AVTR

A month has gone by since the last earnings report for Avantor, Inc. (AVTR). Shares have added about 5.4% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500. But investors have to be wondering, will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Avantor due for a pullback? Well, first let's take a quick look at the latest earnings report in order to get a better handle on the recent catalysts for Avantor, Inc. before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late. Avantor reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of 21 cents, down 12.5% from the year-ago quarter. However, the bottom line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 10.5%. GAAP EPS for the quarter was 6 cents, down from 9 cents per share in the prior-year quarter. Revenues for the second quarter increased 0.5% to $1.69 billion and surpassed the consensus mark by 4.2%. Results benefited from the earlier-than-expected return to organic growth in VWR Distribution & Services. Bioscience & Medtech Products, or BMP, also performed near the high end of management’s expectations, supported by double-digit order growth and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.1 times. Better-than-expected performance, especially by VWR, led management to raise sales and EPS guidance for the full year. Foreign currency translation had a favorable impact of 0.9% in the quarter. Excluding currency movements, total revenues declined 0.4% organically from the year-ago period. AVTR’s reported sales improvement reflected gains in its distribution business, partly offset by continued weakness in BMP. Management noted that commercial execution and customer-focused initiatives under the Avantor Revival program contributed to the better-than-anticipated quarterly performance. VWR Distribution & Services generated revenues of $1.24 billion, up 2.7% on a reported basis and 1.7% organically year over year. The segment returned to growth sooner than management had expected, driven primarily by higher volumes and stronger commercial execution. Performance improved across large global accounts as Avantor retained and expanded customer relationships, developed its new-business pipeline and accelerated contract onboarding. Small and midsized customers also contributed, aided by stronger e-commerce activity following upgrades to the company’s digital platform and the relaunch of vwr.com. Direct traffic, conversion rates and daily sales improved as the quarter progressed. Pharma and biotech customer activity provided an additional modest tailwind, although demand in education and certain European markets remained at subdued levels. BMP revenues totaled $451.8 million, reflecting a reported decline of 5.1% and an organic decrease of 5.6%. Despite the year-over-year contraction, the segment delivered sequential revenue growth and finished near the high end of the company’s expectations. Process Chemicals outperformed management’s forecast, supported by healthy end-market demand, improved operations and strong order activity. However, Fluid Handling and NuSil declined in the mid-teens, while Research & Specialty Chemicals recorded a mid-single-digit organic decrease. The normalization of prior-year customer ordering patterns in NuSil, Serum and Electronic Materials, along with a challenging comparison in Fluid Handling, created approximately 600-basis-point headwind to BMP’s organic growth. Management expects these pressures to ease going forward and continues to project a return to organic growth during the second half of 2026. In the quarter under review, Avantor’s gross profit declined 3.1% year over year to $537 million. The gross margin contracted approximately 120 basis points (bps) to 31.7%. Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased 2.4% year over year to $415.2 million. Adjusted operating profit totaled $225.1 million, down 10.7% from the prior-year quarter’s level. The adjusted operating margin in the quarter contracted 170 bps to 13.3%. Avantor exited the second quarter of 2026 with cash and cash equivalents of $306.8 million compared with $279.3 million at the first quarter of 2026-end. Total debt at the end of the second quarter of 2026 was $3.70 billion compared with $3.82 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2026. Cumulative cash provided by operating activities at the end of the second quarter of 2026 was $236.9 million compared with $263.7 million a year ago. Operating cash flow was $178.2 million in the quarter, while free cash flow totaled $142.8 million. Avantor repaid $112.1 million of debt and ended June with gross debt of $3.72 billion, cash of $306.8 million and adjusted net leverage of 3.3 times. Avantor raised its 2026 organic revenue growth outlook to a range of negative 0.5% to positive 0.5%. The previous forecast called for a decline of 2.5% to 0.5%. The increase reflects VWR’s stronger performance and improved expectations for the second half. Adjusted earnings guidance was raised to 80-83 cents per share from the prior range of 77-83 cents. The company maintained its adjusted EBITDA margin forecast of 14.8-15.3% and free cash flow outlook of $500-$550 million. Since the earnings release, investors have witnessed a upward trend in fresh estimates. At this time, Avantor has a subpar Growth Score of D, though it is lagging a bit on the Momentum Score front with an F. However, the stock was allocated a score of C on the value side, putting it in the middle 20% for value investors. Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of D. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in. Estimates have been trending upward for the stock, and the magnitude of these revisions looks promising. It comes with little surprise Avantor has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). We expect an above average return from the stock in the next few months. Avantor belongs to the Zacks Medical Services industry. Another stock from the same industry, Danaher (DHR), has gained 10% over the past month. More than a month has passed since the company reported results for the quarter ended June 2026. Danaher reported revenues of $6.27 billion in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +5.5%. EPS of $1.94 for the same period compares with $1.80 a year ago. For the current quarter, Danaher is expected to post earnings of $1.96 per share, indicating a change of +3.7% from the year-ago quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate remained unchanged over the last 30 days. The overall direction and magnitude of estimate revisions translate into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for Danaher. Also, the stock has a VGM Score of F. