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What's in Store for West Pharmaceutical (WST) in Q1 Earnings?

West Pharmaceutical Services WST is scheduled to release first-quarter 2023 results on Apr 27, before the opening bell. In the last reported quarter, the company delivered an earnings surprise of 27.34%. WST’s earnings beat estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed the same in one, the average surprise being 10.35%.

Q1 Estimates

Currently, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter revenues is pegged at $697.3 million, indicating a decline of 3.2% from the year-ago period. The same for earnings stands at $1.65 per share, indicating a 28.3% deterioration from the prior-year quarter.

Factors to Note

West Pharmaceutical’s Proprietary Products was an important contributor to the company’s top-line growth in the fourth quarter of 2022. The segment is likely to have exhibited sustained strength in the first quarter as well.

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Apart from this, the company is also expected to have witnessed margin expansion in the aforementioned segment. This is due to a favorable mix of products sold (stemming from high-value products’ [HVP] demand), production efficiencies and higher sales price.

WST has been witnessing a strong uptake of HVP components, which include Westar and NovaPure offerings. This trend is likely to have continued in the quarter to be reported. However, delays in expansion projects, customer delivery timing and mix-shift-related productivity impacts might have hurt HVP’s sales growth.

West Pharmaceutical has been making significant efforts to retain customers’ faith amid the uncertainty triggered by COVID-19. Apart from ensuring the safety and well-being of team members worldwide, it has successfully continued the manufacturing and supply of products to its customers. These initiatives might have favored the company’s first-quarter performance.

Although the top line declined during the fourth quarter, demand growth and a strong order book for 2023 are encouraging. The company’s better-than-expected revenue outlook is likely to get reflected in the first-quarter results.

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise
West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. price-eps-surprise | West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. Quote

West Pharmaceuticals’ business is exposed to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, which is likely to have adversely impacted its first-quarter performance. WST also expects COVID-related sales to decrease further, after declining year over year in the past two quarters.

What Our Quantitative Model Suggests

Per our proven model, the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. That is not the case here as you will see below.

Earnings ESP: West Pharmaceuticals has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: The company carries a Zacks Rank #2.

Stocks Worth a Look

Here are a few medical stocks worth considering as these have the right combination of elements to come up with an earnings beat this reporting cycle:

Henry Schein HSIC has an Earnings ESP of +0.99% and a Zacks Rank of 2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

HSIC has an estimated long-term growth rate of 8.1%. Henry Schein’s earnings surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and met once, the average surprise being 2.97%.

BioRad Laboratories BIO has an Earnings ESP of +0.16% and a Zacks Rank of 2 at present. BIO has an earnings yield of 3.3%, which compares favorably with the industry’s negative yield of 2.9%.

BioRad Laboratories’ earnings surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed the same once, the average surprise being 27.54%.

McKesson MCK has an Earnings ESP of +1.22% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present. MCK has an estimated long-term growth rate of 10.4%.

McKesson’s earnings surpassed estimates in two of the trailing four quarters and missed the mark in the other two, the average surprise being 3.42%.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.

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McKesson Corporation (MCK) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Henry Schein, Inc. (HSIC) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (BIO) : Free Stock Analysis Report

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (WST) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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