Cuộc họp báo cáo kết quả kinh doanh Q3 2026 của Merit Medical Systems (MMSI): Tăng trưởng tự thân 9%, Nâng dự báo EPS

Các điểm chính

• Merit Medical Systems công bố doanh thu quý 3/2026 đạt 460 triệu USD, tăng 8% so với cùng kỳ năm ngoái. Tăng trưởng hữu cơ theo tỷ giá cố định đạt 9%, tiếp nối mức tăng trưởng 9% trong quý 2.
• Tăng trưởng hữu cơ diễn ra trên diện rộng: các sản phẩm nền tảng tăng 8%, trong khi các sản phẩm điều trị tăng 11%. Doanh thu tại Mỹ tăng 11%, so với mức tăng trưởng 3% tại thị trường quốc tế.
• Biên lợi nhuận hoạt động phi GAAP mở rộng 160 điểm cơ bản lên 21,3%, trong khi EPS pha loãng phi GAAP tăng 22% lên 1,12 USD. Dòng tiền tự do đạt gần 53 triệu USD.
• Ban lãnh đạo đã nâng dự báo EPS pha loãng phi GAAP cho cả năm 2026 lên 4,33-4,47 USD và hiện kỳ vọng biên lợi nhuận hoạt động phi GAAP đạt 21,2%-21,4%.
• Merit đã thâu tóm phần vốn góp còn lại của SoloPace với giá khoảng 45 triệu USD sau khi đã nắm giữ 18% cổ phần trước đó. Ban lãnh đạo kỳ vọng giao dịch này sẽ không ảnh hưởng đáng kể đến năm 2026 và sẽ đóng góp nhẹ vào lợi nhuận phi GAAP trong năm 2027.
• Trung Quốc vẫn là một yếu tố hạn chế. Merit đã giảm triển vọng nửa cuối năm tại Trung Quốc khoảng 4 triệu USD, dẫn ra lý do đấu thầu tập trung dựa trên sản lượng, sự ưu tiên cho các sản phẩm nội địa và sự kiểm soát chặt chẽ hơn đối với các hoạt động liên quan đến bác sĩ.

Dữ liệu tài chính cốt lõi

Biên lợi nhuận gộp giảm chủ yếu do chênh lệch chi phí sản xuất bất lợi, chi phí vận chuyển và phân phối cao hơn, cùng điều chỉnh trích lập thưởng. Ban lãnh đạo cho biết khoảng 80 điểm cơ bản áp lực xuất phát từ chênh lệch chi phí sản xuất, phần lớn liên quan đến nguyên liệu thô và bạch kim, và khoảng 25 điểm cơ bản từ chi phí vận chuyển. Merit cho biết công ty đã phê duyệt phương án thay thế cho bạch kim cho sản phẩm bị ảnh hưởng và đang đẩy mạnh áp dụng giải pháp thay thế đó.

Kết quả kinh doanh và vận hành

Doanh số sản phẩm nền tảng tăng 6% theo báo cáo và tăng 8% theo cơ sở hữu cơ. Doanh số sản phẩm điều trị tăng 13% theo báo cáo và tăng 11% theo cơ sở hữu cơ. Công ty mô tả tăng trưởng quý 3 là cân bằng trên nhiều nền tảng.

Mảng kinh doanh OEM đã tăng trưởng khoảng 15% trong quý 3 sau nửa đầu năm trầm lắng hơn, đưa mức tăng trưởng từ đầu năm đến nay lên khoảng 5%. Ban lãnh đạo tiếp tục xem OEM là mảng kinh doanh tăng trưởng từ mức giữa đến cao của một chữ số theo thời gian, đồng thời lưu ý rằng kết quả theo quý có thể không đồng đều.

Tăng trưởng của mảng Ung bướu được hưởng lợi từ Scout MD, ra mắt vào cuối tháng 5, và việc tích hợp Viewpoint Medical. Ban lãnh đạo cho biết Scout MD đã đóng góp vào mức tăng trưởng khoảng 16% của mảng Ung bướu trong quý, một phần phản ánh nhu cầu bị dồn nén đối với hệ thống thế hệ mới. OneMark đang được định vị song song với Scout MD như một phần của danh mục chăm sóc vú bao gồm chẩn đoán, định vị và phẫu thuật. Công ty báo cáo một danh mục đánh giá thử nghiệm tiềm năng mạnh mẽ, đặc biệt là giữa các viện nghiên cứu học thuật, nhưng cho biết việc tích hợp Viewpoint diễn ra chậm hơn một chút so với kỳ vọng.

Merit nhắc lại giả định doanh thu tại Mỹ năm 2026 là khoảng 7 triệu USD cho Rhapsody CIA. Ban lãnh đạo cho biết phản hồi của bác sĩ về công nghệ này vẫn tích cực, nhưng các đối thủ cạnh tranh đang đáp trả thông qua các biện pháp bao gồm tuyển dụng thêm nhân sự. Dữ liệu từ nhóm bệnh nhân AVF của Sổ bộ Toàn cầu Rhapsody (Rhapsody Global Registry) đã được lên lịch trình bày tại hội nghị CiDA.

Công ty cũng nhấn mạnh dữ liệu lâm sàng ngẫu nhiên cho EsophyX. Theo ban lãnh đạo, thủ thuật gấp nếp vị qua đường miệng bằng ống thông không kém hơn so với phẫu thuật gấp nếp vị Nissen qua nội soi trong việc cải thiện chất lượng cuộc sống liên quan đến GERD và bình thường hóa mức độ tiếp xúc với axit, với tỷ lệ nuốt khó mới phát sinh sau phẫu thuật thấp hơn.

Thương vụ thâu tóm SoloPace

Merit đã trả khoảng 45 triệu USD vào ngày 13 tháng 10 năm 2026 để thâu tóm phần vốn góp còn lại của SoloPace. Công ty trước đó đã sở hữu 18% cổ phần và đóng vai trò là nhà phân phối độc quyền các hệ thống của SoloPace.

SoloPace Control và SoloPace Fusion là các công nghệ tạo nhịp tạm thời được thiết kế cho phẫu thuật thay van động mạch chủ qua ống thông và các thủ thuật van tim qua ống thông khác. Hệ thống Fusion kết hợp chức năng dây dẫn hướng, tạo nhịp thất trái và tiếp địa bệnh nhân trong một bộ dụng cụ vô trùng dùng một lần. Merit cho biết dây dẫn hướng đi kèm do chính công ty sản xuất.

Ban lãnh đạo kỳ vọng thương vụ thâu tóm này sẽ có tác động tài chính không đáng kể trong năm 2026 và sẽ gia tăng nhẹ lợi nhuận ròng cùng EPS phi GAAP trong năm 2027. Công ty có kế hoạch sử dụng hạ tầng thương mại, lâm sàng và đào tạo bác sĩ của mình để mở rộng quy mô áp dụng.

Dự báo của ban lãnh đạo

Ban lãnh đạo cho biết các giả định cho quý 4 phần lớn không thay đổi, ngoại trừ việc giảm khoảng 4 triệu USD trong triển vọng nửa cuối năm tại Trung Quốc. Công ty chủ yếu chuyển tiếp kết quả kinh doanh quý 3 vào triển vọng cả năm cập nhật.

