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Danaher Q2 Earnings Beat Estimates, Life Sciences Sales Up Y/Y

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Key Takeaways

  • DHR posted Q2 adjusted EPS of $1.80 and sales of $5.94B, topping consensus and rising year over year.
  • Life Sciences lagged in core sales and swung to a loss, while Biotechnology led with 6% core sales growth.
  • DHR raised its 2025 adjusted EPS forecast to $7.70-$7.80, up from the prior $7.60-$7.75 range.

Danaher Corporation’s (DHR - Free Report) second-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of $1.80 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.64. The bottom line increased 4.7% year over year.

Danaher reported net sales of $5.94 billion, which beat the consensus estimate of $5.84 billion. The metric increased 3.5% year over year, driven by impressive performance of all the segments.

DHR’s core sales increased 1.5% year over year in the quarter. Foreign-currency translations had a positive impact of 2%.

DHR’s Segmental Discussion

Revenues from the Life Sciences segment totaled $1.78 billion, up 0.5% year over year. We expected the segment’s revenues to be $1.71 billion. However, core sales decreased 2.5% year over year. Acquisitions/divestitures had a positive impact of 1.5% on segmental sales while foreign-currency translations also had a positive impact of 1.5%. Operating loss was $239 million against operating profit of $233 million in the year-ago quarter. 

Revenues from the Diagnostics segment totaled $2.31 billion, up 2% year over year. Our estimate for revenues was $2.29 billion. Core sales increased 2% year over year, while foreign currency had a positive impact of 0.5% on sales. However, acquisitions/divestitures impacted sales by 0.5%. Operating profit was $554 million, down 0.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Revenues from the Biotechnology segment totaled $1.85 billion, up 8% year over year. Our estimate was $1.83 billion. Core sales increased 6% year over year while foreign-currency translations had a positive impact of 2%. Operating profit was $531 million, up 14.9% year over year.

Danaher Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Danaher Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Danaher Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Danaher Corporation Quote

Danaher’s Margin Profile

In the second quarter, Danaher’s cost of sales increased 4.2% year over year to $2.41 billion. Gross profit of $3.52 billion increased 2.8% year over year. The gross margin was 59.3% compared with 59.7% in the year-ago quarter.

Selling, general and administrative expenses of $2.36 billion recorded an increase of 26.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research and development expenses were $403 million, up 3.1% year over year.

Danaher’s operating profit decreased 34.9% year over year to $760 million. Operating margin contracted to 12.8% from 20.3% in the year-ago quarter.

DHR’s Balance Sheet and Cash Flow

Exiting the second quarter, DHR had cash and equivalents of $2.96 billion compared with $2.1 billion at 2024-end. Long-term debt was $16.9 billion at the end of the quarter compared with $15.5 billion at the end of December 2024.

Danaher generated net cash of $2.64 billion from operating activities in the first six months of 2025 compared with $3.16 billion in the previous year’s comparable period. Capital expenditures totaled $493 million in the same period, down 14.7% year over year. Adjusted free cash flow decreased 16.5% year over year to $2.15 billion in the first six months of 2025.

In the same period, DHR paid out dividends of $423 million, up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Danaher’s Outlook

For the third quarter, Danaher expects adjusted core sales from continuing operations to increase in the low single digits on a year-over-year basis.

The metric is anticipated to increase approximately 3% on a year-over-year basis in 2025. The company expects adjusted earnings to be $7.70-$7.80 per share compared with $7.60-$7.75 expected earlier.

DHR’s Zacks Rank

The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). 

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Performance of Other Companies

Quest Diagnostics Inc.’s (DGX - Free Report) second-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.62 beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.9%. The metric also exceeded the year-ago adjusted figure by 11.5%.

Revenues reported in the second quarter rose 15.2% year over year to $2.76 billion. The metric surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.5%.

Tenet Healthcare Corporation (THC - Free Report) reported earnings of $4.02 per share in the second quarter of 2025, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.84. This compares with earnings of $2.31 per share a year ago.

The company posted revenues of $5.27 billion in the quarter, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.43%. This compares with year-ago revenues of $5.1 billion. 

Medpace Holdings, Inc. (MEDP - Free Report) came out with quarterly earnings of $3.1 per share in the second quarter of 2025, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3 per share. This compares with earnings of $2.75 per share a year ago.

Medpace posted revenues of $603.31 million for the quarter ended June 2025, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11.48%. This compares with year-ago revenues of $528.1 million.

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