(Reuters) – Diagnostics firm Bio-Rad Laboratories posted third-quarter profit above Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, helped by a recovery in demand for analytical tools from its biotech clients and steady clinical diagnostics products sales growth.
Shares of the Hercules, California-based company rose 2.85% to $340 in extended trading.
The company supplies laboratory equipment and instruments for drug manufacturers and biotech companies. Bio-Rad also produces and sells blood and other diagnostic test kits to hospitals and physicians.
Decreased spending in the biotech sector, as well as sluggish demand from China, a key region for drug development, has hit Bio-Rad’s profits in recent quarters.
Some analysts are hopeful that a recent interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve could improve funding for small- and medium-sized biotechs and boost demand.
Last week, large rival Thermo Fisher Scientific raised its annual profit forecast, banking on demand for its tools and services used in clinical trials.
The company continues to view annual adjusted revenue to decline by about 2.5% to 4%, on a currency-neutral basis.
Sales from the company’s clinical diagnostics unit, its largest by revenue, rose 5.6% to $388.8 million.
Bio-Rad posted third-quarter total net sales of $649.7 million, topping analysts’ estimates of $628.2 million.
On an adjusted basis, Bio-Rad recorded a per-share profit of $2.01 in the quarter ended Sept. 30, above analysts’ estimate of $1.16.
(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija and Sruthi Narasimha Chari in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona and Mohammed Safi Shamsi)
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