April 29 (Reuters) – Align Technology beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter profit, aided by strong demand for its dental aligners, and announced a $200 million share buyback program, sending shares up as much as 4% in after-market trading.
Analysts expect dental sector demand to stabilise in 2026, but remain cautious about a full recovery as last year’s volatility, marked by uneven dental visits, has left investors cautious.
The Invisalign maker said the impact of the war in the Middle East has been immaterial in the first quarter, though doctors in the region have noted some impact to patient traffic and conversion to treatment.
“Overall, we think this is a much better than expected print and like that many of the underlying longer-term growth drivers are beginning to bear fruit,” said Evercore ISI analyst Elizabeth Anderson.
Align, which makes teeth retainers, dental scanners and software for dental laboratories and practitioners, expects its second-quarter revenue to range between $1.04 billion and $1.06 billion, compared with analysts’ estimates of $1.06 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
It also reaffirmed its full-year outlook of revenue growth of 3% to 4%, and mid-single digits volume growth for its flagship product Clear Aligner.
On an adjusted basis, the company earned profit of $2.58 per share on revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter ended March 31, above estimates for profit of $2.28 per share and for revenue of $1.02 billion.
(Reporting by Unnamalai L in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
