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Here's Why You Should Buy Lantheus Holdings (LNTH) Right Now

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With solid prospects, Lantheus Holdings, Inc. (LNTH - Free Report) is an attractive pick at present. The stock has rallied 26.1% over the last three months, ahead of the S&P 500’s 2.2% gain and also better than the broader industry's 4.9%.The stock has a market cap of $631.23 million

This diagnostic medical imaging agents and product provider’s estimate revision trend for the current year has also been positive. In the past 30 days, three analysts moved north while there was no movement in the opposite direction. The magnitude of estimate revision increased to $1.10 per share from 95 cents over the same time frame. The company reported a stellar four-quarter positive average earnings surprise of 62.1%, with an earnings surprise of 75% in the last reported second quarter of 2017.

Let’s find out whether the recent positive trend is a sustainable one.

Headquartered in North Billerica, MA, Lantheus Holdings posted solid second-quarter 2017 results with year-over-year increase in earnings and revenues. Earnings per share increased around 75% year over year while revenues improved around 14% globally on the back of approximately 20% growth in DEFINITY and around 6% growth in TechneLite sales, globally. Also, the raised revenue guidance for the full year indicates possibilities of continuation of this bullish trend.

For full-year 2017, the worldwide revenue guidance has been raised to $318-$322 million from $313-$318 million. Worldwide revenues for the third quarter of 2017 are projected between $75 million and $78 million.

The gross margin excluding the impact of the GE Healthcare payment was approximately 49%, reflecting an increase of 310 basis points over last year. This improvement is driven by increased contributions from the higher margin products along with the impact of Xenon cost savings generated by the addition of processing and finishing capabilities at the Billerica facility.

The market is also upbeat about this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company’s consistent efforts to expand globally. The company is also looking forward to the receipt of the Chinese regulatory approval, necessary to start the confirmatory study with its partner Double-Crane on the DEFINITY China program. Notably, the first patient in the cardiac study has already enrolled. The company has also received regulatory approvals in Taiwan.

Other Key Picks

A few other better-ranked medical stocks are Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (EW - Free Report) , PetMed Express, Inc. (PETS - Free Report) and IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (IDXX - Free Report) . Edwards Lifesciences and PetMed Express sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while IDEXX Laboratories carries a Zacks Rank #2. You cansee the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Edwards Lifesciences has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 15.2%. The stock has rallied roughly 19.04% over the last six months.

PetMed Express has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 10%. The stock has gained 75.6% over the last six months.

IDEXX Laboratories has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 19.8%. The stock has gained around 2.3% over the last six months.

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