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 Bio-Reference Laboratories (BRLI.DL), a provider of clinical laboratory testing services, surged as much as 21% on the session following the release of its second-quarter earnings results before the opening bell.
So what: For the quarter, Bio-Reference produced $201.4 million in revenue, a quarterly record, and a 14% increase from the year-ago period. What makes the revenue increase even more impressive is that Bio-Reference pegged the negative effect from the polar vortex at $5 million. Net income, however, dipped year-over-year to $0.37 in EPS from $0.41, again caused by a $0.05 EPS decrease blamed on the weather. However, Wall Street was only expecting the company to earn $0.32 in EPS on $195.9 million in revenue, so it was a nice beat all around. Looking ahead, Bio-Reference suggested (as it had previously) that its third-quarter results will be relatively unchanged from the prior-year period, but that shareholders would bask in noticeable fourth-quarter year-over-year growth.
Now what: As long as Bio-Reference continues to focus on prudent cost controls I wouldn't be too concerned about weather occasionally affecting its bottom-line. In other words, the company is doing a good of controlling what it can and investors probably shouldn't punish it for weaker results caused by adverse weather. With a growth rate that has the potential to stay around 10% throughout the rest of the decade, and a forward P/E of 17 even following today's run higher, I'd suggest that even brighter days may be ahead for this company.