Merit cũng tiếp tục tập trung vào sáng kiến tăng trưởng 3 năm kết thúc vào ngày 31 tháng 12 năm 2026. Các mục tiêu bao gồm tốc độ tăng trưởng hàng năm kép (CAGR) doanh thu hữu cơ theo tỷ giá cố định đạt 5%-7%, biên lợi nhuận hoạt động phi GAAP đạt 20%-22%, và dòng tiền tự do tích lũy trên 400 triệu USD. Công ty có kế hoạch trình bày kế hoạch chiến lược giai đoạn 2027-2029 và các mục tiêu tài chính mới tại sự kiện dành cho nhà đầu tư vào ngày 11 tháng 2 năm 2027.

Rủi ro và các mục cần theo dõi

• Trung Quốc: Ban lãnh đạo đã đề cập đến hoạt động đấu thầu tập trung dựa trên sản lượng, áp lực từ chính phủ trong việc sử dụng các sản phẩm sản xuất trong nước với giá thấp hơn, cùng sự kiểm soát chặt chẽ hơn đối với các chương trình đào tạo bác sĩ do ngành tài trợ. Nếu không tính Trung Quốc, tăng trưởng hữu cơ quốc tế đạt khoảng 6%, so với mức tăng trưởng theo tỷ giá cố định toàn bộ thị trường quốc tế là 3,3%.
• Áp lực biên lợi nhuận gộp: Chi phí nguyên liệu thô, bao gồm bạch kim, chênh lệch chi phí sản xuất bất lợi, trích lập thưởng và chi phí vận chuyển đã làm giảm biên lợi nhuận gộp quý 3.
• Hàng tồn kho: Hàng tồn kho đã tăng khoảng 60 triệu USD trong năm. Ban lãnh đạo cho biết nguyên nhân một phần do các thương vụ thâu tóm, doanh số bán hàng cao hơn kế hoạch và việc thu mua chiến lược các nguyên liệu thô trong bối cảnh lo ngại về nguồn cung ở Trung Đông. Công ty thấy có cơ hội để cải thiện hiệu quả sử dụng vốn lưu động.
• Sự cạnh tranh đối với Rhapsody: Ban lãnh đạo mô tả phản ứng cạnh tranh là đáng kể, mặc dù nhận được phản hồi tích cực từ bác sĩ và kết quả lâm sàng tốt.
• Thực thi thâu tóm: Việc tích hợp Viewpoint cùng quá trình chuyển đổi hệ thống chất lượng và sản xuất đã mất nhiều thời gian hơn một chút so với kỳ vọng của ban lãnh đạo.
• Thời điểm triển khai thiết bị vốn: Việc lắp đặt Scout MD có thể không đồng đều do bán hàng thiết bị vốn đòi hỏi quy trình mua sắm dài hơn.

Những điểm chính trong phần Hỏi & Đáp với chuyên gia phân tích

Ban lãnh đạo từ chối đưa ra kỳ vọng tăng trưởng chi tiết sau năm 2026, cho biết các động lực tăng trưởng ở cấp độ nền tảng và triển vọng giai đoạn 2027-2029 sẽ được thảo luận tại sự kiện dành cho nhà đầu tư vào tháng 2 năm 2027.

Về hoạt động M&A, ban lãnh đạo cho biết Merit sẽ tiếp tục đánh giá liệu các khoảng trống trong danh mục sản phẩm đã được nhận diện nên được giải quyết thông qua tự phát triển nội bộ hay thâu tóm. Các khoản đầu tư thiểu số đi kèm khả năng tham gia hội đồng quản trị hoặc vai trò quan sát viên vẫn là một phần của chiến lược, như đã được thể hiện ở cả SoloPace và Viewpoint Medical.

Liên quan đến SoloPace, ban lãnh đạo mô tả quy trình bán hàng ban đầu mang tính tư vấn và yêu cầu sự hỗ trợ từ đại diện thương mại. Tuy nhiên, các bác sĩ có thể nhanh chóng tự thực hiện tương đối sớm sau khi nắm rõ các chức năng lập trình sẵn, quy trình và điều khiển từ xa của hệ thống.

Về thị trường Trung Quốc, ban lãnh đạo cho biết các thách thức này không mới và đã được đưa vào các chu kỳ quy hoạch dài hạn trước đó. Merit đang đánh giá các phương án sản xuất tại địa phương cho thị trường này, đồng thời chuyển hướng đầu tư sang Mỹ, các thị trường Châu Á - Thái Bình Dương khác và khu vực EMEA.

Tân Giám đốc Vận hành (COO) Sherry Louis đang ưu tiên kế hoạch kinh doanh tích hợp, hiệu quả vốn lưu động và năng lực vận hành xuất sắc. Ban lãnh đạo kỳ vọng các sáng kiến này sẽ hỗ trợ bình thường hóa hàng tồn kho và cải thiện năng suất trên diện rộng hơn.

Toàn văn Biên bản Cuộc họp Báo cáo Lợi nhuận

Toàn văn cuộc gọi công bố kết quả kinh doanh

Phần trình bày của ban lãnh đạo

Operator

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Merit Medical Systems Third Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants have been placed in a listen-only mode. Please note that this conference call is being recorded and that the recording will be available on the company's website for replay shortly. [Operator Instructions] I will now like to turn the call over to Martha Aronson, Merit Medical Systems' President and Chief Executive Officer.

Martha Aronson

Thank you, Operator, and welcome, everyone. I'm joined on the call today by Raul Parra, our Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, and Brian Lloyd, our Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary. Brian, would you please take us through the safe harbor statements?

Brian Lloyd

Thank you, Martha. This presentation contains forward-looking statements that receive safe harbor protection under federal securities laws. Our actual results may differ materially from the expectations and projections expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. Please refer to the sections entitled "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" in today's press release and presentation for important information regarding such statements. In addition, any forward-looking statements represent our views only as of today, October 29, 2026, and should not be relied on as representing our views as of any other date. We specifically disclaim any obligation to update such statements except as required by applicable law. This presentation also contains certain non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP measures is included in today's press release and presentation furnished to the SEC under Form 8-K. Please refer to the sections of our press release and presentation entitled "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" for important information regarding non-GAAP financial measures discussed on this call. Our today's press release and our presentation are available on the investors page of our website. I will now turn the call back to Martha.

Martha Aronson

Thank you, Brian. Let me start with a brief agenda of what we will cover during our prepared remarks. I will begin with a brief summary of the third quarter financial results, then I will provide several operational updates and progress areas in Q3. Raul will then provide a more in-depth review of the quarterly financial results, as well as our financial guidance for 2026, which we updated in today's press release. Then we will open the call for your questions.

Beginning with a review of our third quarter results, for avoidance of doubt, all growth figures are on a constant currency basis unless otherwise noted. We reported total revenue of $460 million, up 8% year over year on both a GAAP and constant currency basis. Our total revenue results exceeded the high end of the expectations that we outlined on our Q2 earnings call. Third quarter total constant currency growth was driven by 9% organic growth, which also exceeded the high end of our expectations and follows the 9% organic growth we delivered in Q2. By way of reminder, our organic growth excludes the contributions from acquisitions in the current year period and revenue from divested products in the prior year period.

