Tariffs were a key talking point among spine and orthopedic medtech leaders.
Here is how five leaders are approaching the headwind, according to their first quarter earnings calls.
Stryker
Stryker plans to absorb the impact of tariffs, an estimated $200 million cost, Vice President and CFO Preston Wells said in a May 1 quarterly earnings call. Tariff impact is expected to be $200 million in 2025, Mr. Wells said, as transcribed by Seeking Alpha. The impact on margin will likely affect margins in the second half of the year, but Stryker has mitigation factors addressing tariffs. Mr. Wells didn’t share specifics of where tariffs are coming from. However he said that 2% of Stryker’s business is in China, where tariffs were hit harder.
Globus Medical
Tariffs aren’t a major headwind for Globus Medical, CFO and COO Keith Pfeil said in a May 8 earnings call.
“Overall, we do not see tariffs as materially impacting our business through supply chain disruptions or from a cost increase perspective,” he said. “Much of the Globus business is vertically integrated and predominantly U.S.-based, thus minimizing tariff exposure. Where we do see tariff impacts, we have launched a series of cost action offsets, including, but not limited to, targeted price increases, vendor resourcing and vendor cost renegotiations. We have actively and aggressively engaged on this initiative to ensure minimal impact to our business.”
However temporary supply chain issues did affect the company’s first quarter earnings. Mr Pfeil said that disruption will subside.
Enovis
Enovis predicted that tariffs levied by the Trump administration will impact its profits by $20 million, causing the company to drop its full year EBITDA from $405 million to $415 million to $385 million to $395 million. Enovis also dropped its predicted tariff impact from $40 million to $20 million after creating plans to move some of its sourcing and manufacturing out of China.
“Even if current levels continue, we expect to exit the year on a path to recover a portion of the 2025 impact in 2026. The tariff situation remains very fluid,” Ben Berry, CFO of Enovis, said during the company’s earnings call.
Zimmer Biomet
Zimmer Biomet CFO Suketu Upadhyay described the tariff situation as “fluid” in a May 5 earnings call. The company anticipates a $60 million to $80 million headwind related to tariffs in the second half of the year.
“We have already taken some early steps to mitigate the impact of tariffs,” Mr. Upadhyay said. “A couple of the big ones are optimizing in our view of country of origin as well as transfer pricing. Secondly, we’ve made adjustments to our sourcing through our dual sourcing and redundant sourcing where it makes sense. And then thirdly, we’ve moderated some of our discretionary spend in areas that don’t really impact near-term or long-term revenue growth.”
Orthofix
Orthofix CFO Julie Andrews said tariff exposure was “very manageable,” according to a May 6 earnings call. The company estimates annual exposure to be about $3 million to $4 million, which includes current tariffs and additional tariffs that were announced on April 2 that would take effect following a 90-day pause.