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Avantor, Inc. (AVTR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Danaher Corporation (DHR) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Hims & Hers Health, Inc. HIMS reported quarterly adjusted loss per share of 10 cents in second-quarter 2026, against the year-ago period’s adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of 17 cents. The metric was wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of loss per share of 7 cents. GAAP loss per share for the quarter was 37 cents against the year-ago period’s EPS of 17 cents. Hims & Hers registered revenues of $753.2 million in the second quarter, up 38.2% year over year. The figure surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 9.1%. Solid revenues from both geographic segments drove the top line. Shares of this company lost nearly 6.8% in today’s pre-market trading. In the second quarter of 2026, revenues in the United States increased 15.7% year over year to $621.8 million. Rest of the World revenues grossed $131.4 million, up from the year-ago quarter’s $7.5 million. During the reported quarter, subscribers were 2.9 million, up 18.5% year over year. Monthly online revenue per average subscriber increased 21.1% year over year to $92 in the second quarter. Per management, the uptick was primarily driven by changes in product mix, including uptake of HIMS’ weight loss offerings. Hims & Hers Health, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Hims & Hers Health, Inc. Quote In the second quarter of 2026, Hims & Hers’ gross profit increased 15.5% year over year to $480.8 million. However, the gross margin contracted 1256 basis points to 63.8%. Marketing expenses increased 20.4% year over year to $262.2 million, while technology and development expenses jumped 45.1% year over year to $54.9 million. General and administrative expenses surged 145.8% year over year to $165.4 million, while operations and support expenses increased 43.6% year over year to $95.5 million. Operating expenses of $577.9 million increased 48.4% year over year. Operating loss totaled $97.2 million against the year-ago quarter’s operating profit of $26.7 million. Hims & Hers exited second-quarter 2026 with cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments of $841 million compared with $750.9 million at the end of first-quarter 2026. Cumulative net cash provided by operating activities at the end of second-quarter 2026 was $53.4 million compared with $89.9 million a year ago. Hims & Hers has provided its revenue outlook for the third quarter and raised the same for 2026. The company projects revenues for the third quarter of 2026 in the range of $880 million to $900 million, reflecting an uptick of 47%-50% year over year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $778.6 million. For the full year, HIMS now projects revenues in the range of $3.1 billion to $3.3 billion (representing growth of 32%-41% from 2025 levels), up from the prior outlook of $2.8 billion to $3 billion (representing growth of 19%-28% from 2025 levels). The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $2.91 billion. Hims & Hers exited the second quarter of 2026 with better-than-expected revenues. The company recorded robust improvement in the top line and geographic revenues in the quarter. The increase in subscribers and monthly online revenue per average subscriber during the quarter was encouraging. Per management, HIMS’ geographic results were strengthened by the close of the Eucalyptus acquisition in June. Management expects its domestic business to continue accelerating through the second half of the year. The company is optimistic about the combination of this momentum with the meaningful efficiencies being generated from Hims & Hers’ investments in AI and technology. These raise our optimism about the stock. However, Hims & Hers’ wider-than-expected loss per share and dismal bottom-line results in the quarter were disappointing. The contraction of the gross margin during the quarter does not bode well for the stock. Hims & Hers currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space that have announced quarterly results are BrightSpring Health Services, Inc. BTSG, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated DGX and Avantor, Inc. AVTR. BrightSpring, sporting a Zacks Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted EPS of 45 cents, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 21.6%. Revenues of $3.87 billion outpaced the consensus mark by 6.1%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. BrightSpring has a long-term estimated growth rate of 46%. BTSG’s earnings surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed once, the average surprise being 16.1%. Quest Diagnostics reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted EPS of $3.12, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11%. Revenues of $3.04 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.2%. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Quest Diagnostics has a long-term estimated growth rate of 9.7%. DGX’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 5.8%. Avantor reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted EPS of 21 cents, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 10.5%. Revenues of $1.69 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.2%. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2. Avantor has a long-term estimated growth rate of 1.6%. AVTR’s earnings surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed once, the average surprise being 4.3%. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Hims & Hers Health, Inc. (HIMS) : Free Stock Analysis Report Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (DGX) : Free Stock Analysis Report Avantor, Inc. (AVTR) : Free Stock Analysis Report BrightSpring Health Services, Inc. (BTSG) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Image source: The Motley Fool. Wednesday, July 29, 2026 at 8:00 a.m. ET Vice President, Investor Relations - Chris Fidyk President and Chief Executive Officer - Emmanuel Ligner Senior Vice President, Interim Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer - Steve Eck Operator: Good morning. My name is Krista, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Avantor's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. I would now like to turn the conference over to Chris Fidyk, Vice President of Investor Relations. Chris, you may begin. Chris Fidyk: Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Our speakers today are Emmanuel Ligner, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Steve Eck, the Senior Vice President, Interim Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer. The press release and our presentation accompanying this call are available on our Investor Relations website at ir.avantorsciences.com. Following our prepared remarks, we will open the call for questions. A replay of the call will be made available on our website later today. During this call, we will make forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws, including statements regarding events or developments that we believe or anticipate may occur in the future. