Illumina added to Evercore’s Tactical Outperform list on a potential CEO hire
Matteo Colombo
Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) traded higher in the pre-market Friday after Evercore ISI included the stock in the broker's Tactical Outperform list, citing a new CEO for the gene sequencing company in the near term.
The San Diego, California-based company's former CEO, Francis deSouza, resigned in June, and general counsel Charles Dadswell took over the leadership role on an interim basis while an executive search got underway to find a permanent replacement.
Noting that Illumina (ILMN) said in its Q2 earnings call that the company was encouraged by the quality of candidates it was considering, Evercore analyst Vijay Kumar expects a CEO addition over the next several weeks or months.
"New CEOs can be powerful catalysts for turnarounds," Kumar added, drawing parallels with Massachusetts-based life science company Waters Corporation (WAT).
WAT, which had been underperforming for several years, "had a phenomenal run" once the new CEO Udit Batra came on board, the analyst with an Outperform rating on the stock argued.
Noting that while the new CEO will have to grapple with a challenging macro setup, Kumar added that Illumina (ILMN) already reflects this concern, with its shares down ~10% since the second quarter compared to gains in rival tool makers.

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