Agilent Technologies Inc.

Legal name

AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Headquarters

SANTA CLARA, CA

Incorporated in

Delaware

Fiscal year end

10/31

Exchange & ticker

NYSE: A

Industry

Diagnostics & Research

CIK

1090872

Website

https://www.agilent.com/ ↗

IR page

https://investor.agilent.com/ ↗

Source: Form 10-K (FY2025) cover page and business description

Source: SEC EDGAR filing history. Release dates are the dates the earnings release was furnished to the SEC on Form 8-K (Item 2.02), which is normally the day results are announced. Fiscal years are labeled by the calendar year in which they end.

• Life Sciences and Diagnostics Markets

  Liquid chromatography & mass spectrometry (LC/MS)

  Examples: UHPLC systems, triple-quadrupole and time-of-flight mass spectrometers

  Instruments that separate and identify molecules, used by pharma, biotech, academic, and clinical research labs.

• Life Sciences and Diagnostics Markets

  Pathology & companion diagnostics (Dako)

  Examples: Autostainer and CoverStainer platforms, IHC-based companion diagnostic assays

  Tissue-based cancer diagnostics; the products include companion diagnostic tests that help identify patients most likely to benefit from a specific targeted therapy, developed with several major pharmaceutical companies.

• Life Sciences and Diagnostics Markets

  BIOVECTRA (CDMO)

  Examples: Specialty pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing

  Specialty contract manufacturing for pharmaceutical customers. Acquired in 2024 to expand Agilent's existing CDMO business (nucleic acid solutions); together they offer clinical-to-commercial scale production.

• Agilent CrossLab

  Lab services & consumables

  Examples: Repairs, maintenance and compliance services; GC and LC columns; sample preparation products; chemical standards

  Most of the consumables portfolio is vendor neutral, so it can be used regardless of which company's instruments a lab owns.

• Applied Markets

  Gas chromatography & spectroscopy

  Examples: GC and GC-MS systems for food, environmental, fuel, and chemical testing

  Instruments for chemicals and advanced materials, food, environmental, and forensic testing.

Product lines are based on the FY2025 Form 10-K's Item 1 business description.

Agilent reports revenue in two types: instruments (one-time capital purchases) and "non-instrumentation and other" (consumables, services, software, and CDMO). The 10-K describes the service and consumables businesses as mostly recurring and less susceptible to industry cycles than the instrument businesses. In FY2025 instruments were 35% of revenue and non-instrument revenue 65%, up from 60% in FY2023.

• Spot / one-off transaction

  Instrumentation

  35% of FY2025 revenue ($2,427M)

  Typical term: One-time capital purchase per instrument

  Fell from $2,742M in FY2023 to $2,354M in FY2024, then recovered to $2,427M in FY2025. The 10-K notes that customer spending policies and budget allocations, "particularly for capital items," may change.

• Multi-year / recurring

  Consumables, services, software & CDMO ("Non-Instrumentation and Other")

  65% of FY2025 revenue ($4,521M)

  Typical term: Consumables purchases, service contracts, software, and CDMO manufacturing services

  Grew every year from FY2023 ($4,091M) to FY2025 ($4,521M), including FY2024 when instrument revenue fell.

Source: Form 10-K (FY2025) — Revenue by Type

Agilent's 10-K names principal competitors for each of its three segments and says it competes on product performance, reliability, support quality, applications expertise, global channel coverage, and price.

Company names link to this site’s analysis where one exists; “site ↗” opens the company’s own website.

Agilent says it "generally expect[s] to complete several transactions per year." Over the last five years its two largest purchases were Resolution Bioscience ($561M, NGS cancer diagnostics — exited two years later) and BIOVECTRA ($915M, contract drug manufacturing). The others were small: PSS cost $41M, the two FY2023 acquisitions $51M combined, and Sigsense's price wasn't disclosed. Two older acquisitions, Dako and BioTek, are still named product lines in the FY2025 10-K.

Cash spent on acquisitions, FY2021–FY2025: $1.51B

1. Sep 2024 (FY2024)

   BIOVECTRA

   $915M cash (announced at $925M)

   A Canada-based specialized contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) producing biologics, highly potent active pharmaceutical ingredients (HPAPIs), and other molecules for targeted therapeutics. Revenue was $113M in 2023.

