IDEXX Laboratories Barks Out Another Successful Quarter

IDEXX Laboratories (NASDAQ: IDXX), a member of the Motley Fool 100 Index, kicked off the year with a solid first quarter, growing top and bottom lines by double digits.

IDEXX Laboratories results: The raw numbers

What happened with IDEXX Laboratories this quarter?

• Revenue growth was helped by currency changes, but even looking at organic growth, revenue was up a solid 12%.
• Revenue from the companion animal group led the way, up 13% organically, with sales of consumables up 17% organically. Instrument placements, which will drive consumable sales in future quarters, continued to grow with the number of premium analyzers placed in veterinarian offices up 21% year over year.
• Revenue from IDEXX's reference laboratory diagnostic and consulting services, where it runs the tests for veterinarians, increase 14% on an organic basis, while sales of rapid assay products were up 7% organically.
• Sales of water-testing products were up 12% organically, thanks to direct sales in Brazil.
• The only real downer was products for livestock, poultry, and dairy, which only grew sales 2% on an organic basis, although the category is becoming an increasingly smaller portion of IDEXX's sales as the companion animal group increases.
• The long awaited kidney function SDMA test launched on the company's Catalyst Dx machines so vets can do the test in-house.
• The company said the launch of its SNAP fecal test won't happen until the beginning of next year.

What management had to say

Jonathan Ayers, IDEXX's chairman, president, and CEO, highlighted the early success of the SDMA test in its first quarter on the market:

IDEXX has been using an economic value index (EVI) for sales representative commissions, where new accounts have higher commissions because they'll ultimately make more money for the company than repeat customers upgrading or adding a second machine, which it has rolled out to the rest of the world with good success. As Ayers pointed out:

Looking forward

Based on the solid first quarter, management upped its guidance for organic revenue growth by 1 percentage point, to 10.5% to 12.5% for the year. On a reported basis, the revenue guidance is staying the same because currency changes since the guidance was first issued will eat away the organic gains. Considering the company has control over organic growth, which is going up, but not currency changes, it's an OK trade for investors.

On the bottom line, management upped its earnings outlook by $0.02 per share to a range of $4.06 - $4.20 per share. Like the revenue line, organic sales growth will be cancelled out by currency changes, with the $0.02 increase coming from better share-based compensation activity.

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Brian Orelli has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Idexx Laboratories. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.