Leerink Partners reiterated an Outperform rating on Align Technology (NASDAQ: ALGN), and raised the price target to $81.00 (from $75.00), following the company's 4Q earnings report. 4Q revenues of $230.3M beat Leerink's estimate by ~$6M on better than expected case starts, offset by lower ASP. 1Q revenue guidance was above consensus, and contemplates revenue of $232.5-$236.6M and q/ q increase in NA.

Analyst Richard Newitter commented, "ALGN’s above-expectation 4Q & guide gives us increased conviction in the company’s top-line acceleration & margin expansion prospects. ALGN's 4Q was marked by accelerating case volume growth (including accelerating case growth for both NA Orthos and GPs) as well as a significant outperformance in scanners as the iTero launch gained steam. 2016 rev guidance is toward the high end of mgmt's aspirational 15-25% sales growth range, including significant contribution from scanners, but we also believe it leaves room for case start upside. Underlying margin improvement is better than what's implied by '16 guidance as certain transient items (i.e., FX, aligner-a-no charge headwinds) will mask profit growth. To us, it's hard to view this print/ guide as anything but suggesting ALGN's core business momentum is humming along and we reiterate our OP. Reiterate OP. ALGN PT raised to $81 on higher estimates."

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Shares of Align Technology closed at $59.51 yesterday.