   Stated purpose (company)

   "Expands our contract development and manufacturing organization" (10-K). The announcement said it builds on Agilent's CDMO specialization in oligonucleotides and CRISPR therapeutics, adding capabilities in antibody-drug conjugates, HPAPIs, GLP-1, and mRNA/pDNA/lipid-nanoparticle work. Agilent expected it to reduce non-GAAP EPS by $0.05 in the first full year.

   What it is trying to do (this site's view)

   Adds CDMO manufacturing-fee revenue, whose timing differs from instrument sales — the revenue type that fell from $2,742M (FY2023) to $2,354M (FY2024). The announcement targets modalities such as GLP-1s and ADCs, which Agilent describes as rapidly growing.

   Since then: Joined the Diagnostics and Genomics Group, then the Life Sciences and Diagnostics Markets segment after the November 2024 reorganization; all goodwill was allocated there. The 10-K doesn't report BIOVECTRA's results separately, so its effect on profit can't be isolated. That segment's operating margin was 24.2% in FY2023 and 19.7% in FY2025.

   Source: Form 10-K (FY2025) — Acquisition of BIOVECTRA · Press release, Jul 22, 2024 — Agilent to Acquire North American CDMO BIOVECTRA

2. Jul 2024 (FY2024)

   Sigsense Technologies

   Not disclosed

   A San Francisco startup that uses artificial intelligence and power monitoring to track instrument performance across labs' equipment fleets, regardless of instrument vendor.

   Stated purpose (company)

   To extend Agilent's AI technology so more customers gain insights that "contribute to reduced downtime and increased productivity."

   What it is trying to do (this site's view)

   Sigsense's monitoring works across instrument vendors, like most of Agilent's CrossLab portfolio, which the 10-K describes as "vendor neutral, meaning we can serve and supply customers regardless of their instrument purchase choices."

   Since then: Not separately discussed in the 10-K.

   Source: Press release, Jul 29, 2024 — Agilent Acquires Sigsense

3. Mar 2023 (FY2023)

   e-MSion

   Not disclosed individually

   An early-stage company behind the ExD cell, a compact electron capture dissociation (ECD) device for mass spectrometers that helps researchers characterize biotherapeutic drugs.

   Stated purpose (company)

   To "integrate the ExD cell into our portfolio of advanced workflows, instruments, and analytical solutions for biotherapeutic characterization and development."

   Since then: Agilent announced two acquisitions in FY2023 (e-MSion and Avida Biomed). Its FY2023 10-K reports two acquisitions totaling $51M that year without naming them.

   Source: Press release, Mar 9, 2023 — Agilent Announces Acquisition of e-MSion · Form 10-K (FY2023) — Goodwill and purchased intangible assets

4. Jan 2023 (FY2023)

   Avida Biomed

   Not disclosed individually

   An early-stage company developing next-generation sequencing (NGS) target-enrichment workflows for cancer research, able to profile genomic changes and DNA methylation from a single sample.

   Stated purpose (company)

   To complement Agilent's SureSelect NGS portfolio and expand its presence in clinical research and diagnostics; the workflows run on Agilent's Magnis and Bravo automation platforms.

   Since then: See e-MSion: the FY2023 10-K reports two unnamed acquisitions totaling $51M.

   Source: Press release, Jan 4, 2023 — Agilent Announces Acquisition of Avida Biomed · Form 10-K (FY2023) — Goodwill and purchased intangible assets

5. FY2022

   Polymer Standards Service GmbH (PSS)

   $41M

   A provider of solutions in the field of polymer characterization.

   Stated purpose (company)

   The 10-K describes the business but gives no separate rationale.

   Since then: Recorded $19M of goodwill and $35M of intangible assets (together with a separate AI-technology purchase that year).

   Source: Form 10-K (FY2022) — Goodwill and purchased intangible assets

6. Apr 2021 (FY2021)

   Resolution Bioscience

   $561M cash + up to $145M in milestone payments ($65M paid in FY2023)

   Since divested

   A biotechnology company developing next-generation sequencing (NGS) based precision oncology tests.

   Stated purpose (company)

   "Complements and expands our capabilities in NGS-based cancer diagnostics" and "provides us with innovative technology to further serve the needs of the fast-growing precision medicine market."

   What it is trying to do (this site's view)

   A move into NGS-based cancer diagnostics, and the largest acquisition of the five years until BIOVECTRA.

   Since then: In Q3 FY2023 Agilent decided to exit the business and recorded a $270M impairment, then sold it for $50M after an unsolicited offer. About $626M in cash (the $561M purchase price plus a $65M milestone payment) was paid in; $50M came back.

