Bio-Reference Laboratories Shares Popped: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of clinical laboratory testing services company Bio-Reference Laboratories (NAS: BRLI) are leaping out of their petri dishes and shooting up 13% after reporting better-than-expected first-quarter results.

So what: In the first quarter, Bio-Reference reported a 23% increase in sales to $149.9 million and a profit of $0.26. Both of these figures easily surpassed Wall Street's expectations for $143.1 million in sales and a profit of $0.21. Management cited strength across all business segments, a warmer winter, and the introduction of new products as the reasons for Bio-Reference's success. Management also reaffirmed its full-year earnings forecast.

Now what: There's not much in terms of bad news that I could draw from this report. For laboratory testing companies, innovating and introducing new products is of the utmost importance. Bio-Reference introduced OnkoMatch in the first-quarter and is set to introduce pre-natal testing products in the upcoming quarter. At a mere 14 times forward earnings, and boasting a five-year projected growth rate of 17%, Bio-Reference could still have some room to run.

Craving more input? Start by adding Bio-Reference Laboratories to your free and personalized watchlist so you can keep up on the latest news with the company.

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong. The Motley Fool owns shares of Bio-Reference Laboratories. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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