What happened?
Shares of Quidel Corporation (QDEL) are rising sharply on Monday and are up by 8.1% as of 2:46 p.m. EST today after jumping by as much as 9.8% earlier in the day. The catalyst for these gains? Quidel Corporation, which focuses on developing medical diagnostic products, announced this morning that another one of its COVID-19 test kits has received emergency use authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
So what
Quidel Corporation has been very active in the COVID-19 testing market. Earlier this year, the company received regulatory clearance for several products, including its Sofia 2 Flu + SARS Antigen FIA. This test can help healthcare professionals detect and distinguish between cases of the flu and cases of COVID-19 (both illnesses share many of the same symptoms).
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The latest addition to the company's arsenal is its QuickVue SARS Antigen test. An antigen test detects viral proteins from a patient's respiratory sample, and it can often give results quickly. In fact, Quidel's QuickVue SARS Antigen test takes only 10 minutes to issue a verdict. The company said it would reach a manufacturing run rate of 600 million tests per year by the end of 2021.
Now what
Quidel Corporation's efforts in the COVID-19 testing market have been bearing fruit. During its third quarter ending Sept. 30, the healthcare company reported revenue of $476.1 million, an impressive $276% year-over-year increase. Quidel Corporation's earnings per share increased to $5.33 compared to the $0.38 it recorded during the prior-year quarter. The company attributed this performance primarily to its COVID-19 test kits. What's more, the coronavirus diagnostic market will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.1% from 2021 to 2027, according to the research firm Grandview Research. Thanks to its notable presence in this space, Quidel Corporation is worth keeping an eye on.
