Tandem Diabetes: A Surprisingly Good Quarter

Shares of Tandem Diabetes Care (TNDM +32.77%) did a rather enthusiastic leap on Friday. It’s always heartening to see a company actually make money, isn’t it? Especially in the medical device world, where things can get…complicated. It turns out, they’ve been having a bit of a good run.

By the close of trading, Tandem’s stock was up over 32%. Which, in the grand scheme of things, is a decent showing. It’s enough to make one briefly consider a career in glucose monitoring, before remembering the inherent complexities of endocrinology.

A New Trick for an Old Problem

Tandem managed to bump up sales by 3% year-over-year, reaching $290 million in the last quarter. They shipped out 38,000 insulin pumps globally, a substantial number when you consider each one represents a real person trying to manage a genuinely tricky condition. 27,000 of those found homes in the U.S., which is a lot of pumps. Seriously, a lot.

The interesting bit, though, isn’t just selling the pumps. It’s how they’re selling them. They’re shifting towards a kind of pay-as-you-go pharmacy model. Think of it like a subscription for insulin delivery. It lowers the upfront cost for customers – a significant hurdle, let’s be honest – and, crucially, provides Tandem with a nice, predictable stream of revenue. It’s a bit like switching from selling encyclopedias to renting knowledge – a much more sensible arrangement, all things considered.

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And it seems to be working. Their gross margin improved to 58% – a respectable figure – and they’ve swung from a loss of $0.6 million to an operating income of $8.3 million. That’s a rather dramatic turnaround, and suggests someone is doing something right. CEO John Sheridan, in a press release, declared 2025 a “defining year,” boasting about surpassing $1 billion in sales and setting gross margin records. It’s the sort of language that makes you wonder what they were doing before 2025.

Looking Ahead: Modest Growth and Predictable Profits

Tandem is forecasting full-year sales of $1.065 billion to $1.085 billion, with gross margins holding steady at 56% to 57%. Not exactly hockey-stick growth, but then again, few things in life do. Chief financial officer Leigh Vosseller explained that the pay-as-you-go model is intended to provide “affordable access” and “more predictable and profitable revenue.” Which is, in essence, what every company wants, isn’t it? Predictability. It’s so underrated.

It’s a sensible strategy, really. Selling complex medical devices is rarely straightforward. But a predictable revenue stream? That’s a thing of beauty. And in a world of constant uncertainty, a little predictability goes a long way. Even if it just involves tiny pumps delivering tiny doses of insulin to a lot of people.

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2026-02-21 06:03