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LH Stock Likely to Gain From the Molecular Bioanalytical Lab Expansion

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Labcorp (LH - Free Report) has announced the expansion of its molecular bioanalytical laboratory in Greenfield, IN. The expanded facility will increase the company’s global molecular bioanalytical capacity, enabling the company to help biopharmaceutical customers bring life-saving advanced therapies to patients faster.

The latest development is expected to positively boost the company’s Central Laboratories business under the Biopharma Laboratory Services (“BLS”) segment.

Predicting LH Stock Movement Following the News

Since the news was released, LH’s shares have decreased 1% to close at $224.72 in yesterday’s trading session.

However, the diagnostics leader has been advancing in strategic growth areas, maintaining its status as a partner of choice for health systems and regional local laboratories. The company also fortified its leadership in oncology by introducing several new strategic service offerings within the precision oncology portfolio. Besides, the continued strength of Central Labs has been a key driver of the BLS segment’s performance. All these have strongly boosted the company’s stock price in recent times. Henceforth, we expect the market sentiment toward the LH stock to get support driven by the latest development within BLS.

Labcorp currently has a market capitalization of $18.66 billion. In 2024, the company’s earnings are expected to grow at 8%, outpacing the industry’s 0.7% increase. Additionally, it surpassed the earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 2.8%.   

Significance of Labcorp’s Latest Expansion

For more than 20 years, Labcorp has been at the forefront of innovation in molecular bioanalysis, leveraging its extensive experience and industry-leading insights to help biopharmaceutical customers advance their most challenging drug development projects. This latest development underscores the company’s broader strategy of investing in capabilities that reduce lead times for molecular bioanalysis, further accelerating the development of advanced therapies, including cell and gene therapies for patient populations in critical need.

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Presently, Labcorp operates three global molecular bioanalytical facilities, including those in Greenfield, IN, Harrogate in the United Kingdom and Shanghai, China. The expanded Greenfield facility is equipped to support the development and validation of preclinical and clinical molecular bioanalytical assays required for advanced therapies such as cell and gene therapies for oncology, rare diseases and other therapeutic areas.

Industry Prospects Favoring LH Stock

The global bioanalytical testing services market was valued at $4.33 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 9% through 2030, as per a Grand View Research report.

The development of complex therapeutic modalities, such as gene therapies and biologics, has created a need for specialized bioanalytical testing services. Moreover, increasing drug development and approval processes, increasing complexity of therapeutics and rise in outsourcing of testing services are key factors anticipated to drive the market in the coming years.

Recent Developments Within Labcorp

Effective Dec. 1, 2024, Labcorp will be the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama's exclusive national laboratory in the Preferred Medical Laboratory (“PML”) Program and the only Preferred Medical Laboratory Plus (“PMLP”) provider in the outpatient laboratory network. The collaboration will enhance the laboratory experience for both members and physicians, reflecting their shared commitment to providing high-quality and cost-effective care aimed at improving patient health.

LH Stock Price Performance

In the past year, shares of LH have increased 7.9% compared with the industry’s growth of 0.4%.

LH’s Zacks Rank and Top MedTech Stocks

Labcorp currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are Boston Scientific (BSX - Free Report) , AxoGen (AXGN - Free Report) and Phibro Animal Health (PAHC - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Boston Scientific’s shares have risen 56.1% in the past year. Estimates for the company’s earnings per share have remained constant at $2.40 in 2024 and $2.71 in 2025 in the past 30 days. BSX’s earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 7.2%. In the last reported quarter, it posted an earnings surprise of 6.9%.

Estimates for AxoGen’s 2024 loss per share have remained constant at 1 cent in the past 30 days. Shares of the company have surged 179.9% in the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 20.7%. AXGN’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 96.5%. In the last reported quarter, it delivered an earnings surprise of 200%.

Estimates for Phibro Animal Health’s 2024 earnings per share have risen 0.7% in the past 30 days. Shares of the company have gained 66.3% in the past year compared with the industry’s 22.1% growth. PAHC’s earnings surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed on one occasion, the average surprise being 4.1%. In the last reported quarter, it delivered an earnings surprise of 20.6%.


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