Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A) Q4 2024 Earnings Call Transcript
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Nov 26 2024
0mins
Should l Buy A?
Source: SeekingAlpha
Revenue $1.701 billion, roughly 1% reported growth, flat core growth. This represents a sequential improvement of over 400 basis points from Q3.
Life Sciences and Applied Markets Group Revenue $833 million, a 1% decline due to constrained instrument volumes from conservative customer CapEx spending, while consumables grew mid-single digits.
Agilent CrossLab Group Revenue $426 million, a 5% increase, growing in every market and region except China, where it was flat year-over-year but up sequentially.
Diagnostics and Genomics Group Revenue $442 million, representing a 3% decline, slightly above expectations, with solid growth in pathology offset by expected softness in NESD and cell analysis instruments.
Gross Margin 55.1%, down 70 basis points year-over-year due to lower volume and mix.
Operating Margin 27.4%, benefiting from productivity initiatives and cost actions taken earlier in the year.
Earnings Per Share (EPS) $1.46, up 6% from a year ago, exceeding expectations.
Operating Cash Flow $481 million for the quarter, with a total of $1.75 billion for the year.
Capital Expenditures $93 million for the quarter, with a total of $450 million expected for fiscal year 2025.
Shareholder Returns Returned over $400 million to shareholders, consisting of $335 million in share repurchases and $68 million in dividends.
Net Leverage Ratio 1.1, indicating a strong balance sheet even after acquiring BioVectra.
Digital Orders Passed the $1 billion mark for the first time across the company.
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Analyst Views on A
Wall Street analysts forecast A stock price to rise
13 Analyst Rating
12 Buy
1 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 113.260
Low
160.00
Averages
171.67
High
180.00
Current: 113.260
Low
160.00
Averages
171.67
High
180.00
About A
Agilent Technologies, Inc. specializes in life sciences, diagnostics and applied markets, providing application-focused solutions that include instruments, software, services and consumables for the entire laboratory workflow. Its segments include Life Sciences and Diagnostics Markets, Agilent CrossLab and Applied Markets. The Life Sciences and Diagnostics Markets segment provides contract development and manufacturing services for pharmaceutical customers as well as solutions that include reagents, instruments, software and consumables which enable customers in the clinical and life sciences research areas to interrogate samples at the cellular and molecular level. The Agilent CrossLab segment spans the entire lab with its services and consumables portfolio in addition to software and laboratory automation solutions, which are designed to improve customer outcomes and represent a range of offerings designed to serve customer needs across end-markets and applications.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
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