Why Lantheus Holdings Inc. Rocketed Today

What happened

Lantheus (NASDAQ: LNTH) is up 20.5% at 12:32 p.m. EDT following the company's report of first-quarter earnings after the closing bell yesterday.

So what

First-quarter revenue came in at $81.4 million. That's just 6.4% higher than the year-ago quarter, but it takes into account divestiture of some of Lantheus' products and beat management's guidance of $77 million to $80 million, which explains the higher share price. Definity, the company's ultrasound contrast agent, was the driving force behind the increased revenue, growing by 20% year over year. TechneLite, which is used in nuclear medicine diagnostic imaging tests, also had a nice quarter, up 8% year over year.

More From Fool.com

Motley Fool Founders Issue New Stock Buy Alert

Forget GE! Heres how to play the largest growth opportunity in history

Forget Apple! Heres a Better Stock to Buy

He Made 21,078% Buying Amazon. Heres His New Pick

Image source: Getty Images.

On the bottom line, Lantheus' earnings per share were down year over year, but that was due to a large gain in the year-ago quarter from the sale of its Canadian radiopharmacy business and expenses in the recently completed quarter to refinance its debt and consolidate its campus. When you factor out those one-time expenses, adjusted earnings were $0.28 per diluted share, up from $0.15 per share in the year-ago quarter.

Now what

Given the strong first quarter, Lantheus' management raised its revenue guidance for the year to a range of $313 million to $318 million. That's only a $1 million increase on either side of the range compared to previous guidance, suggesting management might be sandbagging a little. Guidance for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) was also increased to between $80 million and $83 million, up from a range of $79 million to $82 million.

10 stocks we like better than Lantheus HoldingsWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Lantheus Holdings wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.

Click here to learn about these picks!

*Stock Advisor returns as of May 1, 2017

Brian Orelli and The Motley Fool have no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.