On Sep 18, we issued an updated research report on QIAGEN N.V. (NYSE:QGEN) . The company's business is expected to get a boost from its flourishing molecular diagnostic market. However, it faces a tough competitive landscape. This apart, strong reliance on relationships with collaborative partners and foreign exchange headwinds are other downsides. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
QIAGEN has underperformed its industry in the past month. The stock has declined 2.8% compared with the industry’s 1.4% fall.
In the last reported quarter, the company registered a dull 1% sales growth rate within its Americas business. This geography comprising 47% of the company’s total revenues witnessed slower growth due to a lacklustre performance by its prime product QuantiFERON-TB.
Additionally, in the core Western European countries, the company suffered soft trends, particularly in France, Italy and the United Kingdom. Also, a significant currency headwind persisted to impact the company’s overall performance in the last reported quarter. Further, escalating costs are putting pressure on the company’s gross margin.
Over and above, a lowered 2019 guidance is indicative of this bearish trend to be maintained through the rest of the year.
On a positive note, segmental growth was encouraging in the last reported quarter. QIAGEN’s commitment to return more money to shareholders through share repurchases reflects a solid cash position as well. The company’s robust Sample to Insight portfolio also buoys optimism.
Moreover, the FDA approvals of the new Therascreen Companion diagnostics and the U.S. launch of the QIAstat-Dx with respiratory panel in partnership with McKesson (NYSE:MCK) are impressive. The company’s recent decision to restructure its China-based next-generation sequencing (NGS) joint venture drives the market.
Stocks Worth a Look
A few better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are Haemonetics (NYSE:HAE) , Baxter (NYSE:BAX) and Amedisys (NASDAQ:AMED) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Haemonetics’ long-term earnings growth rate is expected to be 7.13%.
Baxter’s long-term earnings growth rate is projected at 12.8%.
Amedisys’ long-term earnings growth rate is estimated to be 16.26%.
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