Invisalign maker Align surges 37% after reporting a boom in 3rd-quarter sales driven by social-media influencers

• Invisalign maker Align Technology saw its shares rise by as much as 37% on Thursday.
• Align reported third-quarter earnings per share of $1.76 after the bell on Wednesday, above expectations for $0.54 and above $1.28 in the same quarter last year.
• CEO Joe Hogan cited the engagement of TikTok star Charli D'Amelio and television actor Marsai Martin as part of the reason behind the increase in use of its aligners among younger customers.

Shares of Align Technology — the maker of Invisalign teeth straighteners — soared by more than 30% on Thursday, set for their biggest one-day gain at least nine years, after the company crushed expectations for third-quarter earnings. The beat was driven partially by young social media stars using its products.

The San Jose, California-based company, whose see-through plastic braces have grown in use all over the world, late on Wednesday reported net income for the third quarter of $139.4 million, or $1.76 a share, compared with $102.5 million, or $1.28 a share in the same period last year. Analysts had expected EPS of $0.54, according to Yahoo Finance.

Align shares rose by as much as 37% to trade around $459 a share.

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Align Technology President and CEO Joe Hogan said the company had hit a milestone of 9 million patients and that there had been "strong momentum across all regions and customer channels," for the company's Invisalign aligners, as well as other services.

"We also saw strong response to our new teen and mom-focused consumer campaign with 118% year-over-year increase in total leads, an uptick in consumer engagement from new social media influencers like Charli D'Amelio and Marsai Martin, and a 25.6% year over year increase in teenagers using Invisalign clear aligners," Hogan said.

D'Amelio is a dancer, whose videos on social media app TikTok, have gathered nearly 90 million followers, while Martin is a young actor who stars in the ABC comedy show "Black-ish" and who has almost 3 million followers on Instagram.

Align also posted a 29% year-on-year rise in sales to nearly half a million units and reported total revenue of $734.1 million in the three months between July and September.

This marked a new record, and an increase of 20.9% over total revenue for the third quarter last year, the company said.

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