We saw strong growth trends in the U.S. in the third quarter and better than expected demand across both of our primary product categories, with 8% organic growth in sales of our foundational products and 11% organic growth in sales of our therapeutic products. We are pleased to deliver strong organic growth that not only exceeded the high end of the expectations outlined on our Q2 earnings call, but also reflects an improvement in our organic growth trends for both our foundational and our therapeutic product categories on both a 2-year and 3-year basis.

With respect to the profitability performance in Q3, we delivered financial results that significantly exceeded expectations. Our non-GAAP operating margin increased 160 basis points year over year to 21.3%. Our non-GAAP EPS increased 22% year over year, and we generated nearly $53 million of free cash flow. I want to congratulate our team members all around the world. The better than expected growth and profitability performance delivered over the first 9 months of 2026 represents clear evidence of their commitment to our continued growth initiatives program and their unwavering focus on our customers each and every day. We've updated our 2026 guidance to reflect the stronger than expected results in the third quarter, and we remain confident in our team's ability to execute, deliver attractive constant currency growth, improve profitability, and generate solid cash flow this year.

Turning now to a brief update on several areas of operating progress in recent months. First, our integration of Viewpoint Medical into our Oncology platform continues to progress. The message that clinicians can mark a breast cancer lesion at the time of biopsy, which may reduce the need for a separate localization procedure before surgery, is resonating with both surgeons and radiologists. We are seeing a strong pipeline of evaluations today, particularly with academic institutions, which we believe will drive new customer adoption. Together with our next-generation product, Scout MD, which we launched in late May, the OneMark gives us a comprehensive breast care offering spanning diagnosis, localization, and surgery. The strategic rationale for this acquisition is compelling, and the financial rationale is both attractive and consistent with our continued growth initiatives program. We believe this acquisition represents another example of Merit selectively investing to expand our product portfolio in key strategic markets that leverage our existing commercial footprint.

Turning now to our recent clinical progress in our Reno Therapies platform. We completed the formal analysis of the AVF and AVG cohorts in our Rhapsody Global Registry, and the data from the AVF cohort will be presented this weekend at the Controversies in Dialysis Access (CiDA) meeting. Last month, I, along with members of our global team, attended the Cardiology and Interventional Radiology Society of Europe (CIRSE) meeting in Copenhagen. Merit hosted well-attended symposia and conducted hands-on demonstrations with numerous clinicians at this year's meeting. Also, while in Europe, I had the pleasure of attending the 10th anniversary celebration of our Think Education courses in Odense, Denmark. Educating physicians around the world continues to be a focus for us. Notably, we have doubled the number of Think Education courses hosted in the U.S. and international markets over the last 2 years.

And in our EsophyX platform, we continue to see the clinical evidence strengthen around CTF with our EsophyX device. At the recent American Foregut Society (AFS) meeting, investigators presented randomized clinical data comparing CTF with laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication, the traditional surgical approach to treat GERD. The study demonstrated that CTF was not inferior in both GERD-related quality of life improvement and objective normalization of acid exposure, while also being associated with lower rates of new onset postoperative dysphagia or difficulty swallowing. We believe this is an important addition to the growing body of evidence supporting CTF.

I also want to update you on a transition in our executive leadership team that we announced during the quarter. On August 19, we announced that Sherry Louis joined Merit as Chief Operations Officer. Sherry brings 3 decades of experience across global operations, manufacturing, and supply chain. She previously held senior roles at Skin Health Systems, Avandor, Medtronic, and Honeywell. She has led global manufacturing, distribution, logistics, supply chain, quality regulatory, environmental health and safety, and operational excellence functions across these various organizations. In her first weeks, she has identified opportunities to advance our core business processes for the benefit of our customers and our shareholders. Her early priorities include launching an integrated business planning process designed to align our portfolio strategy with demand and supply planning, improving working capital efficiency, and driving operational excellence at all of our sites around the world.

I also want to thank Neil Peterson, who served as our Chief Operating Officer for the past 4 years and who has been a part of the Merit team for more than 32 years. Neil is serving as a Senior Advisor through March of next year to help ensure a smooth transition with Sherry. Neil truly lives the Merit Way, embodying our values each and every day. He has given so much to Merit, but in particular, I want to highlight his leadership through COVID. The company would not have come through the pandemic as successfully as it did without the leadership of Neil Peterson. His contributions to the organization can be felt all across the world. So on behalf of all of our employees, I thank Neil for helping build Merit Medical to the company we are today.

I also want to highlight 2 other noteworthy updates before turning the call over to Raul. First, as discussed in our written investor calls during 2026, in addition to staying focused on delivering each quarter, we are developing our strategic plan for the period of fiscal years 2027 to 2029. As outlined on our Q2 call, our strategic plan work in the third quarter included refining our global forecasts and prioritizing our investment opportunities in both our product pipeline and potential acquisitions for the next 3 years. Within each platform, we're highlighting where we feel we have the right to win. We're focused on high-growth procedures where we offer foundational products as well as entire clinical procedures where we offer a suite of both foundational and therapeutic products. We're also focused on ensuring we have thoughtful plans to drive continued improvement in our organizational structure, productivity, and efficiency to support our multiyear goals for both growth and profitability.

We are nearing completion of our planning work and look forward to sharing the key highlights of this strategic plan and new financial targets for the 3-year period of 2027 to 2029. Importantly, we intend to host an investor event at our corporate headquarters on February 11, 2027. In addition to a comprehensive review of our strategic plan and new financial targets, we believe this event will be a great opportunity for the investment community to hear from members of our executive team and to see our impressive manufacturing and operations capabilities here in Salt Lake City. We will share more details on the plans and logistics for this investor event on our IR website in the coming weeks. For avoidance of doubt, while we're excited to host this investor event in February, our team remains focused on delivering our continued growth initiative commitments, as our updated 2026 financial guidance indicates, we're tracking nicely towards our CGI financial targets. Specifically, for the 3-year period ending December 31, 2026, we are targeting an organic constant currency revenue CAGR of 5% to 7%, a non-GAAP operating margin in the range of 20% to 22%, and cumulative free cash flow generation of more than $400 million.

Finally, I want to discuss the strategic announcement we made subsequent to quarter end. This afternoon, we announced the acquisition of SoloPace, located in Minneapolis. SoloPace manufactures temporary pacing technology designed to help physicians treat patients with aortic stenosis. This is a company that we know well, having made faith investments over a number of years to acquire an 18% equity ownership interest. Along with that, we had an option to acquire the outstanding equity based on future milestones, and we had exclusive rights to distribute the SoloPace systems. Our Cardiac Therapies platform, with the assistance of the SoloPace founder, Dr. Gabe Daniels, has seen a very nice uptake of this technology. So on October 13, 2026, we paid approximately $45 million to acquire all the remaining outstanding equity of SoloPace. The acquisition expands our Cardiac Therapies platform with differentiated technologies, including the SoloPace Control and SoloPace Fusion systems that are exclusively engineered for transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, and other transcatheter heart valve procedures. For those less familiar, TAVR is a minimally invasive transcatheter heart valve procedure that replaces the aortic valve in the heart, a treatment for aortic stenosis or narrowing of the valve opening. TAVRs are a rapidly growing procedure with more than 100,000 performed annually in the U.S. alone.

