Massachusetts-based Hologic’s (NSDQ:HOLX) dove into the red during its 1st quarter of 2014 on a decrease in sales.
The women’s health devices maker posted a 3% decline in revenues and a 10.5% decrease in adjusted earnings, but still beat analysts’ consensus expectations by 3¢. That win didn’t do much for HOLX shares,which were down 1.5% to $20.17 as of about 1:40 p.m.
Hologic posted losses of $5.4 million, or 2¢ per share, on sales of $612.4 million during the 3 months ended December 28. That compared with profits of $3.1 million, ,or 1¢ per diluted share, on sales of $631.4 million during the same period the previous year. Adjusted to exclude special charges, Hologic posted per-share earnings of 34¢, for its most recent quarter, beating The Street’s 31¢ projection.
On an earnings call with investors and analysts newly appointed president & CEO Stephen MacMillan emphasized his focus on international markets as a driver of growth moving forward, saying that outside-U.S. business represents only about a quarter of the company’s current sales.
The Q1 figures were praised by analysts at Leerink Swann, who said that they were "more confident" that MacMillan would lead the company to improved execution and better product cycle momentum.
"HOLX’s businesses face a number of macro challenges that will not be "quick fixes," and a turnaround will require patience," Swann analyst Richard Newitter wrote. "But we do see a path to greater value creation emerging, and we view mgmt’s commitment to more shareholder-friendly capital redeployment (i.e., deleveraging, buybacks) and commitment to execution/organic growth improvement favorably."