Mary J. Blige will star in Hologic’s first nationwide ad campaign for consumers. [Photo courtesy of Hologic]
Hologic (NSDQ:HOLX) posted fiscal first-quarter results today that beat the consensus forecast on Wall Street and increased its outlook for the rest of the year.
“We expect upside from COVID-19 testing, plus organic growth in our base Diagnostics and Surgical businesses, to offset headwinds from supply chain challenges in our Breast Health business,” CFO Karleen Oberton said in a news release.
Marlborough, Massachusetts–based Hologic reported profits of $499.2 million, or $1.95 per diluted share, on sales of $1.47 billion for the three months ended Dec. 25, 2021, for a bottom-line decrease of 23.7% and an 8.6% decrease in sales compared with the prior-year quarter.
“In our first quarter of fiscal 2022, excluding COVID-19, we delivered robust revenue growth across all of our franchises,” Chair, President and CEO Steve MacMillan said in the news release. “Each of our divisions grew faster than our long-term revenue growth target, and profitability also was well above estimates. This quarter once again highlights the strength of our base businesses, as well as our ongoing ability to meet strong demand for COVID-19 testing, which together enable us to grow profitably in the face of uncertain market conditions.”
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were $2.17, 89 cents over the Street, where analysts were looking for EPS of $1.28 on sales of $1.18 billion.
Hologic said it expects to log adjusted EPS of $4.90 to $5.20 this year, up from prior guidance of $$3.55 to $3.85, and increased its top-line outlook to a range of $4.4 billion to $4.5 billion, compared with the previous range of $3.75 billion to $4 billion.
Investors reacted by sending HOLX shares down about 1% to $71.19 in after-hours trading.
Hologic yesterday announced its first national, direct-to-consumer advertising campaign will launch with a Super Bowl ad starring Mary J. Blige on Feb. 13 and run through the Winter Olympics.
It’s the latest big-ticket purchase funded by Holigic’s “COVID cash” from COVID-19 testing as the pandemic persists with yet another wave, this time from the highly contagious omicron variant.