Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. BIO posted fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.90, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.93 by 1.0%. The bottom line decreased 6.4% from the prior-year quarter’s level.

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The quarter’s adjustments primarily eliminate the impacts of certain non-recurring items, such as the amortization of purchased intangibles, restructuring costs and losses from the change in the fair market value of equity securities.

The company’s GAAP loss per share was $25.57 compared to the year-ago GAAP EPS of $12.14.

The company reported full-year 2024 EPS of $10.31, which decreased 12.5% from the prior-year level. The figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate marginally by 0.2%.

Following the earnings announcement, BIO stock declined 0.4% in yesterday’s after-market trading. 

BIO's Revenues in Detail

Revenues of $667.5 million missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.1%. The figure also decreased 2.0% year over year (down 2.3% at constant exchange rate or CER).

The company reported full-year 2024 revenues of $2.57 billion, which decreased 3.9% from the prior-year level. The figure was in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. 

BIO's Segmental Analysis

Sales in the Life Science segment totaled $275.0 million, down 5.5% year over year and 6.0% at CER. The currency-neutral year-over-year sales declined across all regions. This was primarily due to weakness in the biotech and biopharma end markets.

Net sales in the Clinical Diagnostics segment totaled $392.5 million, up 0.9% on a year-over-year basis and 0.7% at CER. Increased demand for quality control and blood typing products primarily drove the currency-neutral year-over-year sales improvement.

Margins

In the quarter under review, Bio-Rad’s gross profit declined 6.6% to $342 million. The gross margin contracted 254 basis points (bps) to 51.2%. 

Operating expenses amounted to $283.6 million, up 4.6% year over year. Operating profit totaled $58.4 million, down 38.7% from the prior-year level. The operating margin contracted 524 bps to 8.7%.

BIO's Financial Update

Bio-Rad exited 2024 with cash and cash equivalents (including short-term investments) of $1.66 billion compared with $1.61 billion at the end of 2023. Total debt (including current maturities) at the end of 2024 was $1.20 billion, which remained flat year over year.

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. Quote

Cumulative net cash flow from operating activities totaled $455.2 million compared with the year-ago figure of $374.9 million.

2025 Guidance

Bio-Rad provided its financial guidance for full-year 2025.

The company still anticipates non-GAAP currency-neutral revenue growth of 1.5-3.5%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $2.65 billion, implying a 3.1% increase from the 2024 reported figure.

The adjusted operating margin for the full year is projected to be in the range of 13.0-13.5%. 

Our Take

Bio-Rad exited the fourth quarter with lower-than-expected results, with both earnings and revenues missing estimates. The Clinical Diagnostics segment has returned to its normalized growth rate post-pandemic, with leading market positions for BIO’s core platforms. In line with this, the company registered broad-based growth in all regions. 

On the flip side, the Life Science group continued to experience a modest pace of recovery, reflecting ongoing soft demand in biopharma in China. 

Meanwhile, the contraction of both margins is discouraging. 

Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks

BIO currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Some other top-ranked stocks from the broader medical space are Quest Diagnostics DGX, ResMed RMD and Cardinal Health CAH. 

Quest Diagnostics reported fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted EPS of $2.23, which topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.8%. Revenues of $2.62 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.9%. 

DGX carries a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

DGX has an earnings yield of 5.9% compared with the industry’s 4.1%. It beat on earnings in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 3.8%.

ResMed, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present, posted second-quarter fiscal 2025 adjusted EPS of $2.43, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.6%. Revenues of $1.28 billion exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.6%.

RMD has an estimated fiscal 2025 earnings growth rate of 21.9% compared with the industry’s 13.2%. Its earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 6.9%.

Cardinal Health, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present, posted second-quarter fiscal 2025 adjusted EPS of $1.93, which topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 10.3%. Revenues of $55.26 billion exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.7%.

CAH has an estimated five-year earnings growth rate of 10.7% compared with the industry’s 9.3%. Its earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 9.6%.

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