DURHAM, N.C. - Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE), a global contract research organization, reported a disappointing first quarter with both earnings and revenue falling short of Wall Street expectations.
The company's adjusted loss per share was -$0.04, significantly below the analyst estimate of $0.19. Revenue also missed the mark, coming in at $662.1 million against the consensus estimate of $776 million. Following the report, shares dropped by 5.9%.
In comparison to the same period last year, Fortrea's revenue declined from $693.9 million, marking a decrease of approximately 4.6% YoY. The company's GAAP net loss widened to $81.6 million, a stark contrast to the GAAP net income of $7.3 million reported in the first quarter of 2023. The adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $29.5 million, down from $41.7 million YoY.
Tom Pike, chairman and CEO of Fortrea, acknowledged the challenges stemming from the company's 2023 spin-out but remained optimistic about the demand for their services and the company's operational soundness. He emphasized the company's focus on creating momentum through the remainder of the year and the progress being made in divesting the Endpoint Clinical and Patient Access businesses.
Looking ahead, Fortrea provided full-year 2024 revenue guidance in the range of $2.785 billion to $2.855 billion, which falls short of the analyst consensus of $3.08 billion. The midpoint of this guidance range, $2.82 billion, is well below the consensus estimate. The adjusted EBITDA guidance for the year is set between $240.0 million and $260.0 million.
The company's financial results have been updated to reflect continuing operations only and revised anticipated performance, considering foreign currency exchange rates as of December 31, 2023. Fortrea's backlog stood at $7.4 billion as of March 31, 2024, with a book-to-bill ratio of 1.11x for the quarter, signaling a healthy pipeline of future business.
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