   Source: Form 10-K (FY2021) — Acquisition of Resolution Bioscience · Form 10-K (FY2023) — Exit and divestiture of Resolution Bioscience

7. Aug 2019 (FY2019)

   BioTek Instruments (Lionheart Technologies)

   $1.17B

   Older deal, core to today's business

   "A leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of innovative life science instrumentation" (10-K).

   Stated purpose (company)

   "Another step to expand our position in the cell analysis market." Funded with $470M of cash and $700M of debt.

   Since then: BioTek is still named in the FY2025 10-K as one of Agilent's cell-analysis platforms, alongside Seahorse, xCELLigence, and Novocyte.

   Source: Form 10-K (FY2019) — Acquisition of BioTek · Form 10-K (FY2025) — Item 1 Business

8. Jun 2012 (FY2012)

   Dako A/S

   About $2.14B ($1.4B to the seller + $743M to repay Dako's debt)

   Older deal, core to today's business

   A Danish supplier of antibodies, reagents, instruments, and software to pathology laboratories.

   Stated purpose (company)

   Extended Agilent's offerings "to cancer diagnostics with anatomic pathology workflows"; Agilent formed a new diagnostics and genomics segment around it.

   What it is trying to do (this site's view)

   Agilent's entry into cancer diagnostics: Dako sold antibodies and reagents as well as instruments and software to pathology labs.

   Since then: Still core: Dako Omnis and Autostainer immunohistochemistry systems are named in the FY2025 10-K, and the 10-K credits companion diagnostics and pathology with leading FY2025 growth in the diagnostics and clinical market.

   Source: Form 10-K (FY2012) — Acquisition of Dako · Form 10-K (FY2025) — Item 1 Business

Not listed individually: an "advanced artificial intelligence technology" purchase in February 2022 that the 10-K doesn't name. Deal dates are closing dates; Agilent's fiscal year ends October 31.

Inputs (FY2025): free cash flow $1.15B (operating CF − capex); enterprise value $43.3B = market cap $41.74B + debt $3.35B − cash and short-term investments $1.79B; r = WACC of 8.7% using this page’s default assumptions (β 0.95, risk-free 4.0%, market premium 5.5%).

A simplified model for seeing what the market price assumes, not a forecast or a target price. It treats free cash flow as growing at one constant rate forever; the result swings widely with small changes in r and g, and is undefined when g reaches r. Free cash flow here is operating cash flow minus capex, which is after interest — a full DCF of enterprise value would use cash flow before interest. Market cap and enterprise value use the fiscal year-end price, not today’s.

• ✓

  Operating CF ÷ net income: averages 1.25x

  Profit is backed by cash coming in.

• ✓

  Accrual ratio (latest): -2.1%

  A small share of profit rests on accounting estimates.

• ✓

  Core-earnings share (operating income ÷ pretax income): 103%

  Most profit comes from core operations.

• !

  Days sales outstanding: 68 → 78 days

  Receivables are growing faster than revenue — worth checking for looser collection terms or channel stuffing.

1. 1. Most revenue recurs whether or not labs buy new instruments

   65% of FY2025 revenue ($4.5B) came from consumables, services, software, and CDMO manufacturing rather than instruments, and that revenue grew every year from FY2023 to FY2025 even as instrument sales fell.

   What has to hold

   The installed base of instruments (Agilent's and competitors') keeps running, so labs keep buying consumables and service contracts.

   The other side

   Total revenue still fell about 5% in FY2024 when instrument demand dropped, so the recurring base cushions downturns rather than removing them. The Life Sciences and Diagnostics Markets segment's margin fell from 24.2% to 19.7% over FY2023–FY2025.

   Evidence: Form 10-K Revenue by Type (R60) and Segment Information (R118)

2. 2. Positioned for a recovery in lab capital spending

   Revenue recovered from $6.51B (FY2024) to $6.95B (FY2025), and instrument sales rose from $2.35B to $2.43B but remained below the FY2023 level ($2.74B). Investors who expect customers' capital budgets to recover see room for instrument sales to return toward that level.

   What has to hold

   Pharma/biotech funding and industrial activity, especially in Asia Pacific (32% of revenue), keep improving.

   The other side

   Profit hasn't followed yet. Operating margin fell from 22.9% (FY2024) to 21.3% (FY2025) despite 6.7% revenue growth; the 10-K cites higher tariffs and shipping costs, unfavorable product mix, transformation initiatives, and wages. Capex more than doubled over five years ($188M → $407M), and free cash flow fell from $1.47B (FY2023) to $1.15B (FY2025).

