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Quest Diagnostics (DGX) Tops Q4 Earnings, Revenues Estimates

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If you are a frequent customer of commercial laboratory testing services in North America, you probably have been offered one or more diagnostic products of one of its leading providers– Quest Diagnostics Inc. (DGX - Free Report) . Apart from the U.S., this company provides its laboratory services in several international markets including parts of India, England, Mexico and Puerto Rico.

Currently, Quest Diagnostics has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) but that could change following its strong fourth quarter 2017 earnings report which has just released. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. We have highlighted some of the key details from the just-released announcement below:

Earnings: The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current quarter is $1.39 per share, over the last 30 days. Quest Diagnostics’ fourth quarter adjusted earnings of $1.40 per share (up 6.9% year-over-year) has surpassed this estimate by a penny%.

 

Revenues: Quest Diagnostics posted revenues of $1.94 billion in the reported quarter, up 4.1% year-over-year and beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues of $1.93 billion.

Key Stats: Quest Diagnostics’ volume, measured by the number of requisitions, increased 2.4% versus the prior year’s volume. However, revenue per requisition also increased 2.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Major Factors: Per management, the company made great progress in accelerating growth and driving operational excellence in 2017.  The company announced seven acquisitions and exited the year exceeding the $1.3 billion goal of cumulative run rate Invigorate savings. Management has also stated that the company is a beneficiary of recent tax legislation, enabling the company to further improve earnings per share.  The company has issued full-year 2018 guidance.

Stock Price: Following the earnings release, share prices did not show any movement in the pre-market trading session.

Check back later for our full write up on this Quest Diagnostics earnings report later!

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