Immucor (BLUD) a global leader in providing instrument-reagent systems to the blood transfusion industry delivered more than expected financial results for the 3rd Quarter of fiscal 2010 ended February 28.
- Revenue of $80.5M was up 7% from prior year quarter.
- Gross margin was 69.2% compared to prior year quarter of 71.4%.
- Diluted earnings per share was $0.28 compared to $0.27 per prior year quarter.
- Cash flow from operations for 9 months was $55M compared to $54M prior year quarter.
- The Company’s Quality Process Improvement Project YTD costs were about $5.9M fiscal YTD.
- Major growth potential is for automation of blood screening with their Galileo and Echo systems.
With a Market Cap of about $1.4B and annualized fiscal 2010 Revenues in the $326-$330M range the Price to Sales Ratio is 4.2X ;the current EPS Growth Estimate($1.10-1.17sh.) is 11% giving the stock a PE of 19 and a PEG Ratio of 1.3. Shareholder’s equity is $439M with Cash at $175.6M at end of period. The Company has a very strong balance sheet.
Two of the major analysts following the stock are Baird with an Outperform and Piper Jaffray with a Neutral. Baird is hosting an analyst day on April 14. The Company’s growth outlook and bottom line has been clouded by FDA and DOJ issues but from current Company communications it appears the Company is making progress on FDA related manufacturing and quality issues. The DOJ issues are likely to continue for the current calendar year.
The stock continued to sell off from 21 to 20.5 on triple average volume during today’s conference call and with 91% institutional holdings it is expected that some funds would lighten up due to mixed guidance. Look for more clarity and update at the upcoming April 14 analyst day. Next technical support level for the stock is 20 followed by February lows of around 18.5.