Healthcare Sector Ideas

[gfp927z]

Icon Plc (ICLR) - >>> Flexibility is the key for Icon


https://www.fool.com/investing/2023/03/25/2-clinical-research-stocks-that-could-grow-by-more/?source=eptyholnk0000202&utm_source=yahoo-host&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=article


Icon has roughly 41,000 employees across 111 locations in 53 countries. The company has increased annual revenue by 479% over the past decade and doesn't seem to be slowing down. Over the same period, net income rose 392%, despite a massive drop during the pandemic years, and seems to have recovered fully.

For 2022, Icon's revenue rose by an impressive 41% from the previous year, to $7.7 billion. The company also saw a massive improvement in earnings, with diluted earnings per share (EPS) clocking in at $6.13, from $2.25 in 2021, a mouth-watering 172% increase.

The company's successful One Search Tool, which uses artificial intelligence to determine ideal trial locations, has helped it grow the business. A bigger key has been the company's flexibility. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, it will provide full-scale CRO services or a hybrid model, depending on the company.

This year, Icon's management guided revenue to grow between 2.6% to 7.7% to the range of $7.94 billion to $8.34 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of 2.6% to 7.7%.

With net income growth on the road to full recovery (as seen in the above chart), Wall Street analysts expect Icon to generate 14% earnings growth annually over the next five years. If the stock's price-to-sales ratio of 2.2, and price-to-earning ratio of 34 -- both relatively inexpensive from a historical standpoint -- remain constant, a 10% rise in the stock price should easily happen this year.

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