

Yeah. I mean, I'll add that the AS program, although new, is working quite well in tandem with our territory managers. I think what you have to think about is if you look at our top 10, top 15 reps that have ASs, their growth is re-accelerating, and they're getting stronger and stronger and stronger. The presence of the ASs allows us to deal with what I'll call sort of the natural ins and outs of a sales force much more efficiently without scrambling and without losing coverage. There is a very strong element of offense capability with the combination of these two types of selling entities and also a very strong defensive strategy as well. Overall, it just yields for a more stable environment for us to work through for 2025.

Tony Koblish (President and CEO)

We had to make a lot of adjustments the last couple of years along the way, and we do not plan on doing that this year. The name of the game at the street level is stability, adding strength, and just driving the message like we know that we can. We feel that our products stand up to the test of time. They deliver, and we just got to keep at it. This is a long process. It is a marathon. It is not a sprint. I know we get measured quarter to quarter, but we feel great. Our commercial team, most importantly, feels great coming out of an exceptional performance in Q1, and they have a lot of confidence going forward.

Frank Takkinen (Senior Research Analyst)

That's helpful. Thank you. Maybe on the competitive hiring front, obviously, that's what impacted the fourth quarter numbers. Any changes in that dynamic? Have you seen any more of the competitive hiring trying to come into your organization, or do you feel that's kind of stabilized at this point? Obviously, the AS could insulate some of that, but any color there?

Tony Koblish (President and CEO)

Yeah. I'm going to call it stabilized, but I think the real message and description of it is back to a more natural process, right, where the ins and outs are more based on performance and those types of things. Of course, our sales force is super strong. They're probably coveted by many of these companies, but I think we've done a great job of bringing morale back and creating a stable environment. I'm just going to do a little commercial for this company. This is a fantastic place to work for all of our employees, but especially our commercial employees, right? We offer products that are game-changing, innovative, backed up and supported by great clinical data. That is a dream for a commercial organization. The products do what we say they will do. We have an exceptional incentive compensation program. The commissions here are best in class.

There is a lot of financial success possible for our commercial organization, which is great for them, their career development, and their families. The other benefit is not only is all of that superb, but you look at hernia, for example, well over a billion-dollar market, and it is a procedure that may be one of the top surgical procedures in the world in terms of performing an incident. We have an opportunity to be the catalyst for change, right? 80% of the market is still polypropylene mesh, and it is obvious by the large players that they are very anxious and interested in shifting away from that technology. Their solution is a resorbable polymer product. Our solution is a reinforced tissue matrix. There are only so many solutions in a post or minimal polypropylene market.

It is not every day that you have a great opportunity, great products, great company to work with, but also do something that is right for people, for society, for cost, and to change the practice of a very highly performed procedure. The PRS business is not that much different. It is about a $1 billion market as well. Our products are standing up well. Our clinical data that is emerging there is exceptional also. There seems to be a great interest in moving away from cadaver skin in that market. There is a lot of interest in resorbable polymers and RTM products like we have. To a certain extent, the dynamics in $2 billion-plus markets are just really excellent and situated well for us over the long haul.

Frank Takkinen (Senior Research Analyst)

Got it. That's helpful. I'll stop there. Congrats again, and look forward to the rest of the year. Thanks.

Roberto Cuca (COO and CFO)

Thanks, Frank.

Operator (participant)

Thank you for your question. Our next question comes from Michael Sarconi of Jefferies. The floor is yours.

Michael Sarcone (Research Analyst)

Good afternoon, and thanks for taking our questions here. Just to start, maybe some more clarification on the tariff impact on gross margin. You said 50-100 basis points. Wondering if you could give us a little more color on when specifically you think that could impact your gross margin this year. In that context, maybe help us think about gross margin phasing through the year.

Roberto Cuca (COO and CFO)

Sure. I'll start, and Tony can jump in. The first shipments that would be affected by the new tariff have just come in in the past couple of weeks. Obviously, that did not affect the just closed first quarter. We expect to see some of that starting to affect the second quarter and then product, depending on whether that actually goes through our sales process. Product will eventually phase through into the third and fourth quarters as we consume existing inventories. You'll start seeing that product appear in our gross margin. It will be a gradual shift towards that negative 5%-1% effect on gross margin over the course of the second and third quarters.

As far as the timing of gross margin, we tend not to order as much inventory in the fourth quarter of the year because of the end-of-year holidays and then stock up a bit more in the first quarter. Because of the charge we have to pay for potential obsolescence, that negative impact is greatest in the first quarter, and you tend to see that the gross margin improves over the course of the year. We expect to see that sort of pattern continuing, slightly blunted by the effect of the tariffs.

Tony Koblish (President and CEO)

Yeah. The only thing I'll add to that is we have an excellent partnership with Aroa and a very collaborative relationship. So far and into the future, we are both dedicated to working well together to manage the impact of this. We do have some levers, as we discussed in the remarks, to adjust some things, and we'll be taking a look at that as well as we go along through this process. We see how long the tariffs last as well.

