Bank of America Comments on Failure of Hill-Rom Holdings to Meet Expectations

Bank of America has published a report on Hill-Rom Holdings HRC after results failed to meet expectations for the medical technology manufacturer. In the report, Bank of America wrote, "HRC reported a very surprising Q3 miss on both the top and bottom line. After reiterating full year guidance at its analyst day in late May, HRC reported Q3 revenues of $385mm (4% cc growth) versus consensus of $391mm and reported EPS of $0.47 (also 4% growth) versus consensus of $0.54. The revenue miss was driven entirely by weakness in Europe, with International revenues declining 12% CC and coming in $11mm below our estimate, offset by US results that were slightly above expectations (US bed sales again grew at 20%+). By our math, however, the OUS revenue accounted for only $0.01 of the $0.07 EPS miss, with the majority of the EPS miss coming from lower than expected margins." Bank of America rated Hill-Rom Holdings a Medium Volatility BUY with a price target of $48.00. Hill-Rom Holdings closed Wednesday at $43.88.