For most investors, how much a stock's price changes over time is important. This factor can impact your investment portfolio as well as help you compare investment results across sectors and industries.
The fear of missing out, or FOMO, also plays a factor in investing, especially with particular tech giants, as well as popular consumer-facing stocks.
What if you'd invested in Idexx Laboratories (IDXX) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to IDXX for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?
Idexx Laboratories' Business In-Depth
With that in mind, let's take a look at Idexx Laboratories' main business drivers.
Headquartered in Westbrook, ME, IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. is a developer, manufacturer and distributor of products and services primarily for the companion animal veterinary, livestock and poultry, water testing and dairy markets. The company also sells a series of portable electrolytes and blood gas analyzers for the human point-of-care medical diagnostics market.
IDEXX operates through four segments:
Companion Animal Group (CAG) (91.7% of revenues in 2024, up 1.0% from 2023): This segment provides veterinarians with diagnostic capabilities and information management solutions that enhance the health and well-being of pets. The complementary nature of these products and services provides a unique competitive advantage known as the IDEXX Diagnostic Advantage, providing vets with the tools and services necessary to offer advanced veterinary medical care.
Water (4.7%, up 2.2%): Through this segment, IDEXX provides innovative testing solutions for easy, rapid and accurate detection and quantification of various microbiological parameters in water, helping ensure water safety for people worldwide.
Livestock, Poultry and Dairy (LPD) (3.1%, down 6.0%): Within this segment, IDEXX provides diagnostic tests and related instrumentation required to manage the health status of livestock and poultry to improve bovine reproductive efficiency and ensure the quality and safety of milk and food. These products are purchased by the government and private laboratories that provide testing services to cattle, swine and poultry veterinarians, producers and processors.
Other (0.4%, down 20.0%): The company’s OPTI Medical operating segment has been combined and presented with the remaining pharmaceutical product line and the out-licensing arrangements in an ‘Other’ category, primarily because they do not meet the quantitative or qualitative thresholds for reportable segments.
Bottom Line
Putting together a successful investment portfolio takes a combination of research, patience, and a little bit of risk. For Idexx Laboratories, if you bought shares a decade ago, you're likely feeling really good about your investment today.
A $1000 investment made in August 2015 would be worth $8,443.74, or a 744.37% gain, as of August 12, 2025, according to our calculations. Investors should note that this return excludes dividends but includes price increases.
The S&P 500 rose 205.82% and the price of gold increased 186.36% over the same time frame in comparison.
Analysts are forecasting more upside for IDXX too.
IDEXX's robust strategic execution is highlighted by new business gains, high customer retention levels and solid net price realization. This underscores the consistent growth in the CAG international business, supported by volume gains and global premium instrument placements. The company's software solutions are facilitating growth by enhancing clinic workflows and promoting greater utilization of diagnostics. Also, the consumable business boosts its top line. Meanwhile, IDEXX's debt-burdened balance sheet raises concern. The company's wide global presence makes it vulnerable to currency fluctuations. Meanwhile, broader macroeconomic issues are slowing its operations.
The stock has jumped 22.71% over the past four weeks. Additionally, no earnings estimate has gone lower in the past two months, compared to 7 higher, for fiscal 2025; the consensus estimate has moved up as well.
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IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (IDXX): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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