What Bio-Rad Laboratories Expects from Life Science

In 1Q17, Bio-Rad Laboratories’ (BIO) Life Science segment reported revenues of ~$174.3 million, which represents a YoY (year-over-year) rise of ~5.1%. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange fluctuations, the company has reported YoY revenue growth of around 6.3% in 1Q17. After excluding the $1.9 million in revenues attributed to the acquisition of RainDance Technologies, the segment reported 5.2% YoY organic sales growth in 1Q17.

Bio-Rad Laboratories’ Life Sciences’ segment had reported 10% YoY revenue growth in 1Q16 on a currency-neutral basis, which highlights the solid revenue growth in this segment in 1Q17—despite its higher base for 1Q16.

Demand for the company’s Digital PCR (polymerase chain reaction) instruments, reagents, western blot imager, and PCR food testing products have all been driving revenue growth in Bio-Rad’s Life Science segment in 2017. In 1Q17, the company also witnessed robust demand for its amplification and cell biology products.

While the company continued to witness a steady uptake of its products in Europe, China, and Asia-Pacific, there has been a drop in the sales of Bio-Rad’s process media products in North America.

To compete with PerkinElmer (PKI), Danaher (DHR), and Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO), Bio-Rad has also focused on adding to its intellectual property asset through the acquisition of RainDance Technologies. This transaction has strengthened Bio-Rad Laboratories’ droplet-based product offerings, both in its clinical and research markets.

In 1Q17, Bio-Rad and Illumina launched Illumina Bio-Rad Single-Cell Sequencing Solution, which should help research scientists study individual cells and their gene expression in greater detail.

Notably, the SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF (MDY) has about 0.28% of its total portfolio in Bio-Rad Laboratories.