Temporary pacing is a critical component of TAVR procedures, supporting accurate valve deployment and helping physicians perform the procedure safely and efficiently. SoloPace Fusion is a single-use sterile kit designed for temporary intracardiac pacing for TAVR and other transcatheter heart valve procedures, combining guidewire functionality, left ventricular pacing, and patient grounding in 1 device. The SoloPace Fusion is designed to provide stable, reliable temporary pacing throughout pacing setup and delivery. SoloPace Fusion is engineered to improve procedural efficiency during TAVR procedures and supports temporary pacing with operator-specific protocols, automated pace capture check, sterile remote control operation, and simple visual indicators. As mentioned, prior to the acquisition, we served as the exclusive distributor of this product. Adding this technology to our Cardiac Therapies platform builds on this existing commercial relationship and supports Merit's strategy to expand its structural heart portfolio with a focus on technologies designed to simplify procedural workflows and support physicians performing transcatheter heart valve procedures. We look forward to leveraging our commercial, clinical, and physician education capabilities to expand adoption in the U.S. and over time, bring these solutions to more physicians and patients worldwide. With that, I'll turn the call over to Raul for an in-depth review of our third quarter financial results and our updated financial guidance for 2026. Raul?

Raul Parra

Thank you, Martha. I will start with a detailed review of our revenue results in the third quarter. Note, unless otherwise stated, our growth rates are approximate and presented on both a year-over-year and constant currency basis. Third quarter total revenue increased $31 million, or 8%, exceeding the high end of the expectations we outlined on our Q2 call. Our total revenue increased 9% on an organic constant currency basis, exceeding the high end of our expectations by approximately 90 basis points. As detailed in our earnings press release, organic constant currency revenue excludes revenue from acquisitions in the third quarter of 2026 of $2.6 million and revenue from our divested Dual Cat product line of $5.2 million from the third quarter of 2025. By geography, our total revenue in Q3 was primarily driven by growth in the U.S., where sales increased $25.9 million, or 11%, and international sales increased $5.1 million, or 3%.

Turning to review our revenue results by product category. Third quarter total revenue growth was relatively balanced between our 2 product categories. Sales of foundational products increased $14 million, or 6%, and sales of therapeutic products increased $17 million, or 13%. In terms of organic growth in Q3, sales of foundational products increased $20 million, or 8%, and sales of therapeutic products increased $14 million, or 11%. Organic growth in the foundational product category was driven primarily by our Vascular Intervention, Access, and OEM platforms. Organic growth in the Therapeutic Product category was driven primarily by growth in our Oncology, EsophyX, and OEM platforms, with contributions from solid growth in our Vascular Intervention and Cardiac Therapies.

But for turning to review our P&L performance for the avoidance of doubt, unless otherwise noted, my commentary will focus on the company's non-GAAP results during the third quarter of 2026, and all growth rates are approximated and on a year-over-year basis. We have included reconciliations from our GAAP reported results to the most directly comparable non-GAAP items in our press release and presentation available on our website. Gross profit increased 7%. Gross margin was 52.8%, down 81 basis points year over year. The year-over-year decline in gross margin was driven primarily by manufacturing variances and higher freight and distribution expenses compared to the prior period. Our operating expenses increased 1%. The increase in operating expenses was driven by a $1.3 million, or 1%, increase in SG&A expense, offset partially by a $0.4 million, or 2%, decrease in R&D expense compared to the prior period. Total operating income increased $13 million, or 17%, to $88.5 million. Our operating margin was 21.3% compared to 19.7% in the prior year period, an increase of 160 basis points year over year. We were pleased to deliver operating margin results at the high end of our guidance range despite the softer gross margin result in the third quarter. Third quarter other expenses were $1.3 million compared to $2.4 million for the comparable period last year. Third quarter net income was $67.4 million, or $1.12 per share, compared to $54.9 million, or 92 cents per share, in the prior year period, exceeding the high end of our guidance range by 4 cents.

Turning to a review of our balance sheet and financial condition. As of September 30, 2026, we had cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash of $505.8 million, total debt obligations of $747.5 million, and available borrowing capacity of approximately $697 million. Our net leverage ratio as of September 30 was 1.5 times on an adjusted basis. Turning to our fiscal year 2026 financial guidance for the 12 months ending December 31, 2026, we now expect total GAAP net revenue growth in the range of 7.9% to 8.4% year over year and 7% to 7.5% year over year on a constant currency basis, excluding an expected 80 basis point tailwind to GAAP growth from changes in foreign currency exchange rates. There are a few factors to consider when evaluating our projected constant currency revenue growth range for 2026, including: first, our constant currency growth range assumes sales of foundational products increases in the mid-single digits year over year, and sales of therapeutic products increase in the low double-digits year over year. Second, we expect organic constant currency growth in the range of 7.1% and 7.6%. Organic growth guidance excludes revenue from acquisitions in the range of approximately $18 million to $90 million compared to $18 million to $20 million previously, and product field and royalty revenue from our divestiture of Dual Cat of $20.3 million in 2025 and approximately $1.6 million of Q1 of 2026. Third, our total net revenue guidance for fiscal year 2026 continues to assume U.S. revenue from the sale of the Rhapsody CIA of approximately $7 million.

With respect to profitability guidance for 2026, we now expect non-GAAP diluted earnings per share in the range of $4.33 to $4.47 compared to $4.25 to $4.35 previously. Our updated non-GAAP diluted EPS guidance range assumes a full year 2026 non-GAAP operating margin in the range of 21.2% to 21.4%, an increase of 150 to 170 basis points year over year. Finally, I would like to provide additional transparency related to our growth and profitability expectations for the fourth quarter 2026. Specifically, we expect our total revenue in the range of $480 million to $526 million, representing growth of 6% to 8% year over year on a GAAP basis and approximately 6% to 8% on a constant currency basis. We expect organic constant currency growth in the range of 7% to 8%, excluding revenue from acquisitions of in the range of approximately $1.8 million to $2.8 million and revenue from an add-back of $4.9 million in the prior period. With respect to our profitability expectations for the fourth quarter 2026, we expect non-GAAP operating margins in the range of approximately 21.2% to 22.1% compared to 21% last year, and non-GAAP EPS in the range of $1.08 to $1.12 compared to $1.04 last year. With that, I will now turn the call back to Martha for closing comments.

Martha Aronson

Thanks, Raul. This team delivered an excellent Q3 and has strong momentum as we move into the final quarter of the year. I want to reiterate how thrilled I am that we are on track to meet our CGI goals, and while staying focused on that, all this team is putting in hard work and finally thinking of our global strategic plan simultaneously. We are integrating several acquisitions and, as always, evaluating additional acquisition possibilities. My hat goes off to the team, and I'm energized by the opportunities I see ahead to enhance our strong growth profile.

