Canaccord Fireside Chat Takeaways For Abaxis, Heska

Canaccord, which rates Abaxis Inc ABAX Hold and isn't covering Heska Corp HSKA, has provided key takeaways from management meetings with both companies.

Analyst Mark Massaro said Abaxis is encouraged at the pacing of its hematology instrument rollout to Banfield and is on track to complete shipping to about 900 clinics by the end of September.

Over the next 12 months, Abaxis said its growth drivers include: "(1) launching Fuse in September 2016, (2) uptake on the VUE platform, and (3) expanding its international infrastructure to drive growth OUS."

On the other hand, Heska's strategy is enabling vet clinics to save money, with a unique "no frills" approach to placing boxes on the cheap and signing customers to long-term contracts.

CEO Wilson emphasized to Canaccord analysts that veterinary clinics are still very much a "mom and pop" industry, and cost savings to vets resonate loudly, particularly in smaller clinics.

Meanwhile, the Buy-rated IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. IDXX is holding its analyst day on August 17 and 18 at its headquarters.

"Sentiment nearly always moves higher out of the IDEXX Analyst Day, and we wouldn't be surprised if this happens again; however, we acknowledge that without material new updates, the Analyst Day could serve as a bit of a risk event for the company," Massaro wrote in a note.

The analyst believes the Idexx's primary areas of focus will be on new products, SediVue, and international expansion.

In addition, Massaro said underlying trends in the animal health space are robust and have led to strong stock strength in industry leaders IDEXX (+53 percent YTD), VCA Inc WOOF (+33 percent YTD), and upstart Heska (+31 percent YTD). But, the trends have proven to be more challenging for Abaxis (-10 percent YTD).