AZTA - Azenta surges 28% as FQ4 earnings climbs; plans $1.5B stock buyback program

Azenta ( NASDAQ: AZTA ) stock rose ~28% on Tuesday after FQ4 results beat estimates and the board approved a $1.5B stock buyback program.

Non-GAAP EPS grew +33.33% to $0.16. Total revenue was largely flat Y/Y to $137.57M.

"We achieved strong double-digit organic growth of 12% in the quarter and 17% in the fiscal year, excluding estimated COVID impacts. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022, we regained momentum in our genomics business and saw sustained strength in large-automated stores, which posted another record bookings quarter," said President and CEO Steve Schwartz.

Products revenue fell -19.15% Y/Y to $42.94M. The company said Life Sciences Products revenue declined 9% Y/Y mainly due to lower revenue in the consumables and instruments (C&I) business, partially offset by strong high-teens growth in its large-automated stores business.

Services revenue increased +12.88% Y/Y to $94.62M.

Azenta noted that Life Sciences Services revenue grew 6% Y/Y, with 9% growth in sample repository solutions (SRS) driven by revenue from stored samples and 6% growth in genomics driven by next-generation and sanger sequencing.

Buyback : The company's board approved a share repurchase authorization of $1.5B common stock.

Azenta intends to buy back at least $1B stock over the next year, including an accelerated share repurchase (ASR) program to repurchase ~$500M common stock.

The company intends to enter into an ASR agreement in the coming days.

Board : Tina S. Nova and Dorothy Puhy were nominated for election to the company's board at the 2023 annual general meeting. Current directors Mark Wrighton and Alfred Woollacott III intend to retire from the board and not run for re-election, the company added.

Outlook : For Q1 fiscal 2023, Azenta expects revenue to be between $175M and $190M; consensus revenue estimate is $181.81M (2 analysts).

The company expects non-GAAP EPS to be in the range of $0.08 to $0.16; consensus -$0.04 (1 analyst).

For the full year , Azenta expects total revenue to grow about 30%.

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