Operator

We would now like to open up the line for questions. To ask a question or comment at this time, please press star 1 1 on your telephone keypad. If your question has been asked or you wish to remove yourself from the queue, simply press star 1 1 again. Again, if you have a question or comment, please press star 1 1 on your telephone. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question or comment comes from the line of Jason Betnar from Piper Sandler.

Unknown Speaker

It's a great quarter, and thanks for taking the question. Martha, I'll certainly begin with a bigger picture question here. Raul, feel free to weigh in on the outlook. Organic growth is running at a really healthy clip, mid-single digits for a few quarters now, including the fourth quarter. This has been a really nice cycle of growth for the company, and in 2028, what do you think are the levers that can help Merit sustain that above-average performance, even, I guess, what will soon be tough comps? And what are some of the key readouts that could take you higher or lower for this current growth rate that we've all gotten a lot you're comfortable with?

Martha Aronson

Jason, thanks for that. Thanks for the question. And yes, I mean, I am really pleased that we did come in with stronger than expected growth again in this quarter. And as you noted, in 9% growth this quarter, as well as in Q2, so I feel good about it. And I think the key, the key message though, is that the growth is really balanced. And so that, you know, that certainly gives us good confidence as we continue to finish out the year. And obviously, as you can imagine, we're not ready to start commenting on next year or the future. You know, I think as you heard, we're excited to share some of that with you all in February at our investor event. But, you know, to date, the team has done a great job this year, and I'm very proud of the team to get out to stay so focused on delivering quarter after quarter. And I think as you heard, as we said, it really was balanced across many of our platforms.

Unknown Speaker

Understood. Now, that's impressive so far here. Raul, I'm going to pivot over to OneMark. The growth there is pretty strong. Is there anything anecdotal you can share with respect to accounts that are using both Scout and OneMark and take your breast tissue targeting? Not accounts that weren't using Scout, but yet again for those that have overlap, any feedback there? And is the balance the big knit in between those two point of view anticipated and title on a few bad ideas? You're good with those revenue targets that you have for OneMark for this year and next, if you yet.

Martha Aronson

Yeah, no, thanks for the question. And as I said in the prepared comments, you know, the integration continues to progress nicely. And I think if we had shared before, and as you just commented, we really are looking at, you know, targeting new areas if you will. We're also rolling out Scout MD right now, as well. So with the newer version of the Scout technology, and so we're really focusing the sales organization, for starters, on a new account, if you will, or not current Scout accounts for the OneMark sale. We've got a really nice pipeline of potential accounts. We've got academic institutions, but it's really still kind of early days to comment on your specific question like that.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Robert Marcus from J.P. Morgan.

Unknown Speaker

Hey, this is Henry on for Robbie. Great quarter, and thanks for taking the question. Maybe turning a little bit to the deal you guys announced today. I'm wondering about Merit growing. Are you starting to adjust your M&A strategy to acquire larger assets? Is this still kind of a path you accept for it in your thoughts on general on the capital allocation?

Martha Aronson

Yeah, I mean, I think first, thanks for the question. I mean, first, you know, SoloPace, we're very excited about it. Right? Again, we've been distributing this product for a while now, and it's just, it's a terrific technology. As you know, I'm sure many of you follow the TAVR market pretty closely. It fits really nicely, I would say, with what Merit is very good at. Right? We don't, we don't sell the heart valve. And we provide a really important part of the procedure, and of course, temporary pacing is a really critical part of the procedure. So to be able to do it with an integrated kit, and it's, you know, it can be automated, it can be pre-programmed, there's a safety feature. There's, we're really excited about having that. So I think as far as, you know, a strategy, am I going to repeat what I think I've been saying for a while, and I will continue to look at acquisitions. We hear about a lot of things certainly. And at the same time, we're asking each one of our platforms to really share with us, you know, where the areas are, the gap they feel they have in, you know, each particular platform. And then we spend time thinking about whether, you know, we feel confident in our capabilities to develop it internally and what that timeline looks like or whether it makes more sense for us to try to go out and proactively seek some of these things inorganically. So we'll continue on that path as far as M&A is concerned.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Jason Bedford from Raymond James.

Unknown Speaker

Thanks for taking the question. This is Colin for Jason here. Just a quick question, thinking about the fourth quarter guide here. Can you walk us to some of the put and takes? What's driving the guidance? It's a good bit of an implied de-sell. I'm looking at the comps as well. What was what was sort of the rationale for thinking that in Q4?

Raul Parra

Yeah, I mean, I honestly, but I think the best way to look at it is just the year-over-year guidance, right? That we're giving. And we, we raised the guidance on the low end. We brought EPS up. We brought operating margin up. We really haven't changed any assumptions in the fourth quarter. You know, we essentially flowed through some of the beat of Q3, which is really standard practice for us, as most of you guys know. Really the only change that we have is a small change to our China outlook. And we, we, we brought that, you know, down slightly, roughly $4 million for the second half. But other than that, everything else is essentially, you know, the same. And we just essentially flowed through Q3. So I would say we continue to be excited about the business. We're excited about that, you know, the guidance that we've put forward and just really excited about how the company's performed.

Unknown Speaker

Great. Super helpful. And then, I guess, on Rhapsody, you're reiterating the guide at $7 million. I'm just curious how the trends are trending. Are they better or worse? What is what's working, what is it? What have you learned this year since you initially put out the $7 million in any sort of updates, color you can offer?

Martha Aronson

Yeah, I mean, a couple of thoughts I'd share with you on Rhapsody. I mean, first of all, I would say that we continue to hear, you know, from the field when you talk to physicians directly, that how excited and impressed they are with the technology. So it's performing clinically exceptionally well. And we also know, as we have all year, that, you know, we're up against some significant competition and they are not, you know, to just sit back and, and, and let us waltz right in. So we're definitely seeing, I'd say, what you would all consider very traditional competitive responses, if you will. So I think the good news is it validates what we know, which is how, how excited we are about how this product is performing. And the hard part is, right? It means it's, you know, going to be a bit of a battle out there. And so I tell you that's really what we're seeing. We're seeing the competition hiring more people, you know, that kind of behavior, if you will, and responses, which I think you would expect. As we said though, again, you know, I can't talk about it yet, but there will be some data presented this weekend again at the CiDA conference to just again continue to tell that clinical story, you guys.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Mike Mattson from Needham.

Unknown Speaker

Good quarter. Thanks for taking the question. I'll maybe start off with the OEM outlook. Like continued strong growth in the quarter. I'm just wondering if there is, you know, continued on a rebound or recovery from the Q1, and then maybe is the expectation for that OEM returns that made the high single-digit growth or you can we expect if he maybe continued double-digit growth at least in, you know, the next quarter?

Martha Aronson

Yeah, thanks for the question. And we are, we're really pleased with that performance of the OEM business, which in totality, right, increased about 15% in the third quarter. And as you know, it's a bit of a softer first half that was essentially flat. So we're at about 5% growth year to date. And so I think as we've, you know, reiterated before, it's fair to assume we still consider that to be really in the mid to high single-digit range. Again, it's a lumpy business, right? And so I think that's the best way to think about how that business will perform going forward.

