Wednesday, IDEXX Laboratories Inc (NASDAQ:IDXX) reported first-quarter adjusted EPS of $2.81, up 10% Y/Y, beating the consensus of $2.67. The company reported sales of $964 million, an increase of 7% as reported and organic, missing the consensus of $966.13 million. The revenue growth was driven by Companion Animal Group (CAG) growth of 7% as reported and organic, and Water revenue growth of 11% as reported and organic. IDEXX revenue gains were net of an estimated 0.5% – 1% negative growth rate impact from severe U.S. weather in January. The gross margin of 61.5% increased by 120 basis points as reported and ~110 basis points on a comparable basis, supported by benefits from the business mix, lower instrument costs, and improvement in gross margins of software service. Operating margin was 31.0% for the quarter, 10 basis points lower than ...