Danaher posted first-quarter results that were in line with the consensus on Wall Street.
The Washington, D.C.-based company reported profits of $595.1 million, or 81¢ per share on sales of $4.3 billion for the three months ended March 31, for a bottom-line gain of 78.3% sales growth of 2.9% compared with Q1 2019.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were $1.05, in line with The Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $4.3 billion.
“We are pleased with our first quarter performance during such an unprecedented time. We delivered 4.5% core revenue growth driven by positive results in each of our three reporting segments, with particular strength in our Cepheid, Radiometer, Pall, and ChemTreat businesses. We were also excited to close our acquisition of the GE Biopharma business, now called Cytiva, on March 31,” president and CEO Thomas Joyce said in a news release.
“We are incredibly proud of our team’s response to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. We are providing much-needed diagnostic testing capabilities today and supporting our customers’ pursuit of new treatments and vaccines for the future. Looking ahead, we feel well-positioned to navigate through this uncertain environment. We believe that the combination of our strong portfolio, exceptional team, and disciplined execution driven by the Danaher Business System will continue to differentiate Danaher in 2020 and beyond.”
Danaher yesterday announced that Joyce would retire on Sept. 1. Executive VP Rainer Blair will become CEO and Joyce will remain as a senior advisor at the company through Feb. 28, 2021.
Shares in DHR were down -3.41% to $158.40 apiece in mid-morning trading. MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — was up 1.2%.