Unknown Speaker

Okay, great. Thanks for that. And then maybe a question on the Motions that you had initiated 2 years or so ago, maybe longer than that. Is just one of deepening revisit that the market opportunity in M&A. And maybe I think the follow-up with around 2 years. So you could maybe give us an idea of when a readout for that trial could be?

Martha Aronson

Yeah, so I think, you know, overall, we continue to be very excited about the Embolics business globally. You know, it's performing very nicely for us, so it continues to be an area where we're very excited about. I don't have the exact sort of timeline, if you will, on the Motions study. I'm not prepared to comment on that right now. We can get back to you with that a little more detail on that later. But suffice to say, the Embolic space, we see a lot of growth, as with that, all around the world, and we continue to, I think, and, and work very hard in that space.

Unknown Speaker

Okay, great. Yeah, thanks. And that's all.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Michael Protes from Barrington Research.

Unknown Speaker

Okay, good evening. I just what what did stuff, Raul, for. I want to ask, I don't think that you mentioned impact of tariffs and your gross margin commentary. I'm just wondering if, if, if there's any way to quantify the headwinds associated with, with, with that issue related to the gross margin decline.

Raul Parra

Yeah, to, it wasn't a, you know, it wasn't thing is as significant, to be honest with you. I mean, look, first, I think the first thing I point out is obviously, despite, you know, the gross margin being down about 80 basis points, our operating margin was up 160 basis points, right? Which is really what we're chasing. So really, really, really proud of the team for delivering that on the gross margin side. You know, I'll point out a couple things here. The first one is, is, is, you know, 80 basis points of unfavorable manufacturing variances, most of it around raw materials, and most of it around platinum. And the nice thing about that is that we do have an alternative to platinum for that specific product. And we validated that, and we're in the process of ramping that up. The other thing that happened there was we had a true-up on bonuses that impacted our other gross margin by about 40 basis points. The operations group is, is, is obviously performing, you know, well, and the company's performing well. So we had a true-up to our, to our bonus accrual that impacted the gross margin. The last thing was freight, which was up, you know, 25 basis points, you know, and unfavorable to, to, to the, to the gross margin. All of that with, you know, kind of partially offset by, by favorable obsolescence. So all in all, I mean, I think, you know, that the gross margin is, you know, although it was down, I think we, we do have a kind of really think that we think we're, we're more in control of than kind of what you're hearing out there, you know, and, and, and on, on, on in the streets. I, I think I feel pretty good. And then we've got Sherry. I think she's got a really good game plan, not only for, you know, for an operational efficiency, but also just from a working capital standpoint and, and looking at the inventory and, and helping us manage that better.

Unknown Speaker

Okay. I'll correct. Correct. Raul, quick stand the care if you will. Quick up for your last quarter, I think.

Raul Parra

Yes. That's good. A refund. Make it another refund.

Unknown Speaker

And then also, you sort of pumped up your headwind guidance associated with pair of the $1 million bucks. And I able to curate there are any updates on any refined and also in the 8-year care of headwind when guidance of $16 million. Thanks.

Raul Parra

Yeah, so we're expecting another, let's say, $1.3 million or so in, in tariff refunds. You know, that, that, with now, those are kind of with a vendor or for one of our freight carriers that's the importer of record. And so we're waiting on a refund from them. Last I heard is that they did receive the funds, but I think I can assume that they have no significant amount of clients. And so they're working through that, you know, reimbursement process. So we do expect, you know, more dollars to come in. I know I would probably kind of guess maybe the first part of the year if, if I'm being honest. I'm not really expecting it this year. The other piece is really around a Section 232. Our obviously the, you know, the administration has not announced any formal plans yet. I think we're keeping, you know, an eye on it and, and, and just, you know, listening to the chatter to see what, you know, how it could impact the business. But I don't know that we have anything that, that we can specifically call out and, and just, you know, that as a matter of reference, you know, we haven't changed our assumptions for what we think the impact is for or the incremental, to be, you know, impact of tariffs as which was around $60 million, which we put in our guidance at the beginning of the year.

Unknown Speaker

Okay, great. Thank, thank you so much.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question or comment from the line of Sam Iver from U.S. Bank.

Unknown Speaker

Great. Thanks for taking the questions. Maybe I can start on, on what you're seeing in terms of M&A market procedure volumes in Europe. Are you benefiting from a maybe, you know, this continued shift to ASP and, and any sort of, I guess, secular trends that you're benefiting from? And then, I guess, as a follow-up on that, any changes on the competitive outlook? I think we saw a competitor, you know, close down there, their U.S. interventional business, so curious if you're seeing any impact from that, and, and any change there.

Martha Aronson

Yeah, thanks for the question. You know, where we're not hearing a whole lot. I'd say, you know, I think last quarter there was a little bit of the potential scare that procedures were really slowing down. You know, we have not seen that, and again, you know, another quarter of 9% growth would obviously confirm that. So, and, you know, I think I came out there and delivered. And I don't think there's, you know, we have a whole lot more to say about, you know, procedure volumes one way or the other. Nothing we've been hearing about significantly from our field. And yeah, I mean, and I mean, our, our growth is broad based, right? It's not isolated anything. So, I mean, again, the team is just actually executing really well.

Unknown Speaker

Okay, good. And maybe I can just ask a follow-up here on SoloPace, you know, just curious, any learnings that you've had, I guess, serving as, as the exclusive distributor for it some time now? And I guess, how much, you know, hand-holding are, are high touch sales models needed to really get this out in the market? Obviously, TAVRs are, you know, very exciting in market for you guys.

Martha Aronson

Yeah, no, it, it's been, it's been great actually. And, and you're right, it is a bit more of what, you know, I think in the industry we generally call a consultative sale. And about it, it tends to be the kind of thing where there's a fair amount of rep, you know, support, I'd say initially that then honestly, most of the physicians picked it up pretty quickly and then it can run with that. And again, a shout-out to Dr. Daniels, who spent a whole lot of time personally helping educate our sales force really, really well. And, you know, when needed, would be, you know, travel out to various cases, et cetera. But again, it's, you know, it's great technology that once someone used it a couple times, right, they know how to do the pre-programming and they can put in their own protocols. There's really nice simple, elegant visual indicators. You have a remote control, so they end up getting self-sufficient pretty quickly.

Unknown Speaker

Great. Thanks for the questions.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Aden Leahy from Bank of America.

Unknown Speaker

Thank you for taking the question. Another one on SoloPace. Maybe for Raul, how big is that part of your revenue base now? And as your distributor, this would not be inorganic. And then, more thinking about the timing of the transaction. Was this, was the TAVR NCD consideration? Because obviously, this can be data in and fees going to affect. So, you know, we could be procedure by and expand. So, is that part of your decision-making process? No follow.

Martha Aronson

Yeah, I mean, so a couple things. First of all, I mean, financially, this transaction is immaterial to 2026. It will be slightly accretive to our non-GAAP net income and earnings per share in 2027. So that, that's the financial picture, if you will. I'm going to try to remember. Yeah, I think you covered 3 other questions there, so I apologize. I'm not remembering them all. Can you repeat 1 or 2 of the other questions?