   Evidence: Form 10-K (FY2025) Revenue by Type (R60) and MD&A; SEC EDGAR XBRL (operating income, capex, operating cash flow)

3. 3. Steady dividend growth and buybacks with a light balance sheet

   The dividend per share rose every year from $0.776 (FY2021) to $0.992 (FY2025), about 6% a year, with a payout ratio near 22% of EPS. Shares outstanding fell about 6% (302M → 283M), and debt of $3.35B is about 2.3x FY2025 operating income.

   What has to hold

   Earnings stay stable enough to keep funding both, given the recurring CrossLab base.

   The other side

   The dividend yield is only about 0.7%. At 32x FY2025 year-end earnings, the stock traded close to its five-year average P/E (about 32x).

   Evidence: SEC EDGAR XBRL (dividends per share, EPS, shares outstanding, debt); this site's calculation

Dividend yield, payout ratio, P/E, and FCF yield above use the fiscal year-end share price, not today's price, so they shift as the stock moves.

1. 1Demand & macro

   Customers' capital spending and R&D budgets

   Company disclosure (summarized from the 10-K)

   The 10-K states that demand for some of Agilent's products and services depends on customers' capital spending policies, research and development budgets, and government funding policies, and that visibility into its markets is limited. Instrument revenue fell from $2,742M (FY2023) to $2,354M (FY2024).

   Company’s stated mitigation

   The 10-K describes the service and consumables businesses as mostly recurring and less susceptible to industry cycles than the instrument businesses.

   This site’s assessment

   Impact High / Likelihood Med

2. 2Geopolitical

   China, tariffs, and trade restrictions

   Company disclosure (summarized from the 10-K)

   China including Hong Kong was $1,224M (18%) of FY2025 revenue, down from $1,383M in FY2023, and the 10-K attributes Applied Markets' FY2025 Asia Pacific decline to lower demand in China. The 10-K also warns that tariffs, sanctions, and export controls may restrict its ability to ship products, and it cites higher tariffs among the reasons FY2025 operating margin fell 2 percentage points.

   Company’s stated mitigation

   Not stated in the 10-K.

   This site’s assessment

   Impact High / Likelihood Med

3. 3Competition & technology shift

   Competition from other analytical-instrument makers

   Company disclosure (summarized from the 10-K)

   The 10-K names principal competitors including Danaher (AB Sciex, Leica Biosystems), Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waters, Shimadzu, Bruker, Roche Ventana, and PerkinElmer, and says the markets are characterized by evolving industry standards and intense competition.

   Company’s stated mitigation

   Not stated in the 10-K.

   This site’s assessment

   Impact Med / Likelihood Med

4. 4FX & interest rates

   Currency exposure from international revenue

   Company disclosure (summarized from the 10-K)

   About 60% of FY2025 revenue came from Europe and Asia Pacific. The 10-K notes that many expenses are paid in local currencies and that hedging programs reduce, but do not always entirely eliminate, the impact of exchange-rate movements.

   Company’s stated mitigation

   Currency hedging programs, which the 10-K says cover exposure within a twelve-month period but not beyond it.

   This site’s assessment

   Impact Med / Likelihood Med

5. 5Law & regulation

   Regulatory requirements for diagnostics and companion diagnostics

   Company disclosure (summarized from the 10-K)

   The 10-K states that Agilent is subject to extensive regulation by the FDA and similar foreign agencies, and that some Life Sciences and Diagnostics Markets products require regulatory approval covering design, manufacturing, labeling, and distribution.

   Company’s stated mitigation

   The 10-K says Agilent continually invests in its manufacturing infrastructure to gain and maintain the necessary certifications.

   This site’s assessment

   Impact Med / Likelihood Low

6. 6Governance & quality

   Acquisitions that don't deliver expected results

   Company disclosure (summarized from the 10-K)

   The 10-K warns that acquired businesses may not contribute to earnings as expected or achieve anticipated synergies. Agilent exited Resolution Bioscience in FY2023, two years after buying it for $561M, recording a $270M impairment (see M&A history). BIOVECTRA, bought in FY2024 for $915M, is now part of the Life Sciences and Diagnostics Markets segment.

   Company’s stated mitigation

   Not stated in the 10-K.

   This site’s assessment

   Impact Med / Likelihood Low