(Reuters) – IQVIA Holdings beat Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter sales and profit on Wednesday, on the back of strong demand for its drug research and development services.
Shares of IQVIA were up nearly 5% before the bell.
IQVIA’s quarterly results provide some relief about concerns of sluggish demand for contract research services as rising interest rates squeeze funding this year, prompting biotech clients to put some drug development programs on the backburner.
Last month, rival Thermo Fisher had flagged similar concerns for the year as slowing economic growth in China has crimped demand for contract research services and lab equipment.
The Durham, North Carolina-based company expects full-year adjusted profit to be between $10.95 and $11.25 per share, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $11.07, according to LSEG data.
Revenue from the research and development solutions segment – IQVIA’s largest – was $2.15 billion, beating analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion.
The unit’s book-to-bill ratio, which represents the number of orders received to those fulfilled, was 1.31x compared with 1.24x in the third quarter.
Technological & analytical solutions (TAS), IQVIA’s second largest unit through which it provides information and technology services to pharmaceutical and consumer health companies, reported revenue of $1.53 billion, above estimates of $1.48 billion.
The company’s CEO Ari Bousbib said the TAS segment continued to grow despite persistent client caution and lower spending levels.
IQVIA reported a 3.5% rise in revenue to $3.87 billion for the fourth quarter, beating analysts’ average estimate of $3.80 billion.On an adjusted basis, IQVIA reported a profit of $2.84 per share for the fourth quarter, above analysts’ average estimate of $2.82.
(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
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