BURLINGTON – LabCorp (NYSE: LH) beat Wall Street expectations for earnings, barely missed on revenue while setting expectations for earnings as much as $11.70 a share for 2018.
Giving LabCorp a boost was the recently passed tax bill in Congress.
“During the quarter, the Company recorded a net benefit of $519.0 million in net earnings, or $5.00 per diluted share, due to the implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA), which resulted in a favorable re-valuation of deferred taxes, partially offset by the deemed repatriation tax,” the company said in the earnings report.
The Burlington-based, global life science conglomerate reported revenues of $2.7 billion for the fourth quarter – just under the $2.71 billion as forecast by a panel of Zacks analysts. Revenues were up more than 13 percent year-over-year.
However, earnings of $2.45 per share topped Zacks’ forecast of $2.37 a share. That total was up 14 percent from 2016.
Looking ahead, LabCorp forecast earnings of between $11.30 and $11.70 per share.
The quarterly results capped what CEO and Chairman David King called an “outstanding” year.
“We achieved outstanding full year results, highlighted by revenue over $10 billion, adjusted EPS at the high end of our guidance range, and free cash flow in excess of $1.1 billion,” King said in a statement.
“Our performance in the quarter demonstrated our multi-faceted growth platform, as our Diagnostics and Drug Development businesses each delivered excellent performance through a combination of strategic acquisitions, organic initiatives, and margin improvement. We are well positioned for another year of strong performance in 2018 driven by momentum in our businesses, expansion of our capabilities and talent base, broadened geographic presence, and delivery of innovative solutions that only LabCorp can offer.”
LabCorp noted that acquisitions as well as organic growth and currency values combined to drive up net revenue.
