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What's in Store for Fulgent Genetics (FLGT) in Q4 Earnings?

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Fulgent Genetics, Inc. (FLGT - Free Report) is scheduled to report fourth-quarter and full-year 2020 results on Mar 4, after market close.

In the last-reported quarter, the company’s earnings of $2.08 beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 372.73%. Over the trailing four quarters, its earnings outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate on three occasions and missed in one, the average beat being 484.85%.

Let’s see how things have shaped up prior to this announcement.

Factors to Note

Fulgent Genetics through the past few months has significantly expanded its lab capacity and invested in resources to achieve biosafety certification required to handle COVID-19 tests. With this investment, it has started to offer end-to-end tests for COVID-19, which have gained huge market acceptance. This is likely to have significantly boosted fourth-quarter top line.

FULGENT GENETIC Price and EPS Surprise

FULGENT GENETIC Price and EPS Surprise

FULGENT GENETIC price-eps-surprise | FULGENT GENETIC Quote

In this regard, per the company’s third-quarter update, with a modest level of investment in the infrastructure and higher comps, its test volumes improved almost 50 times or 5,000% over the year-ago comparable figure and by more than five-tenths or 500% over the second-quarter 2020 test volume. As COVID-19 infections continued to spread in the fourth quarter, we believe this momentum has continued this time as well.

On the customer front, in the recent months the company has signed large agreements with a range of commercial organizations, municipalities and the medical institutions. Here we take note of the company’s December collaboration with PRA Health to provide at-home COVID-19 test capabilities. With the addition of new customers from these contracts, the fourth-quarter results might demonstrate an increase in the volume of core genetic test.

In terms of core business however, the picture seems to be not so bright for Fulgent Genetics. Through the pandemic months, this business witnessed significant decline. While the third quarter registered a faster-than-expected rebound, the pace of rebound might have slowed down with the resurgence of the virus in the fourth quarter.

The Estimate Picture

For fourth-quarter 2020, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for total revenues is pegged at $225.6 million, implying a rise of 2588.6% year over year.

The consensus estimate for earnings per share is pegged at $4.41. The company had reported earnings of 4 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.

What Our Model Suggests

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Fulgent Genetics this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), #2 (Buy) or #3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. But this is not the case here as you will see below.

Earnings ESP: Fulgent Genetics has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #1.

Stocks Worth a Look

Here are a few medical stocks worth considering as these have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings this reporting cycle.

DENTSPLY SIRONA (XRAY - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +2.09% and a Zacks Rank of 2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Option Care Health, Inc. (OPCH - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +46.94% and a Zacks Rank of 2.

The Cooper Companies, Inc. (COO - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +1.68% and a Zacks Rank of 3.

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