에이픽스 메디컬(APYX) 2026년 3분기 실적 발표 콘퍼런스콜: AYON, 외과 미용 부문 17% 성장 견인

핵심 요약

• 2026년 3분기 매출은 미국 내 에이온(AYON) 매출과 해외 시장에서의 레누비온(Renuvion) 성장에 힘입어 전년 동기 대비 9% 증가한 1,400만 달러를 기록했다.
• 서지컬 에스테틱 매출은 17% 증가한 1,300만 달러를 기록한 반면, OEM 매출은 41.5% 감소한 110만 달러에 그쳤다. 2026년 첫 9개월 동안 서지컬 에스테틱 부문은 26% 이상 성장했다.
• 조정 EBITDA는 전년 동기 10만 달러 손실에서 40만 달러로 개선되었다. 경영진은 또한 직전 12개월 누적 기준으로 회사가 EBITDA 흑자를 달성했다고 밝혔다.
• 에이픽스 메디칼은 2026년 연간 매출 가이던스를 5,900만~6,000만 달러로 재확인했으며, 영업비용 목표치는 기존 4,500만 달러 미만에서 4,100만~4,250만 달러로 낮췄다.
• 경영진은 파워리포(PowerLipo)가 에이온 도입의 중요한 촉매제라고 설명했다. 에이온 판매량의 약 75%는 기존 레누비온 고객에게, 25%는 에이픽스 신규 고객에게 판매되었다.
• 2026년 9월 30일 기준 현금 및 현금성 자산은 총 2,580만 달러였다. 분기 영업활동 현금 사용액은 전년 동기의 350만 달러에서 160만 달러로 감소했다.

주요 재무 데이터

사업 및 운영 실적

에이온(AYON)과 레누비온(Renuvion)은 여전히 주요 성장 동력으로 작용했다. 에이온은 집도의의 신체적 부담을 줄이면서 지방 흡입을 돕는 왕복형 캐뉼라를 적용한 파워리포(PowerLipo)의 상용 출시에 힘입어 수혜를 입었다. 에이픽스는 성형외과 전문의의 약 70%가 파워 지방흡입을 사용하는 것으로 추산하고 있다.

파워리포는 모든 에이온 시스템에 기본 탑재되도록 설계되었다. 이를 활성화하려면 소프트웨어 업데이트와 핸드피스 및 캐뉼라 구매가 필요하다. 경영진은 3분기 말 무렵 초기 미처리 주문이 모두 이행되었으며, 이제 새로 구매하는 에이온 시스템에는 파워리포를 포함할 수 있다고 밝혔다.

플랫폼 전반에서 제품 도입 역시 확대되고 있다. 경영진은 기존에 파워 지방흡입만 사용하던 일부 의사들이 에이온의 초음파 지방흡입 기능을 추가로 도입하고 있다고 전했다. 또한 에이픽스 신규 고객의 핸드피스 구매는 통합 워크플로 내에서 레누비온이 도입되고 있음을 보여준다.

해외 매출은 22% 성장했으며, 경영진은 한국에서의 레누비온 상용화 첫해 실적을 강조했다. 에이온은 현재 미국에서만 판매되고 있다. 에이픽스는 유럽, 중동, 브라질, 콜롬비아, 멕시코에서 제품 등록을 추진하고 있으나, 경영진은 구체적인 승인 일정을 제시하지 않았다.

임상적 근거는 상용화 전략의 주요한 부분을 차지하고 있다. 안면거상술 환자 7명을 등록한 레누비온 전향적 연구에서 6명이 6개월 추적 관찰을 마쳤다. 시술 부위 조직은 미시술 대조 부위보다 엘라스틴 섬유 밀도가 30% 높았고 염증은 34% 적었으며, 환자 6명 전원이 피부 질 개선과 만족도를 보고했다.

경영진은 또한 상당한 체중 감량을 경험한 환자들이 늘어진 피부와 잔여 지방 치료를 원할 수 있다는 점에서 지속적인 GLP-1 도입을 장기적인 기회로 보고 있다. 다만 이는 경영진의 자체적인 평가일 뿐 공시된 재무 가이던스는 아니다.

