Why Is Bruker (BRKR) Up 2.3% Since the Last Earnings Report?

It has been about a month since the last earnings report for Bruker Corporation BRKR. Shares have added about 2.3% in that time frame, outperforming the market.

Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to the stock's next earnings release, or is it due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important drivers.

Recent Earnings

Bruker reported adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.23 in the second quarter of 2017, up 15% from the year-ago figure. Adjusted EPS also beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.20.

Excluding one-time adjustments, Bruker reported net income of $23.4 million or $0.15 per share in the second quarter, reflecting a 61.4% or 66.7% increase, respectively, from the year-ago quarter.

Revenues in Detail

Bruker reported revenues of $414.9 million in the second quarter, up 11.6% year over year. The top line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $381 million. Excluding a 5.8% positive effect from acquisitions and a 1.8% negative effect from changes in foreign currency rates, Bruker reported a year-over-year organic revenue growth of 7.6% in the second quarter of 2017. 

Geographically and currency adjusted, European revenues increased in the high single digits in the second quarter, backed by encouraging impacts of acquisitions. North America revenues increased in the low-single digits, led by growth in BEST along with the OST acquisition. In Asia Pacific, organic revenues rose by roughly 20%, driven by continued strong performance in China.

Per management, the company registered organic revenue growth based on mid-teens growth in CALID Group and strength in BEST.

The Bruker BioSpin Group reported mid single-digit revenue growth, led by growing uptake of lower-field NMR (Nuclear magnetic resonance).

The Bruker NANO reported declining year-over-year organic revenues in the second quarter, mainly due to lower revenues from semiconductor metrology products.

The Bruker CALID Group reported a year-over-year mid-teens revenue growth in second-quarter 2017. The upside was largely driven by increased rapifleX revenue and strong performances in consumables and aftermarket service sales.

BEST revenues rose a substantial 43% organically on a year-over-year basis, backed higher MRI OEM consumer demand and the Bruker-OST acquisition in Nov 2016.

Margin Trend

Gross margin in the reported quarter contracted 150 basis points (bps) to 44.2%. According to the company, adjusted gross margin declined 100 bps to 46.6% led by robust revenue growth in lower margin BEST business further affected by the acquisition of OST which together had an adverse impact of roughly 200 bps. Moreover, the BioSpin business witnessed a drop in margins year over year due to the product mix.

Selling, general & administrative expenses increased 1.9% to $102.8 million and research and development expenses rose 10.06% to $40.7 million from the year-ago period. The other charges declined 46.7% year over year to $6.4 million. Overall, operating margin expanded 260 bps to 8.1%.

Financial Position

Bruker exited second-quarter 2017 with cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments of $44.3 million, down from 464.5 million at the end of the first quarter. Year-to-date net cash provided by operating activities was $15.4 million, compared with $4.1 million in the year-ago period.

2017 Guidance

Bruker provided an update to its guidance for full-year 2017.

Total revenue growth rate expectation for the year has been significantly raised to a new band of 4.5–6.0% from the earlier 2–3.5%. Moreover, organic revenue growth guidance has been raised to 1.5–2% from 1–2% previously with continued acquisition growth expectations at 3.5–4% (unchanged).

Changes in foreign currency rates are expected to have an adverse impact on revenues of approximately 0.5-0% marking an improvement from 2.5% projected previously. The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2017 revenues is pegged at $1.67 billion.

The company also expects 2017 adjusted operating margin increase of approximately 40–70 bps year over year, unchanged from the previous guidance. This includes an approximate 40-bps headwind in fiscal 2017 from the recent acquisitions.  

On the bottom-line front, Bruker raised adjusted EPS projections to a new range of $1.08--$1.12 from $1.05–$1.09. The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2017 EPS is pegged at $1.10.

How have estimates been moving since then?

Following the release, investors have witnessed a downward trend in  fresh estimates. There has been one revision higher for the current quarter compared to five lower.

Bruker Corporation Price and Consensus

 

Bruker Corporation Price and Consensus | Bruker Corporation Quote

VGM Scores

At this time, Bruker's stock has a subpar Growth Score of D, however its momentum is doing a lot better with a B. The stock was allocated a grade of D on the value side, putting it in the bottom 40% for this investment strategy.

Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of D. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in.

The company's stock is suitable solely for momentum investors based on our style scores.

Outlook

Estimates have been broadly trending downward for the stock. The magnitude of this revision also indicates a downward shift. Notably, the stock has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect in-line returns from the stock in the next few months.

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