Danaher (NYSE:DHR) shares crept up today on big fourth-quarter gains that topped the consensus forecast.
The Washington D.C.–based company posted profits of $1.275 billion, or $1.73 per share, on sales of $4.868 billion for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2019, for a 70.7% bottom-line gain on sales growth of 5.7%.
Adjusted to exclude one-time items, earnings per share were $1.28, 3¢ ahead of Wall Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $4.8 billion.
Danaher’s full-year 2019 net earnings reached $2.4 billion ($3.26 per share) with a 5% revenue increase from 2018, reaching $17.9 billion.
Its life sciences unit posted sales of $1.92 billion in the quarter (6.9% growth from 4Q 2018) and its diagnostics business had revenues of $1.8 billion (7.1% growth). The two wings combined to make up about $3.72 billion of the company’s $4.868 billion collected in sales.
Life sciences made a profit of $405.9 million (14.8% growth) and diagnostics was up $352.1 million this quarter (11.3% growth). Over the course of fiscal 2019, the two units made up 79.3% of Danaher’s sales revenue and 77.6% of the company’s profits.
The company said it now expects to log adjusted EPS of $4.80 to $4.90 in fiscal 2020. That is not slated to include the pending acquisition of the General Electric (NYSE:GE) Biopharma business, Danaher said.
DHR shares were up 1.1% at $166.95 per share in mid-afternoon trading today.
