Agilent Tumbles on Slashed Outlook Amid Weakening Demand

Agilent (A:US) stock opened sharply lower on Wednesday after the company was forced to cut its full-year guidance to reflect deteriorating biopharma institutional orders in March and April.

For its second fiscal quarter, Agilent reported an adjusted EPS of $1.27, just ahead of Street at $1.26. Revenue was $1.72 billion, again topping the average analyst estimate of $1.67 billion.

“In an increasingly challenging market environment, the Agilent team delivered solid results in the second quarter,” said Agilent President and CEO Mike McMullen.

“Our results are driven by an innovative and broad portfolio, a differentiated customer experience, and outstanding execution.”

For the ongoing quarter, Agilent sees adjusted EPS of $1.37 on revenue of $1.66 billion. This is a disappointing near-term outlook as analysts were expecting EPS of $1.44 on sales of $1.77 billion. 

Hence, it comes as no surprise that Agilent cut its full-year profit forecast to $5.60 - $5.65 from $5.65 - $5.70. Revenue is now seen at $6.98 billion, down from the prior $7.065 billion. The analyst consensus expected EPS of $5.69 on sales of $7.09 billion. 

Senator Tommy Tuberville recently disclosed that he acquired some Agilent shares. at the beginning of April. The stock closed at $137.86 on April 3, the day when Sen. Tuberville purchased shares, while it trades in the mid $110s on Wednesday following a full-year forecast cut.

Elsewhere, Rep. Ro Khanna was buying Agilent shares in May and June last year while they were trading at similar levels to those seen on Wednesday.