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Bio-Rad (BIO) to Report Q1 Earnings: What's in the Cards?

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Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (BIO - Free Report) is slated to report first-quarter 2022 results on Apr 28, after the closing bell.

In the last-reported quarter, the company’s earnings per share (EPS) of $3.21 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11.9%. Moreover, earnings beat the consensus estimate in the last four quarters. The trailing four-quarter average surprise is 66.97%.

Let's see how things are shaping up prior to the announcement.

Factors at Play

Bio-Rad’s Life Science segment has been registering robust revenue growth over the past few quarters. We expect this growth momentum to have continued in the first quarter on the back of sustained sales gains in terms of the company’s Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), Droplet Digital PCR (dPCR), Process Media businesses and Western Blot. The company has also been witnessing strong growth in the biopharma market for the Droplet Digital PCR platform, which is expected to have made significant contributions to the first-quarter top line.

We anticipate Bio-Rad’s core qPCR business to benefit from continued robust adoption of the latest generation CFX Opus platform, as was the case in the prior quarter. Added to this, we expect the buyout of Dropworks (acquired in third-quarter 2021) to significantly expand the qPCR business, which is likely to have had a positive impact on the company’s performance in the to-be-reported quarter. Notably, Dropworks is creating a droplet-based digital PCR system that can offer a more cost-effective solution to streamline the digital PCR workflow for life science research and diagnostic applications.

BioRad Laboratories, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

During the fourth-quarter earnings update, the company noted that the recovery of routine testing contributed to significant revenue growth in the Clinical Diagnostics segment. We expect this trend to have continued through the first quarter on the back of the opening of the economy, thereby driving growth in the Clinical Diagnostics arm across all product lines. The first-quarter top line is also likely to have gained from its existing collaboration with Seegene, a global provider of multiplex molecular diagnostics.

However, a decline in the number of COVID-19 cases across many countries is likely to have hit demand for Bio-Rad's COVID-related products, including molecular qPCR and ddPCR instruments and assays, antibody tests, quality controls, thus impacting the company’s top line.

Moreover, we are cautious about the persistent supply-chain challenges, particularly in terms of the supply and cost of plastic raw materials, electronic components as well as rising logistics costs that have been limiting the company’s ability to meet customer demand.

Estimate Picture

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Bio-Rad’s first-quarter revenues is pegged at $678 million, which implies a decline of 6.7% from the year-ago figure.

The consensus estimate for earnings per share is pegged at $2.80, suggesting a fall of 46.3% from the prior-year reported figure.

What Our Model Suggests

Per our proven model, a stock with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) along with a positive Earnings ESP has higher chances of beating estimates. However, this is not the case here as you can see:

Earnings ESP: Bio-Rad 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 #3.

Stocks Worth a Look

Here are some medical stocks worth considering as these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter.

Lucira Health has an Earnings ESP of +485.72% and a Zacks Rank of 2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Lucira Health’s long-term earnings growth rate is estimated at 40.2%. LHDX’s current-year P/E of 3.73x trades significantly cheaper than the S&P 500 Index’s 19.36x.

NanoString Technologies, Inc. has an Earnings ESP of +1.53% and a Zacks Rank of 2.

NanoString Technologies’ 2023 earnings growth rate is estimated at 35.1%. NSTG’s revenue growth rate for 2023 is expected at 41.83%.

Meridian Bioscience has an Earnings ESP of +26.32% and a Zacks Rank of 2.

Meridian Bioscience’s long-term historical earnings growth rate is 16.3%. VIVO’s 2022 revenue growth rate is expected at 6.2%.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.


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