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those set forth in our SEC filings. Actual results may differ materially from any forward-looking statements that we make today. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. We do not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or other developments. This call will include a discussion of non-GAAP measures. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures can be found in the press release and in the supplemental disclosure package on our Investor Relations website. I will now turn the call over to Emmanuel. Emmanuel Ligner: Thank you, Chris, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our call today. I will begin with a high-level update on our second quarter performance. I will then reflect on the actions we've taken since I came into this role nearly 12 months ago and discuss the progress we are making in executing Revival, our comprehensive program to sharpen strategic focus and improve execution. Turning to Slide 4. Let me highlight a few key messages. First, we remain highly focused on executing Revival, and I am very happy with the progress we made to date. Revival delivered measurable results and put us on a path to sustainable growth. Second, I'm pleased that our second quarter results exceeded expectations across several key financial metrics. Those results were driven by improved performance in our VWR distribution and service segments which returned to positive organic revenue growth during the quarter. Our Bioscience & Medtech Products segments performed near the high end of our expectation and is positioned to return to growth in the second half. Third, we delivered excellent free cash flow, enabling us to invest in the business while also paying down debt. We remain committed to reduce our adjusted net leverage ratio below 3x. Finally, we raised our 2026 organic revenue growth and adjusted EPS guidance. Our updated outlook reflects both our second quarter performance as well as higher expectation for the second half of the year. Please turn to Slide 5, where I will review our Q2 performance highlights. In Q2, we generated $1.69 billion of revenue, which declined 0.4% on organic basis and was up 0.5% on a reported basis. Revenue was stronger than we had anticipated, driven primarily by VWR, which grew 1.7% organically in the quarter. VWR returned to growth earlier than we anticipated, reflecting the deliberate action taken by segment President, Corey Walker and his team to strengthen the business. The segment entered the second half of 2026 with broad-based momentum, and we continue to expect growth to accelerate through the remainder of the year. I will talk more about the driver of VWR return to growth later in my remarks. Turning to BMP. Revenue was near the high end of our expectation, driven by solid execution across the segments. On a year-over-year basis, revenue declined 5.6% organically, reflecting the impact of the discrete factors we had discussed previously. Importantly, BMP delivered sequential revenue growth from Q1 to Q2 and as anticipated, demonstrated a stable trend. In BMP, we saw strong order intake and improving operations in the second quarter. Those leading indicators provide evidence that our Revival initiatives are gaining traction and when combined with reduced comparison headwinds from discrete factors give us confidence that BMP will return to organic growth during the second half of 2026. I will discuss Revival impact on BMP shortly. Moving down the P&L, adjusted EBITDA grew more than 15% sequentially from Q1, driven by increased volumes in both segments. Adjusted earnings per share was $0.21, above our expectations for the quarter. Finally, one of Avantor's key strengths is our ability to consistently generate strong free cash flow. In second quarter, excluding cash restructuring costs, we generated $152 million of free cash flow. This reflected strong conversion of adjusted net income and keep us on track to achieve our full year free cash flow guidance. We used this strong cash generation to repay $112 million of debt during the quarter, further strengthening our balance sheet and underscoring our commitment to reduce our adjusted net leverage ratio to below 3x. Please turn to Slide 6. Last year, we launched Avantor Revival, our comprehensive program to sharpen strategic focus and improve execution across the enterprise. Revival is built on 5 pillars: commercial excellence, operation performance, portfolio optimization, simplification and talent. Guided by insights from customers, suppliers and associates at Gemba, we have launched initiatives across each pillar that are producing measurable results. Some examples are on Slide 7. We have made important go-to-market changes. We have resegmented Avantor into VWR and BMP to sharpen our focus, simplify the organization and better serve customers. We Revived the VWR brand and accelerated our digital road map, including the relaunch of vwr.com which has driven stronger customer engagement and e-commerce performance. Across both segments, we are extremely focused on commercial excellence to drive every product and service in a way that delights customers. In BMP, our commercial teams are executed with greater consistency and focus, resulting in stronger customer engagement and higher win rates. This translates into double-digit order growth for BMP and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.1x during the second quarter while also expanding our funnel of future growth opportunities. Those go-to-market efforts are reflected not just in BMP's order momentum, but also in VWR's return to growth. In the manufacturing pillar, we have invested across our supply chain to improve productivity and strengthen customer service. Those investments, combined with the ongoing implementation of a new sales and operation planning process are driving execution improvements. For example, during the quarter, we increased the throughput of certain key product lines at a large manufacturing site by more than 25% on average versus the first quarter. This progress is the direct result of Revival initiatives, including the use of Lean and Six Sigma tools to enhance equipment uptime, reliability and overall productivity. The simplifying how we work pillar delivers benefits both inside and outside the organization. One example is the recent redesign of our customers' onboarding process. Drawing on insights from multiple Gemba works and a cross-functional kaizen event, we redesigned the process from end to end, reducing onboarding from 14 steps to just 8 and cutting completion times from up to 4 days to as little as 2 days for complex accounts or to just minutes for simple accounts. Finally, as I have said before, Revival begins and ends with people. We move quickly to complement our strong internal talent with experienced external leaders, refreshing approximately 25% of our senior leadership team, and we are driving a culture transformation across Avantor. We are communicating more effectively