Abiomed stock up 51 percent, beating medical device stock index

Abiomed Inc.’s stock is up 51 percent for the first quarter, destroying both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones IHI index averages.

Abiomed Inc. (NSDQ:ABMD) absolutely crushed it during the first quarter, riding the momentum of its Impella heart pump to a 51.2 percent increase in its share price.

The Danvers, Mass.-based company closed 2010 at $9.61 per share. It opened this year up 1.1 percent, at $9.72, and proceeded to go on a tear for the next three months. ABMD stock hit a high-water mark of $14.91 March 30, averaged $12.32 during the quarter and closed the three months ended March 31 at $14.53.

A company spokeswoman did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Read more of MassDevice.com’s coverage of Abiomed

Abiomed vastly outperformed both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones IHI index of medical device stocks. The S&P 500 Index gained 5.4 percent during the first quarter; the Dow IHI was up 9.1 percent during that span.

The first-quarter spike (which corresponds to Abiomed’s fiscal 2011 fourth quarter) highlights the company’s steady advances since it won 510(k) clearance for the Impella 5.0 and LD pumps nearly two years ago. Back then Abiomed shares were trading at about $5.50; since then it’s reported steadily increasing sales and cut its net losses considerably. The company rang Wall Street’s bell — literally — with its third-quarter results, reporting that sales jumped nearly 23 percent during the three months ended Dec. 31., to $27.2 million. That helped it pare losses to just $802,000, or 2 cents per share. Abiomed posted losses of $4.6 million, or 12 cents per share, on sales of $22.8 million during Q3 2010.

That performance itself sent shares up about 25 percent that day, which ended with CEO Michael Minogue ringing the NASDAQ exchange’s closing bell.