Start here if you're new
what it is
Alphatec sells spine surgery tools, implants, biologics, and imaging gear to hospitals and surgical centers.
how it gets paid
Last year Alphatec made $764M in revenue. Spinal implants & fixation was the main engine at $382M, or 50% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 25.0% last year. EDGAR shows revenue up 181% vs. prior year.
what just happened
Alphatec posted $551M of quarterly revenue, while gross margin held at 69.4%.
At a glance
B balance sheet — gets the job done, barely
60/100 earnings predictability — reasonably predictable
25.5% return on capital — every dollar works hard here
xvary composite: 41/100 — below average
-$0.10 fy2027 eps est
What they do
Alphatec sells spine surgery tools, implants, biologics, and imaging gear to hospitals and surgical centers.
Your surgeon does not swap spine hardware on a whim. Alphatec sells through its own salesforce and independent agents, and 867 employees keep the machine running. Gross margin was 69.4%, so for every $1 of sales, it keeps $0.69 before overhead.
How they make money
$764M
annual revenue · their business grew +25.0% last year
Spinal implants & fixation
$382M
Biologics
$153M
Imaging equipment
$114M
Other spine products
$115M
The products that matter
spinal implant systems
specialized implants
part of a $764M platform
this sits inside the full $764M business that grew 25.0% last year. The snapshot does not break implants out separately, so you are underwriting the platform, not a single product line.
core procedure revenue
spinal fixation hardware
fixation products
supports 69.4% gross margin
fixation is part of the same $764M revenue stack, and the company-wide 69.4% gross margin tells you this hardware carries meaningful pricing power. What the snapshot does not show is segment-level mix.
high-value hardware
surgical biologics
biologics
bundled into +25.0% growth
biologics help complete the spine-surgery offering, but this feed gives no standalone revenue. You know the whole business reached $764M and grew 25.0%. You do not get product-level proof on which piece drove it.
platform support
Key numbers
$764M
annual revenue
That is the size of the business today. It is 25% higher than last year, which beats the usual medical-device crawl.
69.4%
gross margin
For every $1 of sales, Alphatec keeps $0.69 before overhead. That leaves room for profit if spending stays disciplined.
10.7%
op margin
After overhead, it loses 11 cents per dollar. Revenue is growing faster than profits.
$495M
long-term debt
Debt is large next to a business with negative operating margin. That limits how much sloppiness you can afford.
Financial health
B
strength
- balance sheet grade B — adequate — nothing special
- risk rank 4 — safer than 20% of stocks
- price stability 10 / 100
- long-term debt $495M (18% of capital)
- net profit margin 13.7% — keeps 14 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 57% — $0.57 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in ATEC 3 years ago → it's now worth $12,290.
The index would have given you $14,770.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
beat estimates
Alphatec posted $551M of quarterly revenue, while gross margin held at 69.4%.
EDGAR shows revenue up 181% vs. prior year. Yahoo's earnings page shows -$0.14 EPS versus a -$0.14 estimate, so the market saw a flat quarter on earnings and a huge one on sales.
$551M
revenue
-$0.14
eps
69.4%
gross margin
revenue surge
The $551M revenue print mattered most. Sales growth is the only reason the stock can keep asking for patience while profits are still negative.
-
indeed, on january 12th—the day of the twin disclosures—the california-based developer of spine surgery technology saw its shares tumble in price, even as the benchmark s&p 500 index finished fractionally higher during the same trading session.
-
subsequent weakness brings the stock’s year-to-date decline to more than 25%, following 2025’s sharp 129% runup in price.investors were probably a bit alarmed that leadership’s first view of 2026 didn’t exceed consensus estimates and that it implies a step down in the company’s growth trajectory.
-
management said that it sees the top line advancing 16%–17% this year, down pretty from roughly 25% in 2025.
-
the executive team conceded that growth could slow, even as the launch of a potentially breakthrough robotic tool for spinal surgery was recently slated for this year.
-
given the spine-treatment industry’s generally poor track record with respect to patient outcomes, the long-term opportunity for alphatec and other disruptors in the space is attractive.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is financing a still-unprofitable spine platform with $495M of long-term debt.
med
debt is large relative to the current revenue base
ATEC carries $495M of long-term debt against $764M in annual revenue. That's roughly 65% of sales. Fast growth helps, but leverage removes a lot of room for error.
If growth slows before margins improve, the financing story becomes the story.
med
the earnings inflection keeps getting pushed out
The forward EPS estimate is still -$0.10 in fy2027. A 69.4% gross margin business should have room to scale. If it doesn't, investors will start questioning the model instead of waiting for it.
This directly pressures valuation because the stock is already being asked to justify growth with future profits.
med
the stock is built for drawdowns
Price stability is 10 / 100 and the 52-week range runs from $9 to $23. That kind of spread tells you sentiment can move faster than the income statement.
Volatility makes every capital-markets decision more expensive and every miss harder to shrug off.
$495M of long-term debt, a $764M revenue base, and negative EPS still projected in fy2027 mean this company needs growth to stay fast and financing to stay available.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
metric
69.4% gross margin
This is the proof the products have value. If that number cracks while growth slows, the story changes fast.
risk
$495M of long-term debt
Debt is manageable only if revenue keeps compounding. At roughly 65% of annual sales, it is not background noise.
trend
three straight quarters of net institutional buying
142 buyers versus 109 sellers in 3Q2025 says funds still see upside. The next question is whether that conviction survives a slower growth print.
cal
the march toward positive EPS
fy2027 is still modeled at -$0.10. Every update from here is really about one thing: is profitability getting closer, or just getting renamed.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
60 / 100
In human-speak: analysts have a rough map, not a clean highway. Expect revisions if the profitability timeline slips.
price stability
10 / 100
This stock moves. A lot. If you own it, you are signing up for a story stock, not a sleep-well stock.
xvary composite
41 / 100
The market sees the growth. It just does not trust the full package yet.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net buying for 3 consecutive quarters — 142 buyers vs. 109 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 0.1B shares. net buying for 3 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$5
$22
$16
current price
$14
target midpoint · 11% from current · 3-5yr high: $35 (+125% · 22% ann'l return)
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