Why Is Life Science-Focused Danaher Trading Higher On Tuesday?

Tuesday, Danaher Corp DHR said its first-quarter sales decreased 2.5% Y/Y to $5.79 billion, beating the consensus of $5.62 billion. 

Non-GAAP core revenue decreased 4%, exceeding expectations of a high-single-digit decline.

Operating cash flow was $1.7 billion, and non-GAAP free cash flow was $1.4 billion.

Rainer Blair, President and CEO, stated, “We had a good start to 2024, with our team delivering better-than-expected revenue, earnings, and cash flow. We were especially pleased to see improving order trends in our bioprocessing business and believe we continued to gain market share in our molecular diagnostics business at Cepheid.”

Also Read: Danaher’s Spun-Off Company Veralto Is “Next High-Quality Serial Compounder” – Analyst.

Biotechnology sales fell from $1.86 billion to $1.52 billion. Life Sciences segment sales increased slightly from $1.71 billion to $1.75 billion. Diagnostic sales increased from $2.38 billion to $2.53 billion.

Operating margin of 30.1% came in above the guidance of around 28%.

Guidance: Danaher continues to expect the fiscal year 2024 non-GAAP core revenue will be down low-single digits year-over-year.

For Q2, Danaher expects sales to decline in mid-single digits.

The company reaffirms Q2 adjusted operating margin of around 26% and 29% for fiscal year 2024.

The company forecasts that 2024 bioprocessing core revenue will decline in the low single digits, and Cepheid 2024 respiratory revenues will be around $1.6 billion.

Price Action: DHR shares were up 6.5% at $251.46 at last check Tuesday.

Image generated using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.