collaborating more closely in the field, holding ourselves more accountable through a disciplined focus and measurable outcomes and putting customers at the center of all what we do. The positive impact of Revival is evident not only in our improved second quarter results, but also in leading indicators such as the strength of our order book and the expansion of our commercial funnel that will ultimately lead to sustainable profitable growth. Please turn to Slide 8. VWR returned to growth in Q2 marks an important milestone for the segment. While the growth inflection itself is encouraging, the underlying drivers are broad-based, as I will describe, giving us confidence that we are building sustainable momentum. The leadership team, Corey has built over the past year has implemented meaningful changes to VWR organization structure and operating model, setting the stage for segment's improved performance. With the team structure and operating model in place, we made deliberated decision to strengthen our capabilities, operation, brand and commercial excellence. Together, those actions have laid the foundation for the stronger performance we are seeing today. Customers turn to VWR for our growth scale, the depth and breadth of our product agnostic catalog, strong supplier relationship and excellent service. Combined with the changes, we have taken over the past year, our strengths are translated into stronger financial results, including stronger growth across key customer segments. Let me review the key factor driving VWR's return to growth in Q2. The first factor was stronger performance with large global customers. As a reminder, revenue from new business win is realized gradually due to the complexity of customer implementation processes, so we can take time before the benefit of strong commercial performance are reflected in our results. Previously, we discussed several elements impacting our large global customer segments, including recontracting activity and other industry dynamics. While our commercial focus and execution has improved significantly over the past year, those historical pressure phased in over the course of 2025, with the cumulative impact moderating in the first quarter of this year. While they continue to represent a headwind in 2026, their impact is diminishing as we move forward and offsetting action has been successful in driving stronger-than-anticipated results in this segment. Accordingly, year-over-year comparison will become increasingly favorable as the year progressed, allowing our result to more fully reflect our underlying commercial momentum. Our growth rate in the second quarter benefited modestly from this improving comparison dynamic. Over the past year, VWR team has taken thoughtful and deliberated steps to expand our relationship with large global customers. The team focused on retaining and expanding large global customer relationship, strategically developing our new customer pipeline and accelerating the onboarding process for new contracts. We have executed well against the growth opportunity that our efforts have generated and this new business is contributing to our results sooner and more meaningful than we anticipated. Another important driver of VWR performance is improving growth in our small and midsized customer segments, with better e-commerce outcome playing an important role. On our last earnings call, we highlighted early sign of improving trends following multiple upgrade to our platform as well as successful relaunch of vwr.com. We advanced our digital road map in the second quarter, and customers have responded positively to those enhancements, driving direct traffic, higher conversion and improved daily sales, particularly among smaller customers who tend to have higher margin. As a result, e-commerce growth accelerated as the quarter progressed and was accretive to the segment growth for the quarter. Although our recent progress is encouraging, our digital transformation remains in the early stage. We continue to see substantial opportunity to enhance the customers' experience, deepen engagement and drive sustained growth in the channel particularly in Europe. Finally, while deliberate action drove the majority of VWR improved performance, an increase in pharma and biotech customer activity provided a modest tailwind during the quarter, reinforcing our decision last year to focus significantly commercial resources on those customers' groups. It is important to note that activity level in several important end markets such, as education and in certain geographies, particularly Europe, remain stable, but at a lower level than we would love to see. An improvement in those end markets could represent an additional tailwind to our growth. Overall, we are pleased by VWR improved results but remain focused on execution to sustain and build the positive momentum. I will now turn the call over to Steve to discuss the numbers. Steve? Steven Eck: Thank you, Emmanuel, and good morning, everyone. Please turn to Slide 10, where I will review our consolidated financial results. In Q2, we generated $1.69 billion of revenue which declined negative 0.4% on an organic basis and was up positive 0.5% on a reported basis. Adjusted EBITDA was $254 million, resulting in a margin of 15%, and adjusted earnings per share of $0.21. Free cash flow for the quarter was $143 million. Excluding cash restructuring costs, free cash flow was $152 million. Both figures were ahead of expectations and underscore Avantor's strong cash flow profile. During the quarter, we repaid approximately $112 million of debt and ended the period with an adjusted net leverage ratio of 3.3x adjusted EBITDA. Leverage was flat sequentially. Please turn to Slide 11. Revenue for VWR Distribution & Services segment was $1.24 billion in the second quarter, up 1.7% organically versus the prior year. The primary driver of sequential and year-over-year organic revenue growth was increased volumes from strong commercial execution. Adjusted operating income for VWR was $126 million in Q2 and representing an adjusted operating margin of 10.2%. The year-over-year decline in margin is due primarily to mix and inflationary pressures. Sequentially, margins increased approximately 100 basis points from the first quarter due to increased volumes and improved mix. There are 2 key takeaways from the VWR quarter. First, VWR returned to growth ahead of our expectations, and the majority of this improved performance reflects steps that we have taken to grow the segment. Second, VWR demonstrated stable sequential trends, with revenue increasing from the first quarter primarily due to strong commercial execution. Let me now discuss the performance in the Bioscience & Medtech Products segment, or BMP. I'm on Slide 12. In the second quarter, BMP revenue was $452 million, down 5.6% organically versus the prior year. This was near the high end of our expectations, driven by solid performance across product lines. Process