Hi-Tech Pharmacal Co., Inc. (HITK) enjoyed a strong performance from generic pharmaceuticals in its fiscal first quarter, leading to a sharp earnings surprise and large revenue growth.

With a gain of only around 3.8%, HITK is a top-performing Zacks #1 Rank company today. Volume is at 514,000, versus the daily average of 586,000.

HITK is a specialty pharmaceutical company developing, manufacturing and marketing generic and branded prescription and OTC products. It specializes in difficult-to-manufacture liquid and semi-solid dosage forms and produces a range of sterile ophthalmic, otic and inhalation products.

The company is part of the Medical-Generic Drugs industry. There is only 1 other name from that space on today’s 218-stock Zacks #1 Rank List, and that is Impax Laboratories, Inc. (IPXL).

Strong Fiscal First Quarter

In early September, HITK released its fiscal first quarter report, which included earnings per share of 61 cents that beat the consensus by nearly 240%. (This was the company’s second straight quarterly surprise in the triple digits.) The result also marked a sharp advance over a year-ago loss of 17 cents.

Net sales jumped by 175% to $43.5 million, compared to $15.8 million last year.

While HITK experienced growth in all of its segments, the big star was generic pharmaceuticals. Net sales for the segment soared 193% to $36.7 million, against the year-ago result of $12.5 million. This gain was attributed to recent product launches, such as glaucoma treatments Dorzolamide and Timolol ophthalmic solution and Dorzolomide ophthalmic solution.

Furthermore, its Health Care Products division, which markets the company’s OTC-branded products, saw sales increase 13% to nearly $2.1 million, thanks to higher sales of Diabetic Tussin. Meanwhile, ECR Pharmaceuticals, a division acquired in February 2009 that markets branded prescription products, participated with $3.25 million to sales in the quarter.

Earnings Estimate

There is currently only 1 analyst covering HITK. Nevertheless, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the year ending April 2010 is up 60% over the past month to $1.42 per share.

Zacks Investment Research
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