Is Express Scripts 2015 Guidance Good Enough For All-Time Highs?

Health and Healthcare

Published: February 23, 2015 4:45 pm

After the markets closed Monday, Express Scripts Holding Company (NASDAQ: ESRX) reported its fourth-quarter financial results as $1.39 in earnings per share (EPS) and $26.31 billion in revenue. This is compared to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates of $1.38 in EPS and $25.68 billion in revenue. The same period from the previous year had $1.12 in EPS on $25.78 billion in revenue.

Express Scripts gave guidance for both the first quarter and the 2015 full year, it expects between 1.28 billion to 1.32 billion adjusted claims for the full year and a range of 295 million to 325 million for the first quarter. Express Scripts expects EPS to be in a range of $1.07 to $1.11 for the first quarter compared to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates of $1.16 in EPS and $24.53 billion in revenue.

Fourth quarter net cash flow from operating activities was $2.92 billion and the Express Scripts repurchased 10.1 million shares of common stock for $819.5 million during this quarter.

Express Scripts also announced that John O. Parker, Jr. retired from its Board of Directors on February 18, primarily due to health reasons.

George Paz, Chairman and CEO of Express Scripts, said:

While we are proud of our heritage and the work we have done for clients, we are even more excited about the future we have ahead of us. We believe our growth and focused acquisition approach has positioned us uniquely in the healthcare services landscape to improve health outcomes and lower cost in an aligned model that keeps our clients and patients first, but also returns exceptional results to our shareholders.

As you might remember, Express Scripts partnered with AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) to exclusively distribute its Hepatitis C vaccine (HCV) in effort to take over some of Gilead’s market share.

It is also worth noting the Express Scripts’ stock hit a new all-time high in trading at $86.87 on Monday.

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Shares of Express Scripts closed Monday up 0.7% at $86.72. In after-hours trading, shares were up 2.5% at $88.84. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $88.93 and a 52-week trading range of $64.64 to $86.87.

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