chemicals grew faster than expectations, driven by healthy end market conditions, improving operations and strong order performance. Fluid Handling and NuSil were down mid-teens in the quarter, as anticipated, while Research and Specialty Chemicals declined mid-single digits organically, primarily reflecting the anticipated growth headwinds from Serum and Electronic Materials. Last quarter, we indicated that NuSil and the Serum and Electronic Materials businesses within Research and Specialty Chemicals would be headwinds to our quarterly growth rate due to the normalization of discrete customer ordering patterns and shipments in 2025. We also indicated that we faced a difficult comparison in Fluid Handling. Collectively, these factors were a headwind of roughly 600 basis points to BMP organic revenue growth in the second quarter. Adjusted operating income for BMP was $118 million in the quarter, representing an adjusted operating margin of 26%. The year-over-year decline in margin was primarily driven by lower volumes. Margins increased sequentially due to increased volumes and mix. There are 2 key takeaways from the BMP quarter. First, commercial performance was strong as evidenced by our order trends. During the quarter, BMP delivered double-digit order growth and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.1x. Order trends were healthy across all business units, and we saw particular strength in our process chemicals and Fluid Handling order books. Second, BMP demonstrated stable sequential trends with performance near high end of our expectations. Please turn to Slide 13. Our ability to consistently generate strong free cash flow is a key strength of Avantor. In the second quarter, excluding cash restructuring costs, we generated $152 million of free cash flow reflecting strong conversion of adjusted net income. Our capital allocation priorities support revival and our intention to create sustainable shareholder value over the long term. First, we're focused on purposeful investments in the business to enhance customer service and drive top line organic growth. Next, We are focused on strengthening our balance sheet by prioritizing excess free cash flow towards debt repayment. During the quarter, we repaid $112 million of debt and ended the period with net debt of $3.4 billion. And over the trailing 12 months, we've repaid nearly $500 million of debt. Our adjusted net leverage ratio was 3.3x at the end of the quarter. We've made significant progress in strengthening our balance sheet, and that momentum was recognized by Moody's, which revised our ratings outlook to positive. In addition, we recently capitalized on favorable market conditions and demand for our credit to reprice one of our term loans on attractive terms in July. We remain committed to reducing our adjusted net leverage ratio to below 3x, driven both by continued debt paydown and a return to positive adjusted EBITDA growth as performance improves. Our objective is to finish the fiscal year at or below this target. Please turn to Slide 14, where I will discuss our increased 2026 guidance. For 2026, we have raised our organic revenue growth outlook to a range of negative 0.5% to positive 0.5%. This increase reflects our Q2 revenue outperformance as well as higher growth expectations for VWR in the second half of the year. Given the recent strength of the U.S. dollar, foreign exchange is expected to be a headwind to the reported revenue in the second half. As a result, we now expect FX to contribute about 50 basis points to full year revenue. In terms of segment performance, we continue to expect VWR's growth rate to improve sequentially through the balance of the year. We expect BMP to return to growth during the second half, driven by improved execution and more favorable discrete comparisons. BMP growth is expected to be stronger in Q3 than in Q4 due to more favorable year-over-year comparisons. Moving to profitability. Our adjusted EBITDA margin guidance remains unchanged as operational outperformance enables us to absorb macro inflationary pressures while also making targeted growth investments. We remain highly focused on cost discipline as reflected in our overall headcount, which has declined by approximately 3% this year. Looking ahead, our objective is to deliver a more leveraged P&L. Moving down the income statement. We now expect that net interest expense will decline modestly versus 2025, and we also assume a weighted average diluted share count for the year of 677 million shares. All other model assumptions are unchanged. Taken together, this translates to an adjusted EPS outlook that has been raised to $0.80 to $0.83 for 2026. Finally, we continue to expect free cash flow between $500 million and $550 million in 2026, reflecting Avantor's strong cash generation profile. In terms of phasing, in Q3, we expect to generate adjusted EPS between $0.20 and $0.21 per share. The midpoint of our Q3 guidance assumes total company organic revenue growth of about 250 basis points in the third quarter, and we expect FX to be a headwind of about 125 basis points to Q3 reported revenue. We assume that BMP reported revenue in Q3 will be about flat sequentially and year-over-year, with year-over-year organic revenue growth largely offset by FX headwinds. For BMP, the impact of discrete customer ordering patterns and shipments will represent a headwind of about 150 basis points to organic growth in Q3. Finally, we expect the underlying operating margin drivers in both segments to remain relatively stable sequentially with volumes, mix and inflationary pressures expected to be the primary factors influencing any sequential changes in segment margins. I'll turn the call back over to Emmanuel. Emmanuel Ligner: Thank you, Steve. In closing and on Slide 15, I would like to leave you with 3 key takeaways. First, 9 months into Revival, the operational changes we have implemented are delivering measurable results. Those improvements are increasingly evident in our operating and financial performance and reinforce the positive trajectory of the business. Second, our growth outlook has improved. The VWR team is executing extremely well, and the investment and strategic initiatives taken over the past year are translating into growth. We also expect BMP will return to growth in the second half, underpinned by a strong order book, improving operations and more favorable comparisons. Third, we continue to generate strong free cash flow, enabling us to invest in the business while supporting our commitment to reduce debt and strengthen our balance sheet. Let me thank our Avantor associates around the world for their dedication to serving our customers. Thank you for embracing Revival and our new ways of working. I am very pleased with the progress we've made together this year. And finally, I am excited to share an important announcement. We plan to host our Investor Day on Tuesday, December 8, in New York City. We're looking forward to sharing