Stryker CEO Kevin Lobo said the company's 2023 guidance range assumes a gradual improvement of the global operating environment, including a progressive easing of supply chain disruptions throughout the year.

Although there will continue to be challenges, Lobo said, "it certainly feels like the worst is behind us as."

Stryker CFO Glenn Boehnlein reiterated that confidence. He reported that the supply chain disruption somewhat lessened during the quarter.

"We are seeing some bright spots in supply chain. We are seeing an environment where we think there will be less spot buys," he said.

Most OEMs use strategic sourcing whenever possible, which is more cost effective. However, in times of supply chain disruptions, it is sometimes necessary to make on-the-spot purchases at a higher cost.

"We assume that we will see gradual improvement in the supply chain. We saw some of that in Q4. We actually feel pretty good about our access to supply, we are seeing a reduced volume of spot buys, which are those really high cost items, and we are also beginning to work with our original set of vendors, and also going up the food chain and actually working with chip suppliers so that we feel like we have a good handle on what’s going to happen with supply chain," Boehnlein said. "But it should become better quarter-to-quarter-to-quarter with good improvement and visible improvement in the back half of the year."