Shares of Fullerton medical testing company Beckman Coulter Inc. rose Friday after an analyst upgraded it.
Beckman shares were up about 11% near the close of New York trading with a market value of about $4 billion.
Analyst Quintin Lai of Robert W. Baird & Co., a Milwaukee investment bank, raised his rating on Beckman to “outperform” from “neutral.”
Lai, in a report, said that he expected that Beckman will get a boost from its $800 million buy of Olympus Corp.’s laboratory diagnostic testing business, a deal that’s set to close on Monday.
The Olympus deal should add $19.6 million to $32.9 million to Beckman’s 2010 profits, Lai wrote.
Lai said that Beckman said it expected its sales to grow 8% to 10% in the second half of 2009, excluding foreign currency impact.
Lai noted that Beckman is keeping its costs under control.
Earlier this year, Chief Executive Scott Garrett and other Beckman officials said the company was committed to “zero overhead growth” in 2009 through steps such as suspending pay hikes and reducing the workforce through attrition.
Lai upgraded Beckman after the company reported on Thursday a second-quarter profit that beat analysts’ expectations and upped its full-year guidance.
Beckman’s $60.8 million profit beat Wall Street’s $51.3 million projection.
For 2009, Beckman expects profits to come in at $238.1 million to $247.7 million, versus analysts’ forecast of $240 million.
