Idexx reported strong growth in revenue and income for the third quarter of the year, sending its stock price higher Thursday.

The Westbrook-based company said a rebound in pet health care spending helped drive an increase in revenue of 19 percent, to $722 million, for the quarter ending Sept. 30.

Sales in its Companion Animal Group Diagnostics business drove revenues in that group up 23 percent, the company said, and revenues from its livestock, poultry and dairy diagnostics business were up 18 percent.

Revenues from the company’s human testing for COVID-19 contributed about 1 percent to the growth in revenues for the quarter, the company said.

Earnings per share were $1.69 for the quarter, Idexx said, an increase of 36 percent over the same period a year ago.

Idexx said the growth in spending on companion care represented a V-shaped recovery from a drop in people seeking veterinary care for their companion animals earlier in the year as the pandemic spread. In the U.S., clinical visit growth was up 6 percent in the third quarter and that has continued into the fall, the company said, with visits up 5 percent in the first two weeks of October compared with last year.

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Idexx said the trends were “encouraging” and show the resilience of the pet health care market, but it cautioned that it’s difficult to predict if the growth will continue due to the pandemic, which “may pressure future revenues should enhanced social distancing policies and higher infection rates impact veterinary clinic operations in certain regions.”

The company said that its overall growth was offset by lower orders for companion animal group instruments and a drop-off in revenues from its water testing business, with both categories likely impacted by the pandemic.

The company specializes in pet, livestock and poultry diagnostics and water and milk quality testing.

Idexx’s stock rose $18.91 a share Thursday, closing up nearly 5 percent at $441.80 a share.


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