경영진 가이던스

에이픽스 메디칼은 2026년 연간 전망치를 다음과 같이 재확인했다:

경영진은 4분기가 통상 시술 건수가 가장 많고 장비 판매가 가장 강세를 보이는 분기라고 언급하며, 4분기에 장비 및 핸드피스 매출 모두 호조를 보일 것으로 예상했다.

위험 요인 및 주시 사항

• 기존 고객 대상 판매량 감소로 인해 OEM 매출은 지속적으로 감소했으며, 경영진은 해당 부문의 연간 매출이 줄어들 것으로 예상하고 있다.
• 3분기 중 미국 내 단독형 제너레이터 및 글로벌 일회용 핸드피스 매출이 감소하면서, 에이온과 해외 제너레이터의 성장을 일부 상쇄했다.
• 해외 매출이 전체 매출에서 차지하는 비중이 커지고 두 부문 모두에서 제품 믹스가 변화함에 따라 매출총이익률은 소폭 하락했다.
• 4분기 미국 내 실적 비교는 에이온의 2025년 출시 시점에 영향을 받는다. 2025년 5월부터 사전 판매된 시스템의 선적이 해당 연도의 마지막 4개월 동안 집중되었기 때문이다.
• 에이온의 해외 확장은 규제 당국의 인허가 등록에 달려 있으나, 경영진은 이에 대한 확정된 일정을 제시하지 않았다.

애널리스트 Q&A 주요 내용

수익성 및 지출: 경영진은 수익성 개선이 매출 성장과 철저한 비용 관리의 결합 덕분이라고 설명했다. 에이온의 본격적인 상용 출시에 필요한 투자는 현재 계획에 반영되어 있으며, 회사는 수익성 달성을 계속 최우선 과제로 삼고 있다.

에이온의 성장 여력: 경영진은 에이온이 향후 수년간 성장 동력 역할을 지속할 것으로 기대하고 있다. 해당 플랫폼은 미국 출시 초기 단계에 있으며, 향후 해외 인허가 등록을 통해 전체 잠재시장(TAM)을 확장할 수 있을 것으로 보인다.

고객 구성 및 도입 현황: 에이온 판매량의 약 75%는 기존 레누비온 고객에게, 25%는 에이픽스 신규 고객에게 이루어졌다. 경영진은 임상 결과, 시술 효율성, 통합 워크플로, 병원 경영의 경제성을 주요 도입 요인으로 꼽았다.

해외 시장 기회: 경영진은 미국 외 지역의 파워 지방흡입 사용 행태도 대체로 유사하다고 밝혔다. 유럽 및 기타 시장에서는 병원 기반 시술과 복수의 의료진으로 구성된 팀이 최대 4가지 기능을 동시에 지원하는 에이온의 성능으로부터 혜택을 볼 수 있을 것으로 예상된다. 아울러 회사는 과거 레누비온으로는 공략하지 않았던 시장인 재건 수술 분야에서도 잠재력을 확인하고 있다.

2027년 실적 비교: 경영진은 에이픽스가 2025년 에이온 초기 출시에 따른 선적 집중 효과를 지나치고 나면, 2027년에는 전년 대비 실적 비교가 한층 수월해질 것이라고 밝혔다.

실적 발표 콘퍼런스콜 전문

전체 실적 발표 컨퍼런스 콜 녹취록

경영진 발표

Operator

[Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Jeremy Feffer from LifeSci Advisors. Please go ahead.

Jeremy Feffer

Thank you, and welcome, everyone, to our third quarter 2026 earnings call. Representing the company on the call are Charlie Goodwin, Chief Executive Officer, and Matt Hill, Chief Financial Officer of Apyx. Before we begin, I would like to remind everyone that our remarks and responses to your questions today may contain forward-looking statements that are based on the current expectations of management and involve inherent risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated, including, without limitation, those identified in the Risk Factors section of our most recent annual report on Form 10-K, our most recent 10-Q filing, and the company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such factors may be updated from time to time in our filings with the SEC, which are available on our website. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise our forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

This call will also include references to certain financial measures that are not calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. We generally refer to these as non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP are available in the earnings press release on the Investor Relations portion of our website.