Unknown Speaker

It gets busy. And the timing was the that had a TAVR national coverage decision part of a decision-making process of the timing it in.

Martha Aronson

No, it really wasn't. It's more that again, we've been, you know, we've been a distributor for a while now. And we just, you know, I think it's fair to say kind of came on board and got to spend some time with Dr. Daniels and spend some time with our, you know, Cardiac Therapies team here. We just all put our heads together and said, you know, and I think it, it makes sense to do that now. Our team is, you know, more prepared to fly. And so we made the decision it was time.

Unknown Speaker

Got it. And then a follow-up on Scout MD. I know that rolling out there any lumpiness in terms of capital placement work off limits are operating in there's not from payment that we should consider as we analyze that next year or that upgrade more about driving up pull through later on a good.

Martha Aronson

Yeah, I mean, obviously, anytime there's a capital component, right, there's going to be some lumpiness. It, you know, takes the sales process is obviously longer when you're dealing with that. And in the Scout MD case, because it really is kind of a new generation device going into a number of our current customers, you know, we did have a little bit of pent-up demand. And that's really, if you looked at kind of our Oncology number for the quarter, I think it was up about 16%. And that's what drove a bit of that. I would say for the quarter, and you're a much.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of John Young from Canaccord.

Phần hỏi đáp

John Young

Great quarter, and thanks for taking the question. I have found of affect library as today, and our in the both were down at present. I failed or you're not nicely. You know, how much of this is a timing, and in terms of hiring a project person laughing efficiency, and are we expect any toine 27 or that that up that began in OneMark or had he been the pipeline? And yeah, they're willing to highlight today. And, you know, what we want to hit on 2027. But I think we've disclosed, you know, you know, certain metrics, you know, as far as related to those acquisitions in, know, transitory costs and integration expenses, right? With, but I think we've given essentially the highlight of each of the acquisitions and what they're going to do. I want to go for basis or we won't. I won't comment on that. I would say that the, you know, that the OpEx leverage was, I think, done it in, in a, in a, in a really, you know, I think positive way, right? And in sales and marketing, you know, we invested that. Invested there. And I'm also the episode. We saw an increase in sales and marketing. But on the G&A side, we essentially offset the investment that we made and filled in marketing. And so I, and our again, I think, you know, we're trying to find ways, you know, I noted that delivers the P&L specifically when it comes to operating margin growth, right? We knew that, you know, look, we're heading into the third quarter. If, you know, as you guys know, that there is some seasonality in our business. Typically, revenues are down sequentially. You still have kind of the same overhead in, in, in, in, on, on the gross margin side. So you're really trying to make sure that you don't stand ahead of kind of how that gross margin is going to come in. And so we, we show a lot of discipline, and we exercise a lot of discipline on the OpEx line, you know, not to try and make sure that we, we had obviously our, our goals and guidance, enough for the quarter. So I was, he generally speaking, with, we just feel really good about, you know, the, the control that we're showing. And, and overall, I would, I would just say, I'd like to kind of just highlight really that, the, you know, the performance, you know, of, of our 3-year, you know, CGI plan. I mean, I, I think, you know, where we, we're expecting to be on the high end of our operating margin, you know, we're going, going to come in the summer, you know, ah, you know, close to $600 million of free cash flow when we promised a minimum of $400 million. You know, the, the growth rate, you know, our, our the CAG on revenues going to be even all right in line with what we said. So just overall, in a super happy. They look at that, you know, I'm kind of all over the place, but I just want to hit on a few things. You know, they have been asked it. I mean, you look at the profitability on EPS side, you know, we're, we're expecting out 13% or 14% EPS growth, you know, on a roughly 8% growth. So I mean, we're getting good leverage, and I again, I think to Martha's point, she said it several times. The team is just executing, and, you know, we just put it, we just spend a lot of time, you know, strategically planning for the next 3 to 5 years. A lot of excitement to know here at Merit. So the grown up enough say.

John Young

Got it. And Raul, and maybe one on for a fear they may, I'm in a and we'll think of guidewire agnostic and like yeah mine. But you guys manufacturers a guidewire about be associated with youth of us of the product or the implanted.

Martha Aronson

You know.

Raul Parra

Yeah, there is a, look at the, what we call the Fusion Kit, it does come with a guidewire. And that, that's actually our own, our own guidewire.

John Young

Got it. Thanks. Thank you.

Operator

Our next question or comment comes from the line of David Risgott from Baird.

Unknown Speaker

Great. Good afternoon. Thanks for taking the question. Can you correct the results here? I'm going to ask them both up front. I heard some of the comments about China. Yeah, it sounds like that's been a challenge, maybe across the AdvaMed that you have been popping up recently. So wondering from, you know, timing perspective, you know, how the visibility of, of that in market has progressed through the year. And how that, you know, is progressing as you look out into the next year? And then the second question, you know, is more related to that. There's still a Peace deal. Looked like it had a strategic investment in the company in the past. And and and a surprising to me, and I think I've, I've heard at least, I'm the American bathroom the past year that they came through a kind of prior investment in general though, you know, and a not sure been thoroughly crack. But trying to think through, you know, how the and then an M&A strategy, you know, plays out on a go forward basis. Historically, it, it's strategic talk. And in, a, but wondering if at all this deal, as suggestive of, of a potential path and maybe doing from smaller investments that become part of portfolio longer term. Thank you.

Martha Aronson

Yeah, I'm going to take the second one first. And, and the answer is that, I mean, Merit, over the, and that historically has made a series of minority investment in certain companies. And in fact, Viewpoint would be another example of that. The company had an investment in Viewpoint and then ultimately acquired the company. And so that's not, you know, necessarily a major shift. I would you say from my perspective, I mean, I'm a fan of, of using that model in great kid to have a chance to, you know, be, be inside, if you will, and perhaps have a board seat or board of observer seat so that we can, can keep an eye on various technologies and see how they evolve over time. And then obviously decide whether or not we think it makes sense, you know, to, to fully acquire an integrated particular technology. So I think you will continue to be to use that model going forward. And then, and then any China was your other question. And I think you're right. I've had a lot of discussion. I mean, I, I was at the AdvaMed meeting last week and a within a couple sessions with a variety of other MedTech CEOs. And I don't think there was one session where the topic of China did not come up. And, and obviously, you're all hearing about it from, from many other players out there. So, I'm, yes, look, I mean, it's a, it's, it's a tough and complicated situation, right? You know, there's the VBP situation. We're also hearing a lot more about, you know, the government cracking down on physicians and really encouraging them to be buying local Chinese products and, and making sure that they're using that the lowest price products and preferably products made in China for China.

Martha Aronson

And really scrutinizing if any companies outside of China, you know, help sponsor education or things like that. So I think that it's put a bit, you know, of an additional blanket, if you will, on how things are looking in some parts of China. You know, having said that, there's still lots and lots of people out there, and lots of opportunities. So I think it's really hard for us or anyone else, frankly, to say, you know, to put a pin in timing as to when we think things will shift. You know, my personal opinion is, you know, we're working on a number of pilots, if you will, on thinking about, you know, some things made in China for China. We still think it's a good market. At the same time, I think we're being very realistic about, you know, what it can contribute, you know, to our growth over time.

