IQVIA Holdings Inc.


IQV

reported solid fourth-quarter 2020 results, wherein the company’s earnings and revenues surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Adjusted earnings per share of $2.11 beat the consensus mark by 5% and improved 21.3% on a year-over-year basis. The reported figure was above the guided range of $1.93-$2.03.

Total revenues of $3.29 billion outpaced the consensus estimate by 4.7% and increased 13.9% year over year on a reported basis and 12.2% on a constant-currency basis. The reported figure came above the guided range of $3.04-$3.19 billion.

Over the past year, shares of IQVIA Holdings have gained 14.9% compared with 20.6% surge of the

industry

it belongs to and 18.9% rally of the Zacks S&P 500 composite.

Let’s check out the numbers in detail:

Segmental Revenues

Revenues from Technology & Analytics Solutions totaled $1.43 billion, up 17.4% on a reported basis and 15.1% on a constant-currency basis.

Research & Development Solutions’ revenues of $1.68 billion increased 14.5% on a reported basis and 13.2% on a constant-currency basis.

Revenues from Contract Sales & Medical Solutions totaled $189 million, down 10% on a reported and 11.9% on a constant-currency basis.

Operating Performance

Adjusted EBITDA was $735 million, up 14.5% year over year. Adjusted EBITDA margin grew to 22.3% from 22.2% in the year-ago quarter.

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow

IQVIA exited fourth-quarter 2020 with cash and cash equivalents balance of $1.81 billion compared with $1.46 billion at the end of the prior quarter. Long-term debt was $12.4 billion compared with $12.2 billion at the end of the prior quarter.

The company generated $750 million of cash from operating activities in the reported quarter and CapEx was $176 million.

During the reported quarter, IQVIA repurchased 102 million shares for $423 million. As of Dec 31, 2020, the company had nearly $918 million of share-repurchase authorization remaining.

First-Quarter 2021 Guidance

IQVIA expects first-quarter revenues in the range of $3.15-$3.20 billion. The current Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.02 billion lies below the guidance.

Adjusted earnings per share are expected to be between $1.81 and $1.87. The current Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.77 lies below the guidance.

Adjusted EBITDA is anticipated between $660 million and $675 million.

2021 Guidance

For full-year 2021, IQVIA now expects revenues in the range of $12.55-$12.90 billion compared with the prior guidance of $12.3-$12.6 billion. The current Zacks Consensus Estimate of $12.50 billion lies below the guidance.

Adjusted earnings per share are expected to be between $7.77 and $8.08 compared with the prior guidance of $7.65-$7.95. The current Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.85 lies within the guidance.

Adjusted EBITDA is anticipated to be between $2.760 billion and $2.840 billion compared with the prior guidance of $2.725-$2.800 billion.

Currently, IQVIA carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see


the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here


.

Performance of Other Business Services Companies

Rollins

’

ROL

fourth-quarter 2020 adjusted earnings of 13 cents per share came ahead of the consensus estimate as well as the year-ago figure by 18.2%. Revenues of $536.3 million beat the consensus mark by 1.7% and improved 6% year over year.

IHS Markit

’s

INFO

fourth-quarter fiscal 2020 adjusted earnings per share of 72 cents beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 7.5% and increased 11% on a year-over-year basis. Total revenues came in at $1.11 billion, marginally missing the consensus mark and declining 1% from the year-ago quarter on a reported basis.

Automatic Data Processing

’s

ADP

second-quarter fiscal 2021 adjusted earnings per share of $1.52 beat the consensus mark by 17.8% and were flat year over year. Total revenues of $3.69 billion beat the consensus mark by 3.2% and improved 0.7% year over year.

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