I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Charlie Goodwin, Apyx Medical's President and Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead.

Charles Goodwin

Thank you, Jeremy, and thank you all for joining us today. Per our usual format on these quarterly calls, I will begin with a review of our performance over the past several months, and then turn the call over to Matt for a review of our third quarter 2026 financial results, along with our guidance for the full year 2026. We will then open the call for your questions. Let me begin with a review of a few key highlights from our third quarter 2026 performance. We delivered another quarter of strong year-over-year growth with total revenue of $14 million, an increase of 9% compared with the third quarter of 2025. Growth was driven primarily by sales of AYON in the United States and Renuvion outside the United States, reflecting continued demand for our body contouring technologies. For the 3 and 9 months ended September 30, 2026, our Surgical Aesthetics segment grew over 17% and 26%, respectively, as compared to the same periods last year.

We are pleased by the progress we have made with AYON in the 1 year since its full commercial launch. During this time, we have continued to build awareness of the platform and demonstrate the value of bringing fat removal, closed-loop contouring, Renuvion tissue contraction, and electrosurgical capabilities together in 1 integrated system. We are building on a foundation with the broader commercial rollout of AYON's power liposuction capability consistent with the plans we outlined last quarter. Power liposuction uses a reciprocating cannula to support more efficient fat removal while reducing the physical effort required of the surgeon. We estimate approximately 70% of plastic surgeons use power liposuction, making this an important addition that broadens AYON's appeal. Therefore, the recent clearance and commercial launch of power liposuction was a pivotal catalyst in driving AYON's adoption. While the rollout remains in the early stages, feedback from surgeons has been very positive.

PowerLipo was designed directly into every AYON, and activation requires only a simple software update and the purchase of the handpiece and cannula. Clinicians can seamlessly deploy the full clinical AYON solution with no downtime. The legacy liposuction products on the market haven't moved the needle on safety and efficacy in 2 decades. The AYON system was designed by surgeons to specifically close these clinical gaps. By embedding next-generation safety and workflow optimization into a single, elegant system, we believe AYON establishes a new benchmark for surgical performance. It is uniquely positioned to be the global standard of care for plastic surgeons. Renuvion remains central to our strategy, both as a standalone system and as an integrated part of AYON. Its tissue contraction capability complements fat removal, helping surgeons address skin laxity that remains after liposuction or significant weight loss.

Continued demand for AYON and Renuvion reflects the value surgeons see in having these complementary technologies available for their patients. Our commercial strategy is supported by our continued commitment to building clinical evidence. Last quarter, we discussed studies reporting higher patient satisfaction and lower rates of abdominoplasty and surgical revision with Renuvion plus liposuction compared with liposuction alone, as well as improvements in cellulite appearance and skin laxity following combined Avéli and Renuvion treatment. In September, we added to this evidence with a prospective study evaluating Renuvion's effect on biological markers associated with skin quality published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery – Global Open. The study enrolled 7 patients undergoing facelift surgery with 6 completing the 6-month follow-up. Tissue analysis at the visit showed 30% greater elastin fiber density and 34% less inflammation in treated tissue compared to untreated control areas. All 6 patients reported improvements in skin quality and satisfaction with their outcomes.

These findings add direct human tissue evidence supporting the improvements surgeons and patients have observed with Renuvion and reinforce the value of evaluating tissue quality alongside tissue contraction. We believe this is an important consideration in body contouring where achieving the desired results depends not only on removing the fat, but also addressing the quality and laxity of the skin that remains. Looking ahead, the continued adoption of GLP-1 medications is reshaping the body contouring patient population and creating what we believe is a meaningful long-term opportunity for our business. While these therapies are helping a growing number of patients achieve substantial weight loss, many are left with loose or lax skin and residual areas of fat that they want to address. As these patients reach or approach their target weight, we believe many will seek procedures that address these concerns more comprehensively. By combining advanced fat removal with Renuvion's tissue contraction capabilities, Apyx positions us to help surgeons meet these needs. Our focus remains on transitioning this opportunity into broader adoption through continued commercial execution.

