Quidel Corporation Stock Upgraded (QDEL)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Quidel Corporation (Nasdaq:QDEL) has been upgraded by TheStreet Ratings from hold to buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, compelling growth in net income, good cash flow from operations and expanding profit margins. Although no company is perfect, currently we do not see any significant weaknesses which are likely to detract from the generally positive outlook.

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• The revenue growth came in higher than the industry average of 8.0%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues rose by 21.1%. This growth in revenue appears to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, improving the earnings per share.
• QDEL's debt-to-equity ratio is very low at 0.27 and is currently below that of the industry average, implying that there has been very successful management of debt levels. To add to this, QDEL has a quick ratio of 2.31, which demonstrates the ability of the company to cover short-term liquidity needs.
• The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has significantly exceeded that of the S&P 500 and the Health Care Equipment & Supplies industry. The net income increased by 324.9% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from -$0.43 million to $0.96 million.
• Net operating cash flow has significantly increased by 323.34% to $13.11 million when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, QUIDEL CORP has also vastly surpassed the industry average cash flow growth rate of -3.21%.
• The gross profit margin for QUIDEL CORP is rather high; currently it is at 55.50%. It has increased from the same quarter the previous year. Despite the strong results of the gross profit margin, QDEL's net profit margin of 2.50% significantly trails the industry average.

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Quidel Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets diagnostic testing solutions for applications in infectious diseases, women's health, and gastrointestinal diseases. The company has a P/E ratio of 77.6, above the average drugs industry P/E ratio of 74.9 and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Quidel has a market cap of $497.5 million and is part of the health care sector and drugs industry. Shares are up 20.6% year to date as of the close of trading on Wednesday.

You can view the full Quidel Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.
-- Written by a member of TheStreet RatingsStaff

For more information on Quidel Corporation click any of the following:

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