a comprehensive overview of our business, strategy and financial objectives, while providing an opportunity for investors to engage more broadly with our leadership team. Operator, we are happy to take questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] And your first question comes from Eve Burstein. Eve Burstein: Let's start with VWR. So you said that the growth there was driven primarily by actions that you took to strengthen the franchise. How do you assess whether it really was your actions versus broader market recovery and improvement? And your guidance raise was attributed to improved expectations for VWR in the year. Is that due to expectations for broader market recovery? Or is it due to the actions you've been able to take? Emmanuel Ligner: Eve, thank you for your question. Indeed, we evaluated, okay? And let me start saying by the fact that we are super pleased with VWR performance and the very strong execution by the team. So indeed, more than half of the growth that we deliberated in Q2 comes from deliberated action that we're taking. Maybe let me share a few things, splitting the market in large global customers account and midsized and smaller customers, if you don't mind. So for the large global customer accounts, in the past, we talked about some headwinds that we had in contract renewal. Well, we begin to lap those headwinds from the history. So this is point number one. Point number two, we also shared with you that we have, over the past year, really won many large contracts. And each time we did that, we negotiated opportunity. And the team has worked really, really hard to grab those opportunities, to turn around those opportunities into growth. And it's a license to hunt, and basically, what the team is actually doing and executing is actually gaining share of wallet inside those large accounts. So it's working well. We are a bit of advanced versus we thought we will be, and this is sustainable. The second thing is on mid and small customers. E-commerce is really the highlight of Q2 for us. It's part of the Revival. It's part of the go-to-market. It is working. We've relaunched vwr.com, and the customers have reacted very, very well from that. So we see some really positive momentum in that segment as well. The remainder of the growth, of course, is coming from better pharma, better biotech end markets, primarily in the U.S. So it's a broad-based momentum that we see. The team is completely focused on customers, focused on execution, finding the opportunity, grabbing those opportunities, turning those opportunities to growth, and this is why we're confident that VWR growth will actually accelerate in H2. Eve Burstein: Great. That's really helpful. Maybe just to clarify one of your points in follow-up. So obviously, you've talked quite a lot about the recontracting with those large global customers and how you're mostly done with that process, and so we'll start to see more of the underlying strength of the business as we move past that. If you had to quantify how much of a headwind has that been to overall growth? And so even without an underlying improvement in the market, or in other elements of your execution, how much of a tailwind are you now going to start seeing from moving past those pricing actions and just growing with a lower base? Emmanuel Ligner: Yes. I think, Eve, this is a very good question. Look, I think we quantified it as more than half, okay? We don't go into those customers by customers detail just by practice. . Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Kallum Titchmarsh with Morgan Stanley. Kallum Titchmarsh: Maybe just following up on the previous one. But on the channel specifically, good to see the organic growth coming through, but those growth rates are still below peers. So maybe just help us to better understand the market share dynamics you're seeing there? And any KPIs you could perhaps give us to show that, that's shifting back in your favor? Emmanuel Ligner: Sure. Look, we have many KPIs that we are looking at, okay? We are looking at the number of new accounts. We're looking at as the -- what happened, for example, in the e-commerce platform around numbers of clicks, number of basket, which is set up numbers of conversion they send. And of course, I will -- we measure a lot of those things on a daily basis. Look, here's what we're doing to regain market share. We've relaunched VWR brand. We've relaunched vwr.com. We made significant upgrade on the platform. We're not done. We have a whole program in place, and we are continuing to invest there. We have really good structure funnel review that really drive the customer focus by region, by segment. We really take care of when we renew a contract, what are the opportunities, what are the size of the opportunities, how the opportunities are actually being converted. We track many things. And one important thing that we've implemented recently is the pricing tools, all right? We have a much more robust pricing review again on a monthly basis. The entire executive team is part of this. Corey is leading this initiative with his team. I think we shared last call that we have a new pricing leaders. And we work also very closely with our suppliers and partners. This is very important. This is a multiple relationship. And this is all part of Revival go-to-market. And we are just really extremely pleased that VWR is back to growth at 1.7%, growth on lift versus previous year. And we are absolutely committed to continue to grow and to accelerate this growth. So I think it's -- this is where we are today. We know that the majority of the growth is coming from the action that we are taking, that the team is implemented and is really focused on delivering, and that will accelerate in H2. Steven Eck: This is Steve. I'd like to just maybe just add a little bit to what Emmanuel said and highlight a little bit. While the 1.7% growth is not quite yet market, I just want to highlight that we moved from negative 4.8% in 1Q to positive 1.7% in 2Q, and we expect that growth rate to continue to accelerate here as we get into the second half. And part of that is the sustainable improvements we've made, part of it is the comparisons from last year. So really nice development of the growth rate. Kallum Titchmarsh: Totally. Understood. And then, Emmanuel, nearly a year now since you took over here. So maybe just as we think about the kind of areas for investment you identified in 2026 with Revival, I guess as we've worked our way through the year, how comfortable are you that those commitments are sufficient to address the issues you had, as we think about potential costs remaining elevated into 2027? Emmanuel Ligner: That's a good question, Kallum. I think it's very important to understand that Revival is constantly evolving. So when we arrived, we did a through listening to the market, the suppliers, our associates. We identified, I would say, really high priority that we had. Mary in supply chain is here. We have invested in supply chain. We've grown talent and we've brought more talent in the organization, like in the e-commerce platform with our new digital leader that came from Medline. All those things are reviewed on a monthly basis. Ludovic Brellier, who joined us as the Head of BMP segments, but also the transformation leaders has a really clear operating plan for the Revival programs. And so we take project by project, I will say. And then we deliver them, we tick the box, and we move on into another one. So there's still a lot to do. We shared many of those. I mean the last one that we shared in this call was the onboarding process, which is very important for our customers, simplifying the process, accelerating their capabilities to create an account. This is done. And then we move on to the other one. So I think we'll continue to invest. This is something very important for us. We simplify, we save and then we reinvest for growth. This is the formula that we are applying. