New products, tax cuts boost Idexx

Article Excerpt

IDEXX LABORATORIES INC. $202 (Nasdaq symbol IDXX; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 86.9 million; Market cap: $17.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 7.2; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.idexx.com) makes equipment that veterinarians use to detect diseases in pets. Thanks to strong demand for its diagnostic equipment and related supplies, Idexx’s revenue in the first quarter of 2018 rose 16.4%, to $537.7 million from $462.0 million a year earlier. Earnings jumped 29.6%, to $89.5 million from $69.0 million; due to fewer shares outstanding, per-share earnings rose at a faster rate of 31.2%, to $1.01 from $0.77. Idexx also benefitted from the recent U.S. tax cuts. Its effective tax rate fell to 14.3% in the quarter from 18.5% a year earlier. However, the stock is expensive at 48.9 times the company’s projected 2018 earnings of $4.13 a share. Idexx Laboratories is still a hold. hold…