UPDATE: Quest Q1 Profit Drops 15%

Quest Diagnostics

reported a 15% drop in its first-quarter earnings. Quest's quarterly profit fell to $135.8 million, or $0.85 per share, from $159.1 million, or $0.99 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, its adjusted earnings from continuing operations declined to $0.89 per share from $1.05 per share. Its revenue declined 6.4% to $1.79 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.03 per share on revenue of $1.86 billion. Its operating margin narrowed to 12.7% from 15.6%. Quest shares closed at $58.35 yesterday.