This post was originally published on this site
Actress Marsai Martin got a shout-out from Align Technology Inc. on Wednesday for her help boosting sales among teenagers as a social-media influencer.
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
Align Technology Inc. soared in after-hours trading Wednesday after the maker of Invisalign, the alternative to metal braces, blew past analysts’ earnings expectations thanks in part to social media.
The San Jose, Calif.-based company attributed its strong quarter to a new “teen and mom consumer-focused campaign,” with Chief Executive Joe Hogan saying in a statement that Align ALGN, +0.36% saw “an uptick in consumer engagement from new social-media influencers like Charli D’Amelio and Marsai Martin, and a 25.6% year-over-year increase in teenagers using Invisalign clear aligners.” D’Amelio is a dancer on TikTok, and Martin is one of the stars on the television show “Black-ish.”
The company also said its aligner volume rose 28.7% year-over-year to 496,100 cases in the quarter, and that it reached a milestone of 9 million patients.
Align shares rose more than 23% in the extended session to $414 a share, after closing regular trading less than 0.5% higher at $335.81. The company reported third-quarter net income of $139.4 million, or $1.76 a share, compared with $102.5 million, or $1.28 a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose to $734.1 million from $607.3 million in the year-ago quarter.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of 64 cents a share on revenue of $529.3 million.
Adjusted earnings were $2.25 a share, adjusted for stock-based compensation, amortization of intangibles and acquisition-related costs.
Align stock has risen 20% this year, while the S&P 500 Index SPX, -0.22% is up more than 8%.
