Idexx Labs is counting on millennials to boost the pet-care industry

Idexx Laboratories has room to grow in providing preventative care for pets, CEO Jonathan Ayers told CNBC Wednesday.

The veterinary services company expects its diagnostics business will be bringing in $24 billion annually by 2042. That segment brought in $3.5 billion in 2017. Idexx has expansion plans for its clinical testing operations mapped out over the next 10 years, Ayers said.

“These are long runways to growth,” Ayers said in a sit-down interview with “Mad Money’s” Jim Cramer. “The nice thing about demographics is you can predict them out for decades.”

Idexx is increasingly leaning on the millennial generation, which Ayers said is much more in touch with pets than baby boomers. About 42% of millennials think their pets have special health needs — more than double the percentage of the baby boomer generation, he said.

“[Millennials] are more likely to go to the vet more frequently and more willing to listen to an advanced standard of care,” Ayers said.

Ayers said Idexx is the leading reference lab provider, where test samples are sent for diagnoses, and the leading point of care for pets. The company also offers an app powered by the Google cloud platform, he said.

“When we bundle those together in terms of a complete diagnostic offering, you put in our cloud-based solution … you get the whole diagnostic history right there whether you sent the results out or you had it run on your in-house lab,” Ayers said.

In its first-quarter earnings report earlier this month, Idexx posted revenue of $576 million, up 7% year over year. The company reported earnings of $1.17 per share, up 16% from the year prior.

The company also raised its full-year EPS projections by 10 cents a share to a range of $4.76 to $4.88.