IQVIA (IQV) Rides on Global IT Infrastructure, Debt Remains High
IQVIA Holdings Inc. IQV is currently benefiting from strong clinical development capabilities and global IT infrastructure.
The company recently reported solid fourth-quarter 2021 results with adjusted earnings per share of $2.55, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.9% and improving 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. Total revenues of $3.64 billion outpaced the consensus estimate by 1.2% and increased 10.2% year over year.
IQV’s shares have appreciated 19.5% over the past year against a 59.8% decline of the industry it belongs to.
IQVIA Holdings Inc. Price
IQVIA Holdings Inc. price | IQVIA Holdings Inc. Quote
How is IQVIA Doing?
IQVIA has an enormous treasure trove of healthcare information — around 56 petabytes of proprietary data sourced from about 150,000 data suppliers. The company delivers information and insights on roughly 85% of the world’s pharmaceuticals. IQVIA’s unique ability to standardize, organize and integrate this information through applying sophisticated analytics and global technology infrastructure helps it build a strong client base.
A set of robust capabilities places IQVIA strongly in the life sciences space and positions it well to make most of the market opportunities. The company has a strong healthcare-specific global IT infrastructure, analytics-driven clinical development capabilities, a robust real-world solutions ecosystem and a growing set of proprietary clinical and commercial applications that allow it to grow and retain relationships with healthcare stakeholders. The company’s combined offerings of research and development and commercial services have been helping it develop trusted relationships with its clients, resulting in a diversified base of more than 10,000 clients in above 100 countries.
IQVIA’s addressable market size is more than $200 billion and consists of outsourced research and development, real-world evidence and connected health and technology-enabled clinical and commercial operations markets. The company aims to expand into and penetrate these markets by innovating new offerings and improving its existing ones using its information resources, advanced analytics, transformative technology and significant domain expertise.
Meanwhile, IQVIA has more long-term debt outstanding than cash. Cash and cash equivalent balance at the end of fourth-quarter 2021 was $1.4 billion compared with the long-term debt level of $12 billion. The cash level, however, can meet the short-term debt of $91 million.
Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider
IQV carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), at present.
Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Business Services sector that investors may consider are Cross Country Healthcare CCRN, Accenture ACN and Clean Harbors CLH.
Cross Country Healthcare sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). The company has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 6.6%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Cross Country Healthcare delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 41.5%, on average. CCRN’s shares have surged 81.5% in the past year.
Accenture carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). The company has an expected earnings growth rate of 19.8% for the current year. It delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 5.3%, on average.
Accenture’s shares have soared 22.5% in the past year. The company has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 10%.
Clean Harbors’ carries a Zacks Rank #1. The company pulled off a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 43.2%, on average.
CLH’s shares have jumped 9.9% in the past year.
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