NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Agilent Technologies reported after the close of the market Wednesday that its first quarter revenues grew 14 percent year over year with double-digit gains recorded for all three of its groups.
The Santa Clara, California-based firm reported total revenues of $1.21 billion for the three months ended Jan. 31, 2018, compared to $1.07 billion for Q1 2017 and surpassing analysts' average estimate of $1.16 billion.
Revenue for the firm's Life Sciences and Applied Markets Group increased 14 percent year over year to $618 million, while its CrossLab Group saw revenues jump 12 percent to $408 million. Sales for Agilent's Diagnostics and Genomics Group were up 13 percent year over year to $185 million, driven by "strong demand for pathology products and companion diagnostics services," the firm said in a statement accompanying the results.
Agilent posted a first quarter net loss of $320 million, or $.99 per share, versus a profit of $168 million, or $.52 per share, for the first quarter of 2017. Among the items that affected its bottom line were a $533 million charge related to changes in US tax law, intangible amortization of $25 million, transformation costs of $5 million, and acquisition and integration costs of $3 million, among other items.
Excluding those items and a tax benefit of $28 million, Agilent posted non-GAAP net income of $216 million, or $.66 per share, for the quarter, beating the consensus Wall Street estimate of $.58.
Agilent's Q1 R&D costs increased 18 percent year over year to $93 million from $79 million, while its SG&A expenses were also up 18 percent to $341 million compared to $289 million.
The firm finished the year with $2.89 billion in cash and cash equivalents.
Agilent expects to report second quarter 2018 revenues in the range of $1.20 billion to $1.22 billion with non-GAAP earnings in the range of $.61 to $.63 per share.
For full-year 2018, it anticipates revenues of $4.89 billion to $4.91 billion and non-GAAP earnings of $2.62 to $2.68 per share.
Shares of Agilent were up 3 percent at $71.71 in Thursday morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange.