Craig-Hallum downgrades QuidelOrtho to Hold, cuts price target to $50

Craig-Hallum analyst Alexander Nowak downgraded QuidelOrtho to Hold from Buy with a price target of $50, down from $158. The firm says Q4 came in as one of the most surprising results it has seen in diagnostics in some time — and not in a pleasant way for shareholders. Much of the surprise came from January, where the picture for Q4 was painted as good. In reality, Q4 sales and EPS missed, while at the same time, 2024 was painted as an investment year with earnings effectively half of what the Street had modeled, Craig-Hallum notes. Overall, the firm points out Q4 was a problematic quarter for QuidelOrtho and 2024 does not look much better. The debt overhang is becoming a concern now and what investors need is hope that Respiratory’s range is set right, hope Savanna can hit its targets, and hope Labs remains strong, Craig-Hallum adds.