Bio-Rad (BIO) Q4 Earnings Improve Y/Y, Revenues Top Mark

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) reported fourth-quarter 2017 earnings of $2.32 per share against the year-ago loss of 70 cents, thus making a huge improvement. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at earnings of $1.28 per share. Notably, net income in the quarter was favorably impacted by a substantial benefit from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Net sales came in at $620.4 million, up 8.6% year over year (up 5.4% at constant exchange rate or CER). The top line closely beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $619 million. The year-over-year rise in sales was largely driven by strong sales in Life Science products including continued sturdy sales of Droplet Digital PCR instruments and consumables plus cell biology products.

Quarter in Detail

On a segmental basis, the Life Science’s net sales came in at $237.9 million, up 15% year over year (up 12.3% at CER). Also, sales at Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR), cell biology product lines and process media rose on the back of a strong performance at CER. Geographically, North America, Europe and Asia Pacific demonstrated a sturdy flourish.

Within Clinical Diagnostics, the company registered sales of $378.4 million, up 4.9% year over year (up 1.5% at CER). This upside resulted from an increase in blood typing, immunology, diabetes and quality control product lines.

Gross margin of 54.7% during the reported quarter contracted 28 basis points (bps) year over year despite an 8% climb in gross profits. Adjusted operating margin however, expanded 300 basis points to 9.4% with a 59.1% surge in adjusted operating profit.

The company exited the year 2017 with cash and cash equivalents plus short-term investments of $760.5 million compared with $844 million at the end of 2016. Full-year net cash provided by operating activities was $103.9 million compared with $216.4 million a year ago.

2018 Guidance

For 2018, Bio-Rad expects currency neutral revenue growth of approximately 3.5-4%. This outlook anticipates continued strong sales in Life Science segment and increased growth for Diagnostics. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2018 is pegged at $2.30 billion. Operating margin at constant exchange rate is targeted at 10% of revenues.

Bottom Line

Bio-Rad posted a strong quarterly performance with both earnings and sales showing a sharp year-over-year improvement. Sales growth was majorly driven by the company’s many Life Science product lines. Within Diagnostics, instrument placement was solid throughout 2017. A promising 2018 guidance further instills confidence on the stock. However, contraction in gross margin in the quarter under review was due toescalated warranty and service costs, largely associated with higher instrument placements.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Bio-Rad has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A few better-ranked medical stocks are PetMed Express (NASDAQ:PETS) , PerkinElmer (NYSE:PKI) and Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX) . While PetMed and PerkinElmer sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Becton, Dickinson and Company carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

PetMed reported third-quarter fiscal 2018 results. Adjusted EPS of 44 cents soared 88.3% from the prior-year quarter. Revenues rose 13.7% to $60.1 million.

PerkinElmer reported fourth-quarter 2017 adjusted EPS of 97 cents. Adjusted revenues were approximately $641.6 million, up from $567 million in the year-earlier quarter.

Becton, Dickinson reported first-quarter 2018 adjusted EPS of $2.48, up 3.9% at constant currency. Revenues totaled $3.08 billion, up 3.7% on constant-currency basis.

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