What's In Store For Quidel (QDEL) This Earnings Season?

Quidel Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL) is scheduled to release third-quarter 2018 results on Nov 6, 2018, after the market closes.

Favorable tidings on regulatory front and strong prospect in the Sofia 2 platform are likely to drive results in the quarter to be reported.

Q2 Results at a Glance

In the last reported quarter, Quidel registered revenues of $103.2 million, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1%. This compares favorably with the year-ago revenues of $38.3 million.

Adjusted earnings were 36 cents per share against loss of $12 cents in the second quarter of 2017. The company reported an earnings surprise of 63.6% in second-quarter 2018.

Which Way are Estimates Treading?

For the quarter to be reported, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at 50 cents per share, up 412.5% year over year. The same for revenues is pegged at $120.7 million, up 137.1% year over year.

Let’s delve deeper.

Quidel Corporation Price and Consensus

Factors to Consider

Strong growth in Cardiac Immunoassay revenues — which include revenues from Triage, Triage Toxicology and Beckman BNP products — is likely to drive the top line in the third quarter.

The Cardiac Immunoassay segment is expected to witness solid growth in China. For investors’ notice, the segment contributed 67.7% to the top line in the second quarter.

The newly-launched Sofia 2 platform is also expected to be a key driver in the third quarter. In August, Quidel received 510(k) clearance and Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) waiver from the FDA to market its Sofia 2 Lyme FIA to be used with the Sofia 2 Fluorescent Immunoassay Analyzer.

Sofia 2 is Quidel’s advanced version of Sofia Instrumented System. As of the last reported quarter, Quidel had more than 10,000 Sofia 2 instruments shipped.

Solid performance in Solana and Eye Health products is also likely to drive third-quarter earnings.

What Our Model Says

Per our proven quantitative model, a stock needs to have a positive Earnings ESPand a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) to deliver a positive earnings surprise. This is precisely the case here as you will see below.

Earnings ESP: Quidel has an Earnings ESP of +10.55%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Quidel currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.

Please note that we caution against stocks with a Zacks Rank #4 or 5 (Sell-rated) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is witnessing negative estimate revision.

Other Stocks Worth a Look

Here are a few other medical stocks worth considering as these too have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat in their upcoming quarterly results.

BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLFS) has an Earnings ESP of +36.36% and a Zacks Rank #3.

ICU Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ICUI) has an Earnings ESP of +8.65% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

OraSure Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSUR) has an Earnings ESP of +4.76% and a Zacks Rank #2.

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