Aug 26, 2026 earnings call — Strong Q3 results and raised guidance
Agilent reported $1.88 billion in revenue in Q3, growing 7.3% on a core basis and beating prior guidance.
Revenue $1.9B (est $1.8B) · EPS $1.62 (est $1.49) · Next-quarter revenue outlook $2.0B–$2.0B
Key quotes
"The scope and impact of Ignite once again clearly visible in the third quarter. Our strategic pricing initiatives delivered approximately 200 basis points in Q3."
"The improving end market picture was complemented by a notable step-up in China, which grew 9%, well ahead of our flat expectation."
"We have also received excellent customer feedback on our new 8890B and 8860B flagship GCs. Customers are excited about the productivity and GC Assist intelligence features on the systems, which started to ship in July."
Analyst Q&A 11
CDMO outlook and capacity
Q (Jack Meehan · Operon): Analyst wanted visibility on specialty CDMO growth into 2027 and asked about top customers and demand drivers like GLP-1.
A: Management said they remain confident in mid-teens long-term growth and that Train C comes online in spring and will ramp over 6 to 8 quarters. They said the order book is building and the majority of Train C capacity is already spoken for.
"The other piece, and you asked about our confidence in how we're thinking about the business, our order book is really building very nicely, and we have the majority of our capacity available in Train C spoken for already." — Adam Elinoff (CFO)
Reshoring demand size and timing
Q (Vijay Kumar · Evercore): Analyst asked how large the reshoring orders are, whether the $1 billion industry estimate changes, and what to expect in fiscal 2027.
A: Management said they sized the opportunity at about $1 billion through 2030 and expect to win at least one third of it. They said some orders already arrived for forward stocking locations and revenue will start in 2027 but will not be linear across quarters.
"So I think we're -- we sized the opportunity at about $1 billion through 2030, and we expect to at least win 1/3 of that." — Padraig McDonnell (CEO)
CDMO bookings and Train C timing
Q (Tycho Peterson · Jefferies): Analyst asked whether the weak guide was timing-related and how much growth is from existing programs versus new demand, plus bookings for Train C.
A: Management said the year-to-date growth mix and the flattish guide reflect timing of customer regulatory submissions expected late in the quarter. They also said about 75% of available FY '27 Train C capacity is already spoken for with purchase orders.
"Of the available capacity that we're going to have in FY '27, I'd say 75% of that is currently spoken for with POs." — Simon May (PRESIDENT)
China growth drivers
Q (Michael Ryskin · BofA): Analyst asked what drove the strong China performance and which customer types and products contributed.
A: Management said China growth was broad: pharma, biotech, small molecule R&D, CAM, advanced materials and food all grew well. They highlighted strong demand for PFAS testing and competitive wins, and said China is becoming an increasingly important region for drug development.
"And you can see that China is becoming more and continuing important region for drug development." — Padraig McDonnell (CEO)
Pharma growth dependency on CDMO
Q (Dan Leonard · RBC): Analyst asked how much pharma's double-digit growth depended on the CDMO business and what growth would look like excluding advanced therapeutics.
A: Management said biopharma grew 12% overall and 9% excluding CDMO, showing the rest of the business also grew well. They emphasized strong GLP growth and instrument replacement cycles underpinning continued pharma momentum.
"And biopharma, the end, we grew by 12% overall, 9% ex CDMO." — Padraig McDonnell (CEO)
Small and midsize biotech and mRNA impact
Q (Puneet Souda · Leerink): Analyst asked about small/mid biotech trends and the opportunity from mRNA personalized cancer vaccines.
A: Management said they saw an encouraging uptick in small and midsized biotech but have relatively small exposure to that segment. They said the recent mRNA oncology data is positive for the modality but any impact will be delayed, not immediate, though it's good for both analytical labs and CDMO in the future.
"So we've seen -- we have a relatively small exposure, but I would say encouraging uptick in small to midsized biotech." — Padraig McDonnell (CEO)
Regional trends outside China
Q (Daniel Brennan · TD Cowen): Analyst asked how trends looked outside China given China was a big beat, and about the health of chemical & energy customers.
A: Management said Americas was strong, growing 10%, with high teens biotech and mid-single digit small molecule growth, while Europe was modest and should not be overread. On C&E, they said C&E grew low single digits on a tough compare and they expect CAM growth to continue, with chemical and energy an important part of that.
"Americas, growing at 10%, really exceeding our high single-digit expectations, really, really strong." — Padraig McDonnell (CEO)
Pricing actions and inflation management
Q (Kallum Titchmarsh · Morgan Stanley): Analyst wanted more color on pricing initiatives and how price will contribute if end markets improve.
A: Management said pricing has been a strong compounding factor from the Ignite program and they've exceeded their full-year guide of 100 bps plus for '26. They also said pricing is complemented by supply chain work, productivity and inventory management to handle inflation.
"We've already -- we've exceeded our initial full year guide of 100 bps plus for '26." — Padraig McDonnell (CEO)
Service contract timing after instrument placement
Q (Elizabeth Koslosky · Goldman Sachs): Analyst asked about lag time between instrument placement and when service contracts get booked.
A: Management said service grew mid-single digits and consumables high single digits, and that increased instrument demand is translating into lab productivity. They said there is a lag because the first 12 months are under warranty, so service conversion takes time.
"We had service growing at mid-single digits and consumables growing at high single digits across all regions." — Padraig McDonnell (CEO)
When instruments drive recurring service revenue
Q (Angelica Riemann): Analyst asked how long before placed instruments convert into recurring CrossLab service revenue.
A: Management said new instrument sales include new demand and tech refresh, and because the first 12 months are under warranty, they typically start seeing recurring ACG revenue from those instruments about 12 to 18 months after placement.
Diagnostics demand and Omnis contribution
Q (Casey Woodring · JPMorgan): Analyst asked why diagnostics grew only 6%, where orders strength was, and how Omnis contributed.
A: Management said pathology grew robustly with strong order entry and a solid backlog, companion diagnostics grew mid-teens, and genomics returned to growth. They said Omnis adoption is strong and the order momentum gives confidence heading into fiscal 2027.
"We had very strong order entry in the third quarter, and we continue to see really strong adoption of the Omnis family." — Simon May (PRESIDENT)