Topic: Growth Stocks

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, October 29, 2010

Article Excerpt

BECKMAN COULTER INC., $53.24, New York symbol BEC, makes lab equipment that doctors and medical researchers use to detect substances in blood and other bodily fluids. The stock fell to $43.95 on September 7, 2010, due to problems with a test kit that determines whether a patient has suffered a heart attack. This test kit accounted for about 2% of Beckman’s 2009 sales. The company recalled the kit, and is now working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to fix the problem. Beckman plans to begin clinical trials of the upgraded test kit in 2011. The company’s quick response to this problem is limiting the damage to its reputation and helping it hang on to its current customers. In the three months ended September 30, 2010, the company’s revenue rose 8.6%, to $893.8 million from $822.8 million a year earlier. If you exclude foreign-exchange fluctuations and Beckman’s August 2009 purchase of the diagnostic-systems business of Japan’s Olympus Corp., revenue would have…