Michael Sarcone (Research Analyst)

That's very helpful color. Thank you. Yeah. And Tony, to your point, totally get it that we don't know about the sustainability of the tariffs. But to the extent this doesn't get resolved in the near term, is there a way we should think about the potential impact in 2026? Is it fair to kind of annualize the impact from 2025 and consider that maybe a worst-case scenario?

Tony Koblish (President and CEO)

I think the way to think about it is that somewhere in between the 50 and 100 basis points is where the negative effect is going to settle out on a going-forward stable basis. Once you see the amount that that's affected us in the second and third quarters, pushing out that slight discount into 2026 makes sense.

Michael Sarcone (Research Analyst)

Got it. Thank you.

Tony Koblish (President and CEO)

Thanks, Mike.

Operator (participant)

Thank you for your question. Again, as a reminder, if you'd like to ask a question, please press star 11 on your telephone. Our next question comes from Caitlin Cronin from Canaccord. The floor is yours.

Caitlin Cronin (Director and Equity Analyst)

Hey, guys. It's Mikaela for Caitlin. Thanks for taking the question. You've noted the bundling situation at GPOs and being capped at 20% of volume share at certain hospitals. Can you just talk about how that's playing out and if you've started working with the GPOs to potentially reclassify your products into their own category, maybe to address the gap?

Tony Koblish (President and CEO)

Yeah. I think what we're doing there is just basic blocking and tackling. We have to get more surgeons using our product in any facility. You can imagine if you've got 5-10 surgeons and you only have one or two using the products, it's harder to justify your position there. Focusing on getting more surgeons in each facility up and running is paramount and critical. You just get harder to lever out. Again, this enhanced pivot to this TM/AS selling situation, I think, works very well for us. Our TMs can do what they do best, which is get it set up and move from place to place, and our ASs can stay put and make sure that they're working a broader number of customers potentially in each hospital and be present if any of those kinds of activities start happening.

Again, a little bit of offense and a little bit of defense. I think we've got a sales configuration at this point that serves us well for managing that better than we have in the past.

Caitlin Cronin (Director and Equity Analyst)

That's great. Thank you.

Roberto Cuca (COO and CFO)

Thanks, Mikaela.

Operator (participant)

Thank you for your question. One moment, please. Our next question comes from David Terkely from Citizens JMP. Go ahead.

David Turkaly (Research Analyst and Medical Devices)

Hey, Greg. Can you guys hear me?

Tony Koblish (President and CEO)

Got you, Dave.

David Turkaly (Research Analyst and Medical Devices)

Thanks. Just looking at the guidance for the year and then how the quarter played out between PRS and OviTex, can you give us your updated expectations on sort of the growth rate for those two, maybe on an annual basis or how that might shift moving forward?

Roberto Cuca (COO and CFO)

PRS, as you know, launched more recently, and so it's earlier in its growth cycle. We have historically seen it in past years, other than when there's been some disruptions, growing faster than OviTex. We expect to continue to see that, although, as with all launching products, that growth rate is going to slow a bit. We do expect to continue to see good growth from both products with a bit more growth from PRS.

Yeah. I'll just remind everyone that PRS has a higher ASP. It's probably more sensitive, given that fact, to the types of procedures that you see in a particular quarter, whether large sizes or smaller sizes are required. There's a bunch of moving parts with the PRS business. Overall, as Roberto said, we are very bullish on the prospects for that set of products going forward. We continue to add to the product portfolio. Right now, we have three implant configurations. There's probably a fourth one coming at some point next year. We have, in comparison to competitors, the broadest range of products there that can be tuned for different surgeon preferences and different patient needs, whether it's a niche like supersized pieces or just different technique variants, whether they be revisions or primaries, etc.

I think the scope and capacity of our product portfolio is going to get better and better, which will separate us from competition as well.

David Turkaly (Research Analyst and Medical Devices)

You view this as kind of a one-off. I know you mentioned a tough comp, but that negative three, we shouldn't be thinking that that happens again.

Roberto Cuca (COO and CFO)

Correct. Just to reiterate, that was on volume rather than on revenue. Revenue did grow.

David Turkaly (Research Analyst and Medical Devices)

Got it. Thanks.

Roberto Cuca (COO and CFO)

Got it.

Operator (participant)

Thank you for your questions. This concludes the question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn it back to Tony Koblish, CEO, for closing remarks. Thank you.

Tony Koblish (President and CEO)

Thank you, Gerald. And thank you to everybody who is on this call. I want to really thank the TELA Bio employees. We came out of the gates this year strong with great morale. We had an excellent national sales meeting where we rolled out many of these pivots and adjustments. It looks like we did a lot of the right things. I just want to say I'm grateful for their persistence and their patience and the hard work. I look forward to continuing to execute well. The reminder is here. At the end of the last call, at the end of Q4, I said we would snap back. Hopefully, you're getting a sense that we are in the process of snapping back. With that, thank you. Have a great evening. I know it's a busy time. See you next time.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect.