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Gene Testers Illumina, Myriad Genetics Tumble On Quarterly Earnings

Leading genetic-analysis companies Illumina ( ILMN ) and Myriad Genetics ( MYGN ) both suffered on Wall Street Wednesday — temporarily, in the case of the former — after they issued disappointing guidance late Tuesday. Illumina had already prepared investors for pain last month when it pre-announced Q1 sales and cut its revenue guidance, citing weakness in its lower-end systems and in Europe. On Tuesday its bottom line disappointed as well , dropping 22% from the year-earlier quarter to 74 cents, which was 3 cents shy of analysts’ consensus. It also guided Q2 revenue below consensus, at $590 million to $595 million, and whacked 20 cents of its full-year EPS guidance, now $3.35 to $3.45. Illumina’s management said on the conference call with analysts that demand is still strong and it has a good order backlog, but operational issues have been plaguing financials. A number of Q1 orders failed to translate into revenue due to deferrals and there were problems with European operations which Illumina says it’s addressing. The GRAIL project announced in January, aimed at creating a blood test for all cancers, also turned out to be more dilutive to 2016 earnings than expected. Several analysts cut their price targets on the stock. “While we acknowledge that the myriad of issues Illumina management recited are all valid and understandable, history teaches us that fast turnarounds are rare and in the case of a growth company are normally accompanied by a new product launch or major new application,” Evercore ISI analyst Ross Muken wrote in a research note, cutting the price target to 142 from 165 while maintaining a hold rating. Leerink analyst Dan Leonard expressed similar concerns. “Our market perform rating on Illumina’s stock reflects a view that the company needs to meaningfully exceed revenue expectations for the stock to work, and we don’t see a driver for these types of revenue beats,” wrote Leerink’s Dan Leonard as he cut his target to 145 from 165 and kept his market perform rating. “Second half (forecast) assumes a meaningful acceleration to full-year guide, and we have less visibility on this acceleration than we’d like.” What are the funds doing with Illumina’s stock? Find out at IBD Stock Checkup! Mizuho analyst Eric Criscuolo cut his price target to 138 from 150 while maintaining a hold rating. Canaccord Genuity analyst Mark Massaro cut his target to 140 from 160, after downgrading the stock to hold in February. “Our concerns on the stock remain its premium valuation, slowing top line and accelerating rate of spend to sustain growth,” Massaro wrote in his research note. Illumina stock dropped 5% in early trading on the stock market today , but in midday trading it was up a fraction, near 133. Myriad Guides Negative Q4 Growth Myriad Genetics, meanwhile, beat estimates in its most recent quarter, but the guidance caused consternation. Myriad’s fiscal Q3 earnings rose 2% over the year-earlier quarter to 41 cents a share, beating consensus by 3 cents. Revenue climbed 6% to $190.5 million, almost $6 million above analysts’ estimate. Myriad’s revenue guidance for the current quarter, at $186 million to $188 million, missed Wall Street’s expectation of a slight increase over the year-ago number of $189.9 million. EPS guidance of 36 to 38 cents was on the low side of analysts’ 38-cent average and below last year’s 41 cents. Leerink’s Leonard wrote that the Q3 beat was driven by nonrecurring items: “(1) an one-time $2 million retrospective payment from Medicare for Prolaris, and (2) large contracts received in the Pharmaceutical and Clinical Services business ($3 million incremental revenue),” he wrote in his note cutting the price target to 41 from 44. “Adjusted EPS of $0.41 beat our consensuslike estimate of $0.38 mainly due to a lower tax rate.” At the same time, Leonard doubted the sustainability of the prices of Myriad’s tests for genes related to cancer, which account for 85% of its business. Myriad’s stock took a hit on April 19 on news that the Medicare administrative contractor responsible for Myriad’s and Invitae ‘s ( NVTA ) cancer tests had priced a hereditary breast-cancer panel code at $622.23, less than a third of what Myriad charges for its BRCA code. Myriad stock was down more than 6% midday Wednesday, touching an eight-month low of 35.76.

Apple Hires Former Google X Lab Leader For Health Care Push

Apple ( AAPL ) continues to bring in more engineering talent amid a fall for its stock. The company has reportedly hired Yoky Matsuoka, most recently head of technology at Google’s Nest, to work on health science projects. Matsuoka, a robotics expert, co-founded Google’s experimental Google X lab in 2009 before joining Nest. While Nest has been struggling, Matsuoka left the smart house company last year before negative media reports surfaced. A Fortune report says Matsuoka will work on Apple’s HealthKit, ResearchKit and Carekit software projects. Apple last month hired Chris Porritt, who had been Tesla ’s ( TSLA ) vice president of vehicle engineering. He will work on Titan, Apple’s car project, reports say. Google restructured last year, creating  Alphabet ( GOOGL ) as the umbrella company over its main company, Google, and over its far-flung investments, known internally as “Other Bets.” Google bought Nest Labs for $3.2 billion in early 2014. Nest, a maker of web-connected devices, then acquired Dropcam for $555 million in cash. Nest CEO Tony Fadell has come under pressure as top executives leave. As a senior vice president at Apple before co-founding Nest in 2008, Fadell helped developed the iPod. Former Dropcam CEO Greg Duffy and other employees recently left Nest. Nest also has parted ways with its director of hardware design and engineering, Shige Honjo, said Re/code .

3D Printer Market Braces For Earnings From 3D Systems Amid Tumult

3D Systems ( DDD ) is set to report first-quarter earnings Thursday, followed by rival Stratasys ( SSYS ) next Monday, likely providing a clearer indication of whether the runup in both stocks this year — or the more recent downturn — is justified. The consensus on 3D Systems is for revenue of $156.3 million, down 3% year over year, and earnings per share minus items of 5 cents, flat, as polled by Thomson Reuters. Shares of 3D Systems and Stratasys were hammered in 2015, as both posted quarter after quarter of disappointing earnings and sales. Stratasys stock, however, has nearly doubled since hitting a six-year low of 14.88 three months ago, and 3D Systems has more than doubled since hitting a five-year low of 6 three months ago. Both stocks, though, have faded in the past week. And 3D Systems shares were near 15, down 3%, in midday trading in the stock market today . Stratasys stock, too, was down nearly 3% midday Wednesday, near 22. The rise of both stocks most of this year was partly fueled by Q4 earnings from both companies that beat expectations, raising hopes the top-two 3D printer makers are poised for a rebound. But 3D Systems and Stratasys executives took a cautious tone about the road ahead. 3D Systems got a bounce when it announced Vyomesh Joshi as CEO on April 4. Joshi had been executive vice president of the imaging and printing business of HP Inc. ( HPQ ), formerly part of Hewlett-Packard before its split. HP plans to enter the 3D printer market this year. Needham analyst James Ricchiuti last week lowered his rating on 3D Systems to hold from buy, “as shares might be pricing in too much,” he wrote. “Notwithstanding solid sequential improvement in Q4 from the publicly traded 3D printing companies, we believe business remains challenging, compounded by the normal seasonal weakness experienced in the March quarter,” Ricchiuti wrote. 3D printer makers  ExOne ( XONE ) and Voxeljet ( VJET ) are set to report earnings on May 11 and May 13, respectively, both before the market open.