DURHAM – Life science giant Iqvia Holdings Inc. (IQV) on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter earnings of $318 million in what CEO and Chair Ari Bousbib described as a “robust” quarter.

“We closed 2021 with an impressive quarter, delivering robust growth across all key financial metrics versus what was a strong fourth quarter of 2020,” Bousbib said in a statement. “We had a record year of net new business in R&DS, strong double-digit revenue growth for the year in both our R&DS and TAS [technology and analytics] segments, and a record year of free cash flow generation. We are now two-thirds of the way through our Vision 22 plan and are on a path to achieving or exceeding our targets. The outlook for our end markets remains favorable and we expect continued strong demand for our differentiated offerings in 2022. Looking beyond 2022 to the next phase of our growth, we are well positioned to achieve our ambitious 2025 targets.”

The Durham-based company said it had profit of $1.63 per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs and stock option expense, came to $2.55 per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.43 per share.

The clinical testing company posted revenue of $3.64 billion in the period, also beating Street forecasts. Seven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $3.59 billion.

IQVIA expects full-year earnings in the range of $9.95 to $10.25 per share, with revenue in the range of $14.7 billion to $15 billion.

Quarterly highlights

As reported by Iqvia:

  • Revenue of $3,636 million for the fourth quarter grew 10.2 percent year-over-year on a reported basis and 11.6 percent at constant currency
  • GAAP Net Income of $318 million for the fourth quarter grew 167.2 percent year-over-year
  • Adjusted EBITDA of $828 million for the fourth quarter grew 12.7 percent year-over-year
  • GAAP Diluted Earnings per Share of $1.63 for the fourth quarter grew 167.2 percent year-over-year
  • Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share of $2.55 for the fourth quarter grew 20.9 percent year-over-year
  • Full-year Operating Cash Flow of $2,942 million grew 50.2 percent year-over-year and record full-year Free Cash Flow of $2,302 million grew 71.4 percent year-over-year
  • Record R&D Solutions contracted backlog of $24.8 billion grew 10.2 percent year-over-year
  • Share repurchase authorization increased by $2.0 billion in February 2022
  • Full-year 2022 guidance reaffirmed for revenue including a $70 million revenue headwind from foreign exchange
  • Full-year 2022 guidance raised for Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Diluted EPS