Bio-Rad posted fourth-quarter results that beat the overall consensus on Wall Street.
The Hercules, California–based clinical diagnostics company yesterday evening reported losses of $1.573 billion, or $52.59 per share, on sales of $732.8 million for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2021. In comparison, the company earned $839.1 million, or $27.81 pers share off sales of $789.8 in Q4 2020.
Much of the Q4 loss appears to have been due to changes in the fair market value of Bio-Rad’s investment in the German pharma and lab equipment supplier Sartorius.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were $3.21, 34¢ ahead of The Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $731.9 million.
“While year over year COVID-related sales declines cloud the picture, many of our markets in the life science segment are seeing continued strength from robust research and biopharma funding, while our clinical diagnostics business has benefited from a steady recovery from the pandemic. Like many others, supply chain constraints during the fourth quarter impacted our ability to fully meet customer demand,” president and CEO Norman Schwartz said in a news release.
For fiscal year 2022, Bio-Rad expects non-GAAP revenue growth of approximately 1.0% to 2.0% with an estimated non-GAAP operating margin of approximately 19%.
“Looking ahead to 2022, we anticipate another year of progress, building on the operating efficiencies we achieved this year,” Schwartz said. “While regional COVID upswings still persist and can impact our supply chain and order flow, we believe that we are well-positioned to build on our recent momentum as we continue to return to normalcy and execute our growth strategies.”
Shares in BIO were up nearly 4% to $649.92 apiece in morning trading. MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — was up slightly.