QuidelOrtho (NASDAQ:QDEL) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

Key Points

• QuidelOrtho Corporation saw its shares rise significantly, opening at $27.26 after closing at $23.68, due to a better-than-expected earnings report showing $0.12 EPS against an estimated $0.01 EPS.
• The company's revenue for the quarter was reported at $613.90 million, slightly above expectations, but down 3.6% year-over-year.
• QuidelOrtho is experiencing mixed analyst ratings, with the average rating being "Hold" and a price target averaging around $44.33, indicating diverging opinions among analysts.

QuidelOrtho Corporation (NASDAQ:QDEL - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $23.68, but opened at $27.26. QuidelOrtho shares last traded at $25.58, with a volume of 488,258 shares trading hands.

The company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.01 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $613.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $612.36 million. QuidelOrtho had a positive return on equity of 5.29% and a negative net margin of 16.10%. QuidelOrtho's quarterly revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.07) earnings per share.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on QDEL shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of QuidelOrtho from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group raised QuidelOrtho from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on QuidelOrtho from $38.00 to $25.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of QuidelOrtho from $50.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of QuidelOrtho from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $42.17.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in QDEL. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of QuidelOrtho in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in QuidelOrtho during the first quarter worth about $36,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in QuidelOrtho by 300.7% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 806 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in QuidelOrtho by 2,460.9% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,178 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 1,132 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of QuidelOrtho by 46.4% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,967 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 623 shares in the last quarter. 99.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

QuidelOrtho Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.71 and a beta of -0.04. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $28.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.62.

QuidelOrtho Company Profile

QuidelOrtho Corporation provides diagnostic testing solutions. The company operates through Labs, Transfusion Medicine, Point-of-Care, and Molecular Diagnostics business units. The Labs business unit provides clinical chemistry laboratory instruments and tests that measure target chemicals in bodily fluids for the evaluation of health and the clinical management of patients; immunoassay laboratory instruments and tests, which measure proteins as they act as antigens in the spread of disease, antibodies in the immune response spurred by disease, or markers of proper organ function and health; testing products to detect and monitor disease progression across a spectrum of therapeutic areas; and specialized diagnostic solutions.