It has been about a month since the last earnings report for Agilent Technologies (NYSE: A). Shares have added about 1.2% in that time frame, underperforming the S&P 500.
Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Agilent due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at its most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important drivers.
Agilent Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates
Agilent Technologies has delivered third-quarter fiscal 2024 earnings of $1.32 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.6%. However, the bottom line decreased 8% from the year-ago quarter.
Revenues of $1.58 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.56 billion. The top line declined 5.6% on a reported basis and 4.4% on a core basis from the year-ago quarter.
The decline was attributed to broad-based weakness across the Pharma, Food, Chemical and Advanced Materials, and Academic and Government markets.
Weak momentum in China was another concern.
Nevertheless, the company witnessed improvements in the Diagnostics and Clinical, and Environmental and Forensics markets in the reported quarter.
Segmental Top-Line Details
Agilent has three reporting segments — Life Sciences & Applied Markets Group ("LSAG"), Agilent Cross Lab Group ("ACG"), and Diagnostics and Genomics Group ("DGG").
LSAG: The segment accounted for $782 million or 50% of the company's total revenues, down 8% on a reported basis and 7% on a core basis from the prior-year quarter. This was due to softness in the instrument business, ...