Before I turn the call over to Matt, I want to recognize the Apyx team. We have successfully achieved our product development, regulatory, and sales goals, all while maintaining strict cost discipline. To that end, I am pleased to report that on a cumulative trailing 12-month basis, the company has achieved positive EBITDA. Now I will turn the call over to Matt for a review of our third quarter 2026 financial results in more detail along with our financial guidance for 2026.

Matthew Hill

Thanks, Charlie. Before I get started, please note that all references to our third quarter financial results will be on a GAAP and a year-over-year basis unless noted otherwise. As Charlie mentioned, total revenue for the third quarter of '26 increased 9% to $14 million compared to $12.9 million in the prior year period. Revenue for the Surgical Aesthetics segment increased 17% or $1.9 million, to $13 million, compared to $11.1 million for the prior year period. This growth was driven by sales of AYON as we commenced our commercial launch in the third quarter of '25 and increased sales of generators internationally. These increases were partially offset by decreases in domestic sales of standalone generators and sales of single-use handpieces globally. Turning to the OEM segment, sales decreased 41.5% or approximately $0.7 million, to $1.1 million, for the third quarter of '26 compared to $1.8 million for the third quarter of '25. The decrease in OEM sales was due to a decrease in sales volume to existing customers.

With the increased focus on Surgical Aesthetics, we expect OEM segment revenue will decrease for the year. Domestic revenue increased 4% year-over-year to $9.7 million, and international revenue increased 22% year-over-year to $4.3 million for the third quarter of 2026. Gross profit for the third quarter of '26 increased 9% to $9 million, compared with $8.3 million in the prior year period. Gross profit margin for the third quarter of '26 decreased to 64.2% compared to 64.4% in the prior year period. The decrease is primarily attributable to geographic mix with international sales comprising a higher percentage of total sales and product mix within both the Surgical Aesthetics and OEM segments. These decreases were partially offset by an increase due to mix between our segments with Surgical Aesthetics comprising a higher percentage of total sales.

Operating expenses increased to $9.6 million for the third quarter of '26 compared to $9.1 million for the prior year period. The increase was mostly driven by a $0.4 million increase in salaries and related costs and a $0.2 million increase in selling, general, and administrative expenses, which was partially offset by a $0.2 million decrease in professional services.

Loss from operations was $0.6 million, compared with a loss from operations of $0.8 million for the third quarter of 2025. Net loss attributable to shareholders was $1.8 million, or $0.04 per share, for the third quarter of '26, compared with $2 million or $0.05 per share in the prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA was $0.4 million for the third quarter of '26, compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of $0.1 million for the third quarter of '25. As a reminder, we provided detailed reconciliation from net loss attributable to stockholders to non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA in our earnings press release.

For the 3 months ended September 30, 2026, net cash used in operating activities was $1.6 million compared to $3.5 million used in the prior year period. The decrease was primarily due to changes in working capital, combined with a reduction in net loss. As of September 30, 2026, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $25.8 million.

We have maintained a solid cash position, managing to an average cash burn of approximately $2 million a quarter this year, providing substantial flexibility to support our ongoing operations and execute our strategic plan. As you can see from our financial performance, we're very focused on growing the top line while prudently holding the line on operating expenses. Our continued focus on operating discipline, cash management, and financial performance positions us to navigate our upcoming obligations while maintaining our commitment to long-term value creation.

Turning to our 2026 guidance, we're reaffirming our full-year revenue guidance in the range of $59 million to $60 million compared with $52.8 million reported for the year ended December 31, 2025. Our guidance continues to assume Surgical Aesthetics segment revenue in the range of $54 million to $55 million, compared with approximately $45.3 million for 2025, and OEM revenue of approximately $5 million, compared with approximately $7.5 million for 2025. In addition, we now expect gross margins in the range of 63% to 64% and updated our total operating expense targets in the range of $41 million to $42.5 million for the full year. Previously, we stated operating expenses would be less than $45 million.

This completes our prepared remarks. Charlie and I will now open the call for questions. Operator.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Alex Fuhrman with Loop Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

질의응답

Alex Fuhrman

Can you talk a little bit more about the lower operating expense target for the year and what's driving the improved profitability here? Obviously, it sounds like very strong demand here, especially with the addition of power lipo here, but would love to get a better understanding of the improved profitability here as well.