Raul Parra

Raul, do you want to add anything? Yes, I'll just add. I mean, I don't think that it's new. You know, Dave, I mean, look, we've been dealing with China, whether it's VBP, the anti-corruption dynamics, you know, essentially through our last two LRPs. I mean, so I think we're well-versed in kind of the dynamics of, you know, what happens and is happening in China. And I think we've, we've still been able to, to stay ahead and, and or meet our LRP goals. Right? So, so I mean, I, I, I would say it's just, you know, it's just, it's just more, more noise, right? And again, to Martha's point, we think the market is great. And, and we think that done right, so that we can continue to get back to kind of where we were historically. It's just takes time, and I think you have to pay a lot of attention to it. We've got a great team in China that's staying on top of things. And so from a confidence level, we feel pretty good about it. And so we'll just see how things shake out. But again, it's not new. It's just, you know, it's just something we have to deal with. But at the end of the day, we think it's a great, great market. Also, if you look at our international growth, which was about 3.3% on a constant currency basis, if you exclude, you know, the China market, you know, piece, it was up 6% organically. So again, you know, we continue to redirect investments. We've been doing that for the last 3 to 4 years to other markets to essentially kind of hedge against that, you know, China component. And you're seeing some of it in the U.S. sales growth. You're seeing it in the rest of APAC. You're seeing it in, you know, EMEA. So again, you just have to kind of take a very proactive approach and just make sure that you're listening and paying attention to what's going on. But again, it's not new.

Martha Aronson

And maybe last comment on that, I mean, that's a lot on China, but I also spent a week in the region in July. And again, really just to reiterate Raul's point, I mean, we have a fantastic team in China. And they do a great job. And then frankly, I spent some time understanding our opportunities across the region. And as you heard, you know, APAC did beat the high end of our expectations in the quarter. So we're still pretty excited about the possibilities in the region and are looking to continue to think about how we can continue to drive the growth there.

Operator

Thank you. Next question or comment comes from the line of Jim Sedoti from Sedoti and Company.

Unknown Speaker

Hi, good afternoon. Thanks for taking the questions. Raul, just a question on inventory. It's up about $60 million for the year. Is that related to the, uh, to the acquisition you did last quarter or is that, uh, something else going on there? And when do you think that comes back?

Raul Parra

Yes. I mean, I think, well, I'll answer the last part first. I think it starts to come back, right? I mean, I think, you know, Sherry's got a good game plan there. I feel a high level of confidence that we can get that to a more normalized level. Now, I'll say, you know, part of the increase is acquisition related, not a significant part of it. I think the bigger piece is really a strategic component, Jim. We were pretty short on a couple of things, kind of last year that we wanted to bump up. Then you ran into the Middle East conflict. We made a calculated decision that we wanted to stock up on certain inventories, specifically raw materials. And so did so just to make sure that we could, you know, obviously sustain the growth that you're seeing. And then lastly, I mean, you know, we're overdelivering on what we initially thought from a sales perspective, so just making sure we have the right inventory balances. But I will say that I think we're all looking at inventory here. We think there's a great opportunity, you know, to save some, you know, working capital there. And we still have our, you know, our goal of a minimum of $200 million of free cash flow on the table. So again, hopefully, we can get our arms around it here in the fourth quarter. And then, you know, heading into next year, we, we have a, you know, even better game plan. But yes, that, that's been an area of focus for us for sure. Uh, some of it calculated, some of it strategic, but, you know, we're definitely kind of thinking about it.

Unknown Speaker

All right. And then with regard to Viewpoint, I know a couple of questions have been asked, but just overall, are you happy with the way the first quarter has gone? You know, are you on track to hit the numbers you put out?

Martha Aronson

Yes, I think we are pleased. I would just say some aspects have gone a little slower than we had hoped. There's always a few more little complications and things you run into when you make an acquisition. I'd say the team is very focused on it. We're working both, obviously, the commercial side of things, as well as doing some more integration activities to, you know, start moving the manufacturing and some of those activities and getting them on our quality system and all that kind of stuff. So it can take some time. And as we said, with Scout MD also launching right at the same time. But, you know, that's certainly a lot of things for our, for our field to be thinking about, for our whole platform in Oncology to be thinking about. You know, I'd tell you it's probably a little slower than I would like, but we still feel very good about the, you know, the long-term opportunity for the OneMark product. Very excited about it.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Keith Hinton from Freedom Capital Markets.

Keith Hinton

Great. Thanks for taking the question. I want to start off on the foundational side of Vascular Intervention. That's done really well since you moved some of the products over to the former Cook team and allowed the vascular team to be a little more focused. So, I'm just curious, should we kind of think of that as more of a one-time step up as we start to lap that impact in the year-over-year comps, or do you think that franchise has the potential to continue growing double-digit going forward? And then I have a follow-up.

Martha Aronson

Yes, look, I mean, you know, I think all of our, all of our, you know, platforms, as we said, in this quarter, we saw pretty balanced growth. So it's, you know, when we talk about the longer-term growth profiles of all of our various platforms, that's going to be the kind of thing, frankly, we're going to spend some time talking about at our investor event. So hopefully you'll come out here, Keith, and see our fantastic manufacturing facility. And at that time, we'll really kind of go through platform by platform and what we really see as some of the drivers going forward. So we're not going to talk too much about 2027 and beyond today.

Keith Hinton

Understood. Okay. And then just on the, on the Embolic side of things, can you just talk a little bit about sort of the health of that market? You know, where the growth that you're seeing is coming from in terms of, you know, spheres versus catheters and other things, and which indications you're seeing the strongest growth in, because obviously there's a lot that can be done on the Embolic side.

Martha Aronson

Yeah, I mean, there is a lot. There's a lot that can be done. There's definitely a lot going on. I'd say we're seeing it both in terms of the growth, both in the spheres and in the microcatheters. You know, it was interesting. I think at the CIRSE meeting I attended, I mean, again, just about every topic was in the Embolic space. So, you're right. It's a very, very busy space. There's a lot going on. And we like our position there. And we'll continue to think about how we can continue to be very strong in that whole platform going forward. Great. Thanks for taking the question.

Operator

Thank you. I show no additional questions in the queue at this time. I'd like to turn the conference back over to Ms. Martha Aronson for any closing remarks.

Martha Aronson

Well, thanks, Operator. And again, I would just reiterate how proud I am of our global team for delivering just an outstanding quarter here and, as we said, coming off the other, you know, second quarter as well. And as Raul said, you know, in addition, you know, working really hard on strategic planning across the board of the organization. So I'm just extremely energized. I've just kind of lapped my 1-year mark in this chair and have to say just really energized by this really good work by the team and just seeing more and more collaboration and terrific alignment by our organization. So just want to say thank you all for your time and attention today and for your interest in Merit. So we'll see you next time. Thanks a lot.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for participating in today's conference. This concludes the program. You may now disconnect. Everyone, have a wonderful day.

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