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Dan Brennan with TD Cowen. Daniel Brennan: I thought I would just -- if you don't mind, just go back to VWR distribution and the investments that you made there to kind of stabilize with the price. I know there was a question asked earlier. But could you just remind us, in the back half of the year, is that like fully comped out that investment because it looks like it might have been like a 3-point benefit, like you're saying in Q2? Just wondering kind of what's baked in for the back half of the year on that investment. Emmanuel Ligner: Look, I think in the VWR area, so the majority of the investment is on the e-commerce platform, the relaunch of the vwr.com and we'll continue to do so. So I think all our investments are baked into our guidance today. Daniel Brennan: Okay. Maybe zooming out just on the BMP segment then for a moment. Book-to-bill has been above 1x in the last couple of quarters. Obviously, growth has been challenged, but you have the idiosyncratic factors. Just -- can you speak a little bit about like the backlog there, kind of what the -- how much of that business is backlog driven, kind of how we translate that strong book-to-bill into the outlook, whether it be in the back half and then in '27? And then any specific color just on NuSil, which I know you guys have kind of a market leadership there? Just wondering kind of volume and price on NuSil and kind of what the outlook that's baked in on that front. Emmanuel Ligner: Sure. Let me maybe start with the market. So BMP is really across diverse set of end markets, electronic materials. You just talked about NuSil and Medtech, of course, our bioprocessing market with our biochemicals. Look, overall, we are very pleased again with the go-to-market activity that we're doing with the commercial team. So we talked early on, on Q2 on the order intake, double-digit and the book-to-bill being positive, but I can tell you that from the first half, it's the same. It's low double-digit order book for the entire first half, which is, I think, very encouraging. And all the subsegments are in growth as well in the entire BMP. So we're super encouraged by that. The market is solid for all of those subsegments. We have those discrete things that you talk about that give us a comparison. But again, the team is really focusing on finding the opportunity, converting the opportunity, bringing the order in, and then the supply chain team is working really hard to make sure that we supply the customers the best we can. And this is working well. We continue to invest. Again, this is something that takes time, but we are happy where we are right now. So just a bit on NuSil. NuSil is doing good. Good order intake on NuSil, price, but nothing crazy, a good price lift, but nothing crazy. Some good volume as well. Some good activity, not only in the implants, but in the new markets that we are pushing, like aerospace. And that's something that we can give you a bit more color when we are together at the Investor Day. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Vijay Kumar with Evercore ISI. Mackenzie Strehle: This is Mackenzie on for Vijay. First one from us. I was wondering if you could talk a little bit more about the guide cadence in the second half? And specifically, I know you've talked a few times about expecting VWR to accelerate. But could you give us any color on sort of the size of the ramp or some of the levers to the upside or downside? And how we might think about the exit rates in fourth quarter? Emmanuel Ligner: Sure, Mackenzie. I thought that Vijay has changed voice, so I'm glad. Welcome to the call. I'm going to pass it to Steve. Steven Eck: Yes. Thanks, Emmanuel, and good morning, Mackenzie. Happy to step you through our assumptions around the full year guidance, which we've updated. Starting with top line. As you know, we updated the guide for the consolidated full year organic revenue growth. And that's really driven by the flow-through of VWR's outperformance in 2Q as well as our raised expectations for the business in the second half. The outlook related to BMP is generally unchanged from our initial guidance. The business continues to perform very well and in line with our plan. We reaffirmed our adjusted EBITDA margin guidance for the full year despite the continued inflationary pressure we're absorbing. For example, we continue to see significant pressure on freight costs for both segments. A couple of other housekeeping items from nonoperational in nature. We expect FX to be a headwind for the second half. We also have slightly lower assumptions for our share count interest expense. And if you put all that together, these are the important factors driving the updated guide of $0.80 to $0.83 for adjusted EPS for the full year. Mackenzie Strehle: Great. That's super helpful. And then a follow-up just on your end markets here. Advanced tech was pretty strong, and education and government also grew off of a slightly tougher comp, whereas biopharma and healthcare declined a little bit. I'm just wondering if you can talk about the puts and takes here? What kind of drove either these end markets and how we should be thinking about them into the second half? Emmanuel Ligner: All right. I think, Mackenzie, probably because of BMP here. Generally speaking, in VWR, we see more pharma, more biotech activity, I would say, especially in U.S.A., in America. Other markets, we see it more or less unchanged, right? Education and Europe are probably a stable level or at the level that we were kind of expecting. So a bit low level. We wish it was a bit better. And on BMP, I think all diverse set of markets are healthy, and that is reflecting our order book, process chemicals order book, in particular, double digit for the quarter. