By Nate Wolf

The Irish medical equipment company Steris was the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 Thursday after its quarterly results beat Wall Street's expectations.

Shares of Steris jumped 8.8% to $247.43 Thursday, while markets largely were flat. The gain puts the stock on pace for its highest close in more than three years.

On Wednesday, the company reported adjusted earnings of $2.74 a share on $1.48 billion in revenue for the March quarter, above analysts' consensus estimates of $2.60 a share and $1.47 billion, respectively. Management also forecasted adjusted earnings from continued operations to grow between 7% and 10% in 2026.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley called the earnings report a "solid close to the year" for Steris. They raised their price target to $240 from $230 and maintained an Equal-weight rating.

The stock blew past that $240 figure already Thursday, as investors looked for safe equities to bet on.

"In light of macroeconomic and trade uncertainties, investor interest in Steris as a 'safe-haven' has risen considerably," the Morgan Stanley analysts wrote, adding that the company can deliver steady growth even in a more closed trade environment.

Moving forward, a stronger-than-expected volume of surgical procedures at U.S. hospitals and slower-than-expected wage inflation could push Steris stock even higher, Morgan Stanley found.

Steris is up 20% so far in 2025, while the S&P 500 has risen just 0.4%.

Write to Nate Wolf at nate.wolf@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 15, 2025 12:39 ET (16:39 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.