Charles Goodwin

Yes. No, I appreciate the question. Look, we've stated that we want to get this business to profitability as quickly as we can, and we're very proud of the effort that the team has put forward. For the last trailing 4 quarters, we're actually EBITDA positive. And so we've done a very good job of growing the top line, but also managing the bottom line. And you're seeing the growth go straight to the bottom line, and that's why you get the improvement. We had always stated at the beginning of the year that we weren't going to spend more than $45 million, and obviously through the first 3 quarters, we're way under that. And so now we just tightened that range of what we will spend between now and the end of the year.

Alex Fuhrman

Okay, that's really helpful. And then, obviously, not trying to get you to give us formal guidance for next year or anything, but just can you give us a little bit of understanding of just how to frame up where you are in the rollout of the new all-in-one system? Is that expected to be a continued tailwind into the first half of next year?

Charles Goodwin

Well, I would say that the tailwind for all-in-one is for multiple years. Remember, we're just getting started in the United States. We actually just got PowerLipo out to everybody that had bought it. And so we think that AYON will have growth for a lot of years to come. And the other side of that is right now we are only selling it in the United States. And obviously we're working on registration in a lot of the key markets outside the United States and would expect to have those at some point to be able to start selling AYON on a worldwide basis. Doctors all over the world are seeing AYON at the show. They're talking about it. They're hearing about it. And, you know, we're just excited to get it registered and to get it out there.

Alex Fuhrman

Yes, that'll be really exciting to see that. Thank you, Charlie, and congratulations again on the strong results.

Charles Goodwin

Thanks, Alex.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Sam Eiber with BTIG. Please go ahead.

Sam Eiber

Maybe just following up on that last question, are there any key markets we should be looking out for in terms of timelines when AYON might get the necessary regulatory approvals? I know Renuvion has been doing well in certain markets, but curious if you're able to give us any timelines on AYON and some of the larger OUS markets you play in today.

Charles Goodwin

Yes, timelines. The answer to that is no. Obviously, when we get registration in some of these key areas, we'll obviously let the market know if it's important. But obviously the markets that we were really after and really want right away are obviously Europe, the Middle East, and then key countries in Latin America. And those key countries in Latin America are namely Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico.

Sam Eiber

Okay, very good. Fair enough. And then maybe I can just use a follow-up question here on what's resonating maybe more with some of the doctors that have adopted AYON at this point. Is it more so the clinical benefits that they're seeing? Is it the economics on the faster procedures and greater patient throughput? Or maybe it's a combination of the two, but curious what you're hearing from the field.

Charles Goodwin

Yes, it's all of the above. Doctors are really noticing the technological advances in the liposuction, and the doctors that see it and have it are talking a lot about it. They are seeing that their patients actually recover faster because they have less bruising and less downtime from traditional lipo that they were using before. And so there's definitely that clinical aspect of it, and having the integrated system for fat transfer and everything else is key to them. And there are doctors that are using it to actually bring in new patients and talk to patients that they've got the latest and greatest technology and are able to either convert more patients into having procedures with them or even in some cases charging more for those procedures because they're using the latest and greatest technology. And then there's the whole efficiency piece for the doctors and their teams where they're able to save time and do that. And so Apyx has a lot of drivers for the doctors, their patients, and their practices.

It's now our job on the commercial side to make sure that everybody understands that—the doctors themselves, their staff, and the patients also. So we've still got work to do from a worldwide basis, but we are even more excited as we sit here today that we think that AYON will be the standard of care for body contouring all over the world. It really is being received that well in the field.

Sam Eiber

Okay, very good. Thanks for taking the questions, guys.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Tollef Kohrman with Craig-Hallum. Please go ahead.

Tollef Kohrman

So for AYON growth, how much of that was competitive conversions? And then for my second question, could you speak to the pipeline of PowerLipo? Thank you very much.

