Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: TMO) announced that its board of directors has authorized the repurchase of $4 billion of shares of its common stock.
The repurchases, announced Nov. 10, could take place in the open market or in negotiated transactions. The board’s authorization has no expiration date.
During its Q3 earnings call last month, Thermo Fisher officials announced they were increasing the company’s full-year revenue guidance by $650 million to $43.8 billion, which would represent 12% growth. In addition, they upped the life science research and diagnostic tech company’s adjusted EPS guidance by 8¢ to $23.01 per share.
For the first nine months of 2022, the company earned nearly $5.4 billion, or $13.62 per share, off $33.5 billion in revenue. The results represented a bottom-line decline of 11% on sales growth of 17%.
Still, the TMO shares are down from a peak over the summer — a performance that mirrors the overall markets. For a company with cash on hand, share repurchases are a way to boost value. TMO shares are up more than 8%, trading at more than $530 apiece, since the announcement.
Thermo Fisher has also been shopping for M&A deals. It announced last month that it plans to spend $2.6 billion to acquire The Binding Site, which develops specialty diagnostic assays and instruments.
Thermo Fisher Scientific ended its third quarter with roughly $2.9 billion in cash and $29.2 billion of total debt.
