Mesa Laboratories develops, acquires, manufactures, and markets electronic instruments and disposables for industrial, pharmaceutical and medical applications. Torqo products ensure the reliability of threaded closures, which include child resistant caps found on so many prescription drug bottles. The company’s product line includes Dialysate Meters, which are instruments used to test different parameters of dialysis fluid (dialysate), and then complete required calibrations to maintain the best possible operation of the dialysis machine. Other products also help manufacturers deliver high quality products.

The company recently announced earnings for its most recent quarter, the first of its fiscal year. For the three months ended June 30, 2011, Mesa Laboratories reported that revenue was up 19% compared to the same period last fiscal year. Net income increased by 27% when compared to the same three months of 2010. Reported net income per share was $0.49 per diluted share.

Mesa Laboratories also announced that its Board of Directors approved the regular quarterly cash dividend of 12 cents per share of common stock. This gives the stock a yield of about 1.5% at the recent price.

Commenting on the earnings, John J. Sullivan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mesa Laboratories, said, “The sales momentum that Mesa has generated during last fiscal year continued into the first quarter of fiscal 2012. We continue to see the positive effects on both sales and profits of the three acquisitions that we completed during the last 18 months. In particular, our Biological Indicators business continues to post double-digit growth, driven by organic revenue increases and revenue added as a result of the recent acquisitions in that product line. During the quarter, we completed the move of the newly acquired Apex product line from the former Apex facility in North Carolina to our Biological Indicators manufacturing facility in Bozeman, Montana. With this move, we expect to realize improved gross margins for this line of products and improved manufacturing control. Overall, we are pleased with the results for the first quarter of our new fiscal year. However, we also understand the fragility of the worldwide economic recovery and will carefully monitor our business going forward.”

The company attributed the revenue increase in the first quarter to organic growth of the three major product brands that make up the instruments segment, especially the Datatrace data logging products.

The stock has been among the biggest gainers in the past twelve months. Investors in Mesa Laboratories have enjoyed gains of about 48% in the last year as the S&P 500 as delivered a gain of only about 5%.