Charles Goodwin

Yes, so I'll do the second one first. So PowerLipo, we were able to fill all the orders of PowerLipo just within the end of this last quarter. So everybody that had a PowerLipo system could actually get their handpiece, at least 1 of them. And I think now we've been able to get everybody all of theirs since then. And now is the first time that if you actually bought an AYON today, you could actually get PowerLipo with it. Okay. So that's the first one. As far as new customers, if you look at where we've done so far, about 75% of our AYON sales have been to existing Renuvion customers and about 25% to brand-new customers that have never been part of Apyx.

Tollef Kohrman

Great. Thank you.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Danny Stauder with Citizens JMP. Please go ahead.

Daniel Stauder

I wanted to ask on fourth quarter, how should we be thinking about capital versus handpiece mix in terms of what's implied for fourth quarter sales? And as we think out to 2027, what's a good way to frame that, just considering some of the puts and takes we saw in 2026? Thank you.

Charles Goodwin

Yes, so if you look at handpieces in particular, it's always tough to look at it on a quarter-by-quarter basis. We obviously look at it on a year-by-year basis because it depends on whether some large customers when they place their order to where it is. And so for the first 3 quarters from a handpiece perspective, we're right where we thought we were going to be, and we would expect Q4 obviously to be a very good handpiece quarter because that's where the greatest number of procedures are done in Q4 as opposed to Q3. So we think that Q4 will be a good handpiece quarter as well as a good capital quarter. It's always our best capital quarter. And so we're looking for both of those things to happen.

As far as the comparison in Q4, remember that last year we started pre-selling AYON in May when we got approval. And so we were selling AYONs basically for over half of a year, and we didn't actually ship those AYONs until Q3 and Q4. So from a comparison basis, there were 6 months of sales that were put into the last quarter, basically. So from a comparison, it's not an apple-to-an-apple comparison on a regular quarter, but that's the last quarter of this. And then as we move into '27, obviously the comparisons will be a lot easier to go after.

Daniel Stauder

That's really helpful. Thank you. And then just 1 follow-up on some of the terms of the international opportunity. Just in terms of AYON, could you talk about those markets? I mean, is that 70% of plastic surgeons using power lipo, is that consistent abroad? And is there any reason that AYON might be more or less attractive in some of these international markets, just depending on the different trends and idiosyncratic characteristics there? Thank you.

Charles Goodwin

Yes, no, it's a good question because there are some differences there. Power lipo is about the same. That is not different. But what is different in Europe especially and in various other countries is a lot of the liposuctions are done in the hospital setting and done by teams of doctors. And that makes Apyx even that much more of a value to the doctors and their teams because of the simultaneous activation. Remember, you can do up to 4 things at the same time with AYON. So that simultaneous activation is a huge benefit in places like Europe where doctors and their teams do that. The other side of it, too, is because they're done in the hospital, a lot of the reconstructive doctors can be using AYON also. And that is an area that, quite honestly, they weren't really using Renuvion before. Now they're going to get exposure to Renuvion, too, on the reconstructive market. And so the reconstructive market is obviously an upside for us all over the world because it's really not a market that we have called on before. So there are some differences outside the United States because of where the body contouring procedures are done.

Daniel Stauder

Great. Thanks so much for the question. Thank you.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Yi Chen with H.C. Wainwright. Please go ahead.

Yi Chen

Good morning, this is Katie on for Yi. Thinking about AYON, for the systems that were installed earlier in the launch, do you find that customers are adopting the full workflow or selectively using different pieces of it, using Renuvion tissue contraction in a greater proportion of their cases? And what kind of gives you a clue that one of these customers is going to be a broader utilizer versus more selective?

Charles Goodwin

Yes, so the answer to that is yes, more doctors are using the full suite of AYON, where we're seeing that especially is on the 2 different liposuctions. There's a lot of doctors that only used power liposuction and didn't have ultrasonic liposuction, and now we're seeing them use the ultrasonic liposuction also because it is a great tool for them to use in these procedures. So we are seeing that. As far as the Renuvion usage, as I stated earlier, about 75% of the AYONs that we've sold have been to Renuvion customers, and obviously they were using Renuvion before, and so that utilization is basically the same that it was. But where we are obviously seeing an uptick in Renuvion and them using the whole system is into the 25% of those that are new customers, new to Apyx. And we know that they're using Renuvion obviously because they're buying handpieces.

