By Siddhi Mahatole and Bageshri Banerjee
May 27 (Reuters) – Agilent Technologies raised its 2026 adjusted profit forecast on Wednesday, anticipating strong demand for its medical tools and equipment used in lab research and diagnostic services.
Shares of the life sciences firm rose more than 10% in after-hours trading.
U.S. life sciences and lab-equipment makers, which had struggled with uneven demand and tight biotech funding in recent years, are now seeing gradual improvements.
The company now expects annual adjusted per-share profit of $6 to $6.10, compared with its prior forecast of $5.90 to $6.04 apiece, an increase of 8 cents at the midpoint. Analysts’ average expectation is $5.97 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
CEO Padraig McDonnell said in a call with analysts that Agilent has factored additional assumptions into its full-year forecast, including rising cost pressures.
The company expects higher costs from the Middle East conflict and strong demand for memory chips, which has tightened supply chains and increased component prices, but said efficiencies from its cost-cutting program should help offset these pressures in the second half of the year.
It also said inflationary pressures linked to the conflict could weigh on capital spending, though it expects a strong recovery to accelerate, potentially sooner than anticipated.
Agilent forecasts third-quarter adjusted profit in the range of $1.48 to $1.50 per share, compared with analysts’ estimates of $1.50 per share.
The company reported an adjusted profit of $1.49 per share for the second quarter, above estimates of $1.41 per share.
Its revenue came in at $1.83 billion for the quarter ended April 30, compared with the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion.
Quarterly sales in its life sciences and diagnostics segment were at $732 million, beating analysts’ expectations of $694.7 million.
Revenue from its CrossLab unit, which offers products and services for laboratory management, rose 6% to $759 million in the quarter.
(Reporting by Siddhi Mahatole and Bageshri Banerjee in Bengaluru; editing by Alan Barona)
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