Stifel maintains its buy recommendation on the stock with a target price of €25 after the group's trading update.

bioMérieux published its Q3 results this morning, with a 3% decline in revenue.

Although these include a 50-to-100 basis point reduction in revenue growth, with the consensus having been reduced by 100bp, the reiteration of EBIT growth forecasts suggests that EPS estimates are unlikely to change significantly, Stifel says.

According to the analyst, the market could initially take a very cautious stance on seasonal trends in respiratory illnesses, and the stock could fall more than the decline in revenue (approximately 3%).

"We believe that performance will then depend on the conference call's ability to explain that the integrated forecasts are conservative," Stifel adds in conclusion.