Stericycle shares rise after adjusted 1Q beats Street

The stock gained $2.04, or 3.7 percent, to $56.85 during intraday trading.

For the period ended March 31, Lake Forest, Ill.-based Stericycle posted a profit of $31.7 million, or 35 cents per share, compared with a profit of $29.4 million, or 32 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Excluding one-time charges, including gains from an insurance settlement, Stericycle posted profit of $35 million, or 39 cents per share.

Revenue rose 21 percent to $254.8 million from $211 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial forecast, on average, earnings of 38 cents per share on revenue of $246.7 million. Analysts typically exclude one-time charges.

William Blair & Co. analyst Ryan Daniels praised the company's performance during the period and reiterated an "Outperform" rating.

"The consistency of the company's business model creates an impressive and durable business franchise, and we believe these results again highlight the consistency of the Stericycle model (an important investment merit given the current uncertainty in the U.S. economy)," Daniels said in a note to clients.

Dips in consumer spending at smaller Stericycle customers such as tattoo parlors and dentist offices are not likely to pressure Stericycle's growth because many of these businesses have contracts that are not affected by client volumes, he said.

Daniels raised his 2008 estimates to profit of $1.67 per share on revenue of $1.06 billion, compared with a previous estimate of $1.66 per share profit on revenue of $1.04 billion.