Why Is Agilent (A) Up 1.2% Since Last Earnings Report?

Core Insights - Agilent Technologies reported Q3 fiscal 2024 earnings of $1.32 per share, exceeding estimates by 5.6%, but down 8% year-over-year [2] - Revenues reached $1.58 billion, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion, but declined 5.6% year-over-year [2] - The company faced broad-based weakness across several markets, including Pharma, Food, Chemical, and Academic sectors, with weak momentum in China [2] Financial Performance - Life Sciences & Applied Markets Group (LSAG) generated $782 million, down 8% year-over-year, missing the consensus estimate of $849 million [3] - Agilent Cross Lab Group (ACG) revenues were $411 million, exceeding the consensus of $385 million, with a 4% year-over-year increase [3] - Diagnostics and Genomics Group (DGG) revenues decreased 9% year-over-year to $385 million, beating the consensus of $332 million [4] Operating Results - Gross margin for LSAG expanded by 10 basis points to 60.2%, while ACG's gross margin increased by 120 basis points to 52.1% [5] - DGG's gross margin contracted by 170 basis points to 51.8% [5] - Operating margin for Q3 was 21.1%, significantly up from 7.9% in the prior year [5][6] Balance Sheet - As of July 31, 2024, cash and cash equivalents were $1.78 billion, up from $1.67 billion in April 2024 [7] - Accounts receivables were $1.23 billion, slightly down from $1.25 billion in the previous quarter [7] - Long-term debt remained stable at $2.137 billion [7] Guidance - For Q4 fiscal 2024, management expects revenues between $1.641 billion and $1.691 billion, indicating a potential decline of 2.8% to an increase of 0.2% year-over-year [8] - Fiscal 2024 revenue guidance revised to $6.45-$6.50 billion, reflecting a decline of 5.6-4.9% year-over-year [8] - Non-GAAP earnings per share guidance for fiscal 2024 adjusted to $5.21-$5.25 [8] Market Sentiment - Recent estimates for Agilent have been trending downward, indicating a shift in market sentiment [9] - The stock currently holds a Zacks Rank 3 (Hold), suggesting an expectation of in-line returns in the coming months [11]