Illumina Predicts 1Q Sales Will Trump Street

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) forecast first-quarter sales on Monday that will top expectations and earnings that will at least meet the Street's view.

The upbeat guidance comes a week after Swiss drug maker Roche sweetened its takeover bid for Illumina. Roche on Tuesday offered to buy the company for $51 a share, but Illumina advised shareholders at the time to take no action as it reviewed the bid.

The San Diego-based medical device maker sees revenue of $270 million for the current quarter, ahead of average analyst estimates of $257.4 million in a Thomson Reuters poll.

Earnings per share, excluding special items, will be at or above current estimates, the company said. Illumina will announce full quarterly results later this month.

“We are very pleased with our preliminary revenue results and the ability of the company to focus and execute this quarter,” CEO Jay Flatley said in a statement.

Illumina, which makes gene-sequencing machines, said its annualized HiSeq consumable pull-through grew to about $300,000 per instrument in the first quarter, which it called a “very encouraging trend.”