Our Buyback Premium Portfolio has beaten the S&P 500 by more than 169% since its inception; the portfolio is up 249.74% since inception (August 2, 2000) vs. a gain of 79.74% in the S&P 500 over the same time frame, reports David Fried, editor of The Buyback Letter.
The latest addition to our portfolio is Hologic Inc. (HOLX). The medical technology company is primarily focused on improving women’s health through early detection and treatment (think breast, skeleton, gynecological surgical health, etc.).
But the current worldwide pandemic put the company in the news. In mid-March, the company’s molecular test for the novel Coronavirus got FDA emergency use authorization. The company’s Panther Fusion SARS-CoV-2 system can give results in less than three hours and process up to 1,150 Coronavirus tests in 24 hours.
Using this system, healthcare providers can test for SARS-CoV-2 from the same patient sample and collection vial that they currently use to diagnose other common respiratory viruses whose symptoms overlap with COVID-19, boosting efficiency and increasing clinical insight.
Hologic is one of the largest molecular diagnostic companies in the world. Even though the virus has upended global markets, analysts see growth potential in several medical stocks, including Hologic.
It was the first company to receive the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority’s (BARDA) funding for developing the Coronavirus detection test, and then obtained the emergency use authorization mentioned above.
For Q1, the company reported first-quarter fiscal 2020 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of 61 cents, up 5.2% year over year. Earnings of $1.43 per share reflected a surge of 297.2% from the year-ago quarter. Q2 results will be released at the end of this month.
The company was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Massachusetts. It has a market cap of about $12.4 billion. In the last 12 months, management has reduced shares outstanding by 9.616%.
