This morning, Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LH) reported strong third quarter financials. The company’s earnings per share of $1.22 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.15 as well as the $1.10 reported in the year-ago period. Revenues recorded a 4.4% year-over-year increase to $1.2 billion, driven by a 0.7% increase in testing volume (measured by accessions) and a 3.7% increase in revenue per accession. Lab Corp’s gross margin reported an improvement of 137 basis points during the reported quarter. While revenues increased 4.4%, cost of goods sold grew by 2%. The company recorded an improvement in operating margin (excluding restructuring and other special charges) by 60 basis points to 20% compared to 19.4% in the year-ago period. At the end of the September quarter, Lab Corp had $126.8 million of cash and short-term investments, down from $219.7 million at the end of December 2008. Free ...