Earnings preview: What to expect from IDEXX, WEX

File photos IDEXX Laboratories Inc. will release fourth-quarter and full-year results on Monday, while WEX Inc. will report on Thursday.

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By Renee Cordes

Maine's two biggest publicly traded companies will report fourth-quarter results this week, and both are expected to report an increase in revenues and earnings.

First up is IDEXX Laboratories Inc. (Nasdaq: IDXX), a Westbrook-based animal diagnostic and health care company that's due to release its report Monday before the market opens.

Similar to the third quarter when results exceeded expectations, IDEXX is expected to post a stronger fourth-quarter performance over the same period a year earlier.

Analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research are expecting quarterly earnings of $1.92 a share, which is 1.6% higher than a year earlier, along with a 1.8% jump in quarterly revenues to $815.7 million.

Besides quarterly earnings and revenue figures, investors and analysts will be looking at whether IDEXX makes any further tweaks to its full-year financial outlook, which the company downgraded in October on currency headwinds.

IDEXX shares have a current market value of around $41.8 billion, based on Thursday's close of $504.22 on the Nasdaq exchange. The stock has lost 6.4% of its value over the past year.

WEX

WEX Inc. (NYSE: WEX), a financial technology service provider based in Portland, will release fourth-quarter results on Thursday.

In its third-quarter report card last October, the company posted record revenue and raised its full-year financial guidance.

For the fourth quarter, WEX is expected to post a 24.4% jump in earnings per share to $3.21 and a 15.3% rise in revenue to $573.53 million, according to the Zacks consensus forecast.

The company has made no further announcements about job cuts since October's decision to shed 150 global positions, including 30 in Maine, so any updates on staffing will be of interest.

WEX shares closed at $190.59 in New York on Thursday, valuing the company at $8.31 billion. The stock is trading 21.5% higher than a year ago.