Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of PAREXEL International Corp. (PRXL), a biopharmaceutical outsourcing services and consulting company, dipped as much as 18% after reporting its first-quarter earnings results last night after the closing bell.
So what: For the quarter, PAREXEL delivered nearly 14% revenue growth, to $529 million, with clinical research revenue still providing the bulk of its sales, at $332.6 million. Adjusted earnings of $0.45 also showed a marked increase (up 55%) from the previous year, meeting the Street's expectations. The reason PAREXEL is being creamed has to do with a major miss in new bookings, which totaled just $394 million versus expectations of more than $540 million. PAREXEL essentially left its fiscal 2014 guidance unchanged, calling for $1.95-$2.11 in EPS, and $1.89 billion to $1.92 billion in revenue.
Now what: This is a company that, on paper, should be absolutely raking in profits. Clinical outsourcing is the perfect way for big pharmaceutical and medical device companies to save money and time, especially with Obamacare rapidly transforming the health-care landscape. However, we're also seeing that tighter government spending is going to be a serious problem for PAREXEL. New orders for the company have fallen in five straight quarters according to Investors Business Daily, and that probably has a lot to do with austerity measures being implemented in the U.S. and Europe. With research grant money that's used to run clinical trials getting harder to come by, PAREXEL may find its top-line growth rate slowing, especially in its clinical research operations, which could put a damper on any potential for a rebound anytime soon.
