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Reasons to Retain QIAGEN Stock in Your Portfolio for Now

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QIAGEN N.V. (QGEN - Free Report) is well-poised to grow in the coming quarter, driven by its strategic alliances with researchers and pharma companies. The company’s expansive next-generation sequencing (NSG) portfolio continues to be bolstered by several innovations.

Meanwhile, QIAGEN’s operations are vulnerable to currency fluctuations, which can adversely affect its financial results. Competitive disadvantages also add to the worry.

In the past year, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock has risen 6% compared with 4% growth of the industry. The S&P 500 composite has witnessed a 32.2% rise in the said time frame.

The renowned global provider of sample and assay technologies has a market capitalization of $9.68 billion. QGEN’s earnings surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed the same in one, delivering an average surprise of 2.64%.

Let’s delve deeper.

QIAGEN’s Key Tailwinds

Strategic Collaborations to Drive Growth: QIAGEN’s long-term business strategy involves entering into strategic alliances, as well as marketing and distribution arrangements with academic, corporate and other partners to develop, commercialize, market and distribute certain of its existing and potential products. Soon after the second quarter, QIAGEN teamed up with the Snow Molecular Anthropology Lab at the University of Montana in the fields of human identification and forensics.

In the second quarter, the company collaborated with Myriad Genetics to develop a globally distributable kit-based test for analyzing the Homologous Recombination Deficiency status. With the International Panel Physicians Association partnership, QIAGEN reinforces its commitment to TB screening. Its collaboration with Element Biosciences promises to deliver unprecedented insights across various genomic applications to customers worldwide.

Solid NGS Platform Prospects: QIAGEN’s NGS portfolio has witnessed strong double-digit revenue growth over the past few quarters. It is continuously integrating AI technology into the QDI portfolio. The QDI business continued to see solid demand trends in the second quarter, setting an optimistic CER growth outlook for the full year. The company introduced a new clinical decision support software version, QIAGEN Clinical Insight Interpret (QCI Interpret).

In May, the company expanded the QCI portfolio with QCI Secondary Analysis — a cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution.

QIAGEN’s Key Headwinds

Foreign Exchange Uncertainties: Recording more than 50% of its revenues from the international market, QIAGEN is highly exposed to the risk of foreign currency movement. The situation may worsen with the strengthening of the domestic currency against high-focus nations. Any unanticipated currency headwinds in high-focus markets may drag the top and the bottom lines further in the future.

For instance, sales in the Asia Pacific, Japan and the Rest of the World region were adversely impacted by 7% points from unfavorable currency movements against the U.S. dollar during the second quarter of 2024. Sales of sample technologies were adversely impacted by 1% point.

 

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Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Competitive Headwinds: Considering QIAGEN’s huge gamut of services, the company is also susceptible to competitive headwinds. The company is facing increasing competition from firms that provide competitive pre-analytical solutions and other products used by QIAGEN’s customers. The markets for some of the company’s products are very competitive and price-sensitive.

Other product suppliers may have significant advantages in terms of financial, operational, sales and marketing resources and experience in research and development.

QIAGEN’s Estimate Trend

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 earnings per share has remained unchanged at $2.15 in the past 30 days.

The consensus estimate for the company’s 2024 revenues is pegged at $1.97 billion, indicating a 0.2% increase from the year-ago reported number.

Key Picks

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are TransMedix Group (TMDX - Free Report) , AxoGen (AXGN - Free Report) , and Phibro Animal Health (PAHC - Free Report) .

TransMedix Group’s earnings are expected to surge 258.4% in 2024. Its earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 287.5%. Shares of the company have risen 189.3% in the past year compared with the industry’s 20.7% growth. TMDX sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

AxoGen, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present, has an earning yield of 94.1% compared with the industry’s 12.3%. Shares of the company have risen 212.1% compared with the industry’s 20.7% growth over the past year.  AXGN’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 96.46%.

Phibro, carrying a Zacks Rank of 2 at present, has an estimated earnings growth rate of 21% for fiscal 2025 compared with the industry’s 12.6%. In the past year, shares of PAHC have risen 73.3% compared with the industry’s 24.4% growth. PAHC delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 4.10%.

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