Yi Chen

Quick follow-up, you had at 1 point mentioned a mechanism paper that will be published for Renuvion. Do you guys have any update on that?

Charles Goodwin

Yes, that paper was—I don't think it was a mechanism paper. I think it was the paper that we highlighted in the prepared remarks. It was for skin quality. And if you look at Renuvion, we have done a very good job of publishing and talking about Renuvion for skin retraction, okay, and that is obviously very important, skin tightening. It's used after liposuction, it's used in body contouring, and that will remain obviously important. But we've done 2 other studies that show versatility of Renuvion itself, and 1 is the pretreatment of areas before fat transfer. And if you pre-treat the area with Renuvion before fat transfer, we have papers that show up to 40% higher retention of the fat graft. And so that is incredibly important when you're doing fat transfer.

And then the last part of that was the study that just came out in September that talked about skin quality. And that skin quality is incredibly important and we think is going to be a driver for Renuvion and new users for Renuvion because the skin is your largest organ. And as you're doing the skin tightening, what actually helps is if the quality of your skin can get better. And in this study, we had over a 30% improvement of elastin and about the same improvement in inflammation, and that improves the quality of the skin. And there hasn't been anything that has shown an improvement in elastin out there. So we think that that is going to be a very important paper for us and to keep talking about how Renuvion will keep being a driver of this business for many years to come also.

Yi Chen

Thank you very much.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Jeremy Pearlman with Maxim Group. Please go ahead.

Unknown Speaker

Just firstly, are there any remaining investments that are either planned or required to support AYON now that you've moved into the full commercial launch?

Charles Goodwin

Yes. Now that we've made full commercial launch, now we've made all the investments that we're going to make for that. The only thing that we have ever mentioned before is, as I alluded to on 1 of the other questions, there is an opportunity in the reconstructive space, in the hospitals, in the United States, and we need to figure out how we're going to actually do that—more on that when it comes. But as far as investments come for this year, that is all baked into what we're doing. And then we've stated that getting to profitability for this company is incredibly important for us, and we're going to do it as fast as we can.

Unknown Speaker

Okay, understood. And then just another question relating, maybe you can help us understand some of the divergence between domestic revenue grew this year only 4% and then international was 22% this quarter. So is that just because of the way that, you know, the winding down of the OEM business and then the transition from the limited to the full commercial launch, which is a timing issue and due? Should we expect that gap to be covered up by the domestic revenue going forward? Thanks.

Charles Goodwin

Yes. So if you remember from our guidance, we've given guidance for the year that we will grow the Surgical Aesthetics business 20%, and we're at 26%, I think, after 3 quarters. And so what you're seeing in the U.S. business is, as I stated last year when we launched AYON, we got approval in May, and we started to sell AYON units that we could not ship until September, October, November, and December. So when you're looking at a comparison, all of the months that we've had before September, there was no AYON in that number. And now you're getting AYON in that number for September, October, November, and December. And that's why the growth rate appears to be going down. It is from a mathematical point of view, but we were selling AYONs all last year and shipped them all just in 4 months. So that's really the difference and why you're seeing that now in the third quarter.

And then obviously in the fourth quarter, you'll see that the growth rate in the United States won't be as high either because of those comparisons of AYON that were shipped in October, November, and December. As far as outside the United States, that still remains to—especially Korea has been having a very good year, their first year, obviously, launching Renuvion. And that's where a lot of the growth is from outside the United States.

Unknown Speaker

Okay. Thank you for answering my question. I'll hop back in the queue.

Operator

I am showing no further questions at this time. This concludes our question-and-answer session. I will now hand the conference back to Charlie Goodwin for his closing comments.

Charles Goodwin

Thank you, everybody, for joining us today. We are pleased with the momentum in the business this quarter and look forward to executing on the expanded commercial strategy we discussed as we continue to build market share for the AYON platform. I appreciate the continued support of our shareholders, our staff, and thank you all for joining the call today. Thank you.

Operator

Today's conference call for Apyx Medical has now concluded. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

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