Scientific instruments maker Agilent Technologies Inc. (A) Friday reported a nine-fold rise in fourth-quarter profit, as revenue jumped 35% from last year and orders grew 32%. Adjusted earnings surpassed Wall Street estimates. Further, the company issued a robust outlook for the first quarter as well as full year.
The company's net income surged to $232 million or $0.66 per share from $25 million or $0.07 per share in the year-ago quarter. Results in both years included items such as business divestitures and restructuring charges. The latest results also included a tax benefit and a one-time gain from the closure of pre-Agilent spin-off income tax audits.
Adjusted net income rose to $228 million or $0.65 per share from $111 million or $0.32 per share in the previous year. On average, 12 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.60 per share in the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Net revenue rose to $1.576 billion from last year's $1.167 billion. Adjusted for the acquisition of Varian Inc. and recent divestitures, revenue grew 26% from last year. Analysts expected revenues of $1.52 billion for the quarter.
Agilent completed the divestiture of its Network Services business on May 1, and later completed its $1.5 billion acquisition of scientific-equipment maker Varian, Inc. on May 14. Chemical Analysis revenues jumped 73% from last year, or 17% on an organic basis with applied markets reporting strong growth.
Life Sciences revenues jumped 35% and grew 17% on an organic basis. Academia and government markets, as well as pharmaceutical and biotech customers reported double-digit organic growth.
Orders improved 32% to $1.687 billion. Costs and expenses climbed 25% to $1.373 billion mainly due to higher costs for products and services.
In the third quarter, Agilent reported net income of $205 million or $0.58 per share on net revenue of $1.38 billion.
For the full-year, the company reported a profit of $624 million or $1.77 per share, compared to a loss of $31 million or $0.09 per share last year. Adjusted earnings were $706 million or $2 per share. Full-year net revenue advanced 21% to $5.444 billion. Street was looking for earnings of $1.96 per share on revenues of $5.40 billion.
Looking ahead, the company expects non-GAAP earnings of $0.55 to $0.57 per share for the first-quarter. Revenues are expected to be in the range of $1.53 billion to $1.55 billion. Wall Street looks for first-quarter earnings of $0.53 per share on revenues of $1.47 billion.
For fiscal 2011, Agilent expects non-GAAP earnings of $2.30 to $2.50 per share and revenues of $6.1 billion to $6.3 billion. Analysts expect earnings of $2.37 per share on revenues of $6.1 billion.
A closed Thursday at $35.73, up from the prior close of $35.26, on 3.79 million shares.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.