Pall Corp. Shares Rally as Q4 Results Beat Estimates (PLL)

Shares of Pall Corp. (NYSE: PLL) surged in trading today after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results, driven by an increase in pharmaceutical and aerospace sales.

Pall, which supplies filtration, separation and purification technologies, reported fourth-quarter net income of $86.2 million, or $0.73 per share, compared to $97.4 million, or $0.82 per share reported for the same period in the previous year. Excluding one-time items, the company reported earnings of $0.86 per share, compared to Street estimates of $0.77 per share.

PLL’s revenue for the fourth quarter was $783.7 million, compared to $780.4 million reported for the same period in the previous year. The company’s sales from continuing operations were $722.4 million in the fourth quarter.

Larry Kingley, President and CEO of Pall Corp., said that PLL executed a solid fourth quarter. Kingsley further said that the company focused almost exclusively on restoring customer service levels and has recovered from the ERP implementation challenges in the third quarter of FY12.

Kingsley said that PLL’s Biopharmaceutical, Machinery & Equipment, and Aerospace markets all performed very well in the quarter and on a regional basis, the Americas had strong growth while Europe and Asia were flat. Kingsley added that consumable orders were strong globally with the exception of the company’s Industrial markets in Europe, where orders fell 7% on a year-over-year basis.

Looking forward, Kingsley said that the market environment is mixed and the company anticipates challenges within its European Industrial markets, slower than previously expected global semiconductor end markets, and moderating growth in some emerging markets.

For fiscal 2013, PLL expects pro forma EPS to be between $3.05 per share and $3.25 per share.

PLL shares rose to an intra-day high of $63.19 in trading today before finishing the day 7.96% higher at $62.80 on above average volume of 4.35 million.

Year-to-date, PLL shares have gained 9.89%, underperforming the S&P 500.