Hologic (NSDQ:HOLX) added nearly 8% to its share price today as investors on Wall Street reacted to a textbook "beat-and-raise" results from the women’s health company’s fiscal 2nd quarter.
Hologic slashed its losses by some 67%, to -$16.8 million, or -6¢ per share, on sales of $625.0 million for the 3 months ended March 29. That’s top-line growth of 2.0% compared with the same period last year.
Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, profits were $103.1 million , or 37¢ per share, ahead of the 33¢ forecast on The Street. Hologic also handily beat analysts’ $609.4 million sales forecast.
"Second-quarter results reflect early progress towards our renewed focus on executional discipline as we drive to our goal of sustainable organic growth," president & CEO Stephen MacMillan said in prepared remarks. "Our key product lines, such as Hologic’s unique 3D mammography and Aptima HPV, gained momentum during the quarter. To be clear, we still have plenty of work to do in order to consistently improve our operating results, achieve long-term growth and maximize value creation. However, I am excited by how our sales teams are responding to help achieve progress towards our primary objectives: Leveraging our unique collection of leading technologies to drive organic growth and focusing our capital allocation efforts on debt reduction."
Hologic raised its outlook for the rest of fiscal 2014, saying it now expects to put up adjusted earnings per share of $1.37 to $1.40, compared with prior guidance of $1.34 to $1.38, on sales of $2.46 billion to $2.49 billion (up from $2.43 billion to $2.48 billion). Third-quarter adjusted EPS are forecast at 33¢-34¢, on sales of $615 million to $625 million, according to a press release.
The news sent HOLX shares up 8.0% to $22.66 apiece today.