Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of Illumina (ILMN -1.48%), a life science diagnostics company, rallied as much as 15% after the company reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings results.
So what: For the quarter, Illumina reported a 21% boost in revenues to $331 million with an adjusted profit of $0.46 per share. Wall Street had only expected Illumina to post a profit of $0.39 on just $310.7 million in sales. If there were one blemish to the quarter, it was that the company took a $106.9 million charge related to ongoing patent litigation with Syntrix Biosystems.
Now what: Having witnessed Thermo Fisher Scientific scoop up Life Technologies last week, the sector is still abuzz with optimism. While I don't think Illumina is going to be receiving any takeover bids, I'm very intrigued by the outlook for life science diagnostics companies in general with regard to helping personalize cancer care over the remainder of the decade. Illumina appears to be a bit pricey here, but it's certainly a name worth considering for the future.
Craving more input? Start by adding Illumina to your free and personalized watchlist so you can keep up on the latest news with the company.
