Danaher perks up as broad-based performance drives Q3 beat

Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) traded higher premarket Tuesday after the life sciences company, a favorite during the pandemic, exceeded Street forecasts with its Q3 2024 results, thanks to all-around business performance.

While the Washington, DC-based healthcare giant reported $5.8B in revenue for the quarter with ~3% YoY growth, its non-GAAP core revenue growth remained flat, and the company projected a low-single-digit contraction in its Q4 non-GAAP core revenue.

However, Danaher (NYSE:DHR) reaffirmed its prior full-year guidance of low-single-digit growth for 2024.

“Our team delivered strong third quarter results, including better-than-expected revenue growth,” said CEO Rainer Blair, noting a positive momentum in the company’s bioprocessing business and a recapture in market share from its molecular diagnostics unit, Cepheid.

As for segments, Danaher’s (DHR) Biotech business continued to contract, adding $1.65B to the topline with a ~0.5% YoY drop despite exceeding $1.65B in the consensus, according to Bloomberg data. In comparison, the Life Sciences and Diagnostics businesses generated $1.78B and $2.36B with ~4.5% YoY and ~5.0% YoY growth, respectively.

While the adj. operating profit margin in the Diagnostics division improved to 28.1% from 26.1% in the prior year, the company’s overall adj. operating profit margin dropped 10 basis points to 27.5% as profitability in other segments fell.

However, the company continued to impress with the bottom line, with its adjusted earnings per share surpassing Street forecasts by $0.14.