Cantel Medical ($CMN) is up about 30% this year on investor enthusiasm for its sales growth in endoscopy, as well as a brisk acquisition strategy. But its shares were down about 1% in early trading on Dec. 10 after the company reported first-quarter earnings that missed expectations a bit.
It reported first-quarter GAAP EPS of $0.27, missing Wall Street estimates by $0.01, and revenues of $136.8 million, which was $4.7 million lower than expected. Overall, sales were up 16% with contributions from the endoscopy business of 13% and its newly acquired PuriCore business of 28%. Organic sales growth was 10%. The company's fiscal first quarter for 2015 ended on Oct. 31.
The company's latest acquisition was on Nov. 4, with its purchase of endoscope reprocessor and related chemistry company International Medical Service, which is based in Italy.
"We achieved good financial performance in all three major business segments--Endoscopy, Water Purification and Filtration, and Healthcare Disposables," Cantel CEO Andrew Krakauer said in a statement. "All three business units have greatly benefited from further investments in new product development, sales and marketing programs, and the integration of recent acquisitions."
Krakauer added that the sales growth rate attributes to the success of its acquisition program.
In November, the company had a bit of an executive shuffle as it brought in Jorgen Hansen as EVP and COO; Krakauer remains CEO.
Cantel's gain of almost one-third in 2014 so far has driven it up to a $1.8 billion market cap.
- here is the release