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Matt Larew with William Blair. Matthew Larew: Emmanuel, obviously, over the last year, a number of initiatives you've laid out within Revival, have moved from evaluation phase to execution phase, acknowledging you mentioned it's been an ongoing process. By the time we get through to the December Analyst Day, do you feel like it'll largely be set in terms of the management team changes, the implementation of kind of the big items you identified last year? And I guess as part of that, one thing is the portfolio review. Is that something you expect to sort of be complete by the Investor Day as well? Emmanuel Ligner: Thanks, Matt. Yes, I think you're right, we're working hard on all the pillars, okay? And for that, the portfolio, it's ongoing. It's really an important part of our pillar, okay? And we are, of course, looking at every businesses, assessing any product line, any market position, the financial profile, and we are always asking ourselves, are we the best owners. So we're working out on that part. And yes, we hope that we can give you some update at the Investors Day. But what I want to say, Matt, as well is Revival is really a program which is constantly evolving. So we're going through a lot right now, but I'm sure because it's a culture as well that we want to bring to the organization of continuous improvement. So it's not because we will have made some very good progress that we will finish the year with momentum that we will still not have things that we want to do and we want to improve and we want to progress. So it's going to evolve, but we'll give you more update on the portfolio. Matthew Larew: Okay. That's great. And then the discrete headwinds in BMP referenced 600 basis points in Q2. I think you said 150 in Q3. Maybe what is that in the fourth quarter? And then I assume that's out of the numbers for the most part of next year and thus setting up potentially a path to return to durable growth on that side of the business. Steven Eck: Yes. Matt, this is Steve. Happy to share there. So as you already pointed out, 2Q was the most challenging quarter. You already referenced the 3Q headwind we expect to see. The only other point to make would be related to fourth quarter, which will also be a pretty difficult comparison of about 400 basis points related to our Electronic Materials business. We do think it's also useful to reflect on the sequential performance of the business, which presents a little more consistent picture of the improvements and the progress we'made, over the course of the year. We expect to see gradual strengthening in the volumes over the course of the year. And this is really the result of 2 major things, and we talked about them in the prepared remarks. First, the operational improvements that the team has been driving and continue to focus on and the development of that really strong order book. We're really excited for the building and sustainable momentum and I think the profile within 2026 over the course of '26 is really gradual and improving and really strong. Emmanuel Ligner: Maybe I can add because I can sense behind your question is your strong interest about 2027, which, by the way, it's the same for me, you're right. So as you know, we may be a bit too early to give guidance there. But let me share a few thoughts there. I mean both VWR and the BMP team are really executing super well. We are really happy about the fact the team has embraced Revival and a new way of working. We will exit '26 with momentum. There's no doubt about this. We will not be completely done for sure, and we'll continue to push more initiative to continuously improve the business. But we will leave the year with momentum. So 2027, every day, every month, the last 90 days, my confidence is increasing, and I'm confident and optimistic that 2027 will be a growth year. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Casey Woodring with JPMorgan. Casey Woodring: Yes, I just wanted to push on the margin piece, right? You reiterated adjusted EBITDA margins for the year. Maybe just talk a little bit about gross margin expectations for the back half. I know you have some easier comps in VWR given last year's reset, but you talked a little bit about inflationary pressure ramping here. So maybe just if you could quantify that piece and maybe walk through the moving pieces and the levers you can pull, whether that's productivity, pricing or elsewhere on gross margins. Steven Eck: Casey, this is Steve. Thanks for your question. Yes, consolidated gross margin, the rate was essentially flat from 1Q to 2Q of this year. We do expect that rate to stay steady through the end of the year. While stability is good, obviously, we were looking for margin expansion. So what are our priorities in this regard? First, we're looking to drive as much volume as we can. We also want to successfully navigate inflationary pressures with our customers and suppliers constructively. We prefer and want to drive a strong product sales mix. And I want to also highlight our focus on digital investment. And we mentioned it in the prepared remarks. The digital capabilities really help us connect better with our smaller customers, which tend to be better margin sales for us. So we're very focused on that. So excellent job by our teams at this point in the year in driving these things, and those are going to be the key levers as we move forward. Casey Woodring: Okay. That's helpful. And then I guess, I appreciate the commentary on '27, but just how are you balancing kind of investment into the business that you've kind of talked about here today versus margin expansion for next year? And can you grow EPS next year? Emmanuel Ligner: Casey, Emmanuel here. Look, I'll go back to the philosophy that we are pushing, simplifying, saving, reinvesting for growth, all right? I mean, I think last quarter, we shared that our head count is down about minus 2%. That was last quarter. At the end of this quarter, the head count is down minus 3%. And basically, our objective and what we are driving as a culture is to drive for a leveraged P&L. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Michael Ryskin with Bank of America. Michael Ryskin: I want to follow up on BMP sort of like pacing through the rest of the year. You kind of talked about improving third quarter up a little bit. Fourth quarter -- then the fourth quarter is just based on time and comps. Is it fair to think that 4Q BMP should be roughly flat organic or maybe just down a little bit? And then when you're talking about sort of like exit rates and going into next year, you kind of alluded to the headwinds and some of the idiosyncratic things being past us and really just focusing on sequential growth. So maybe I'll ask it that way. If we look at 4Q for both VWR and BMP, from a sequential perspective, is that the right jumping off point for '27 as we model out next year? Steven Eck: Michael, this is Steve. Happy to answer that. I'll start with organic growth for BMP. We expect modest organic growth in 3Q. We do expect the organic growth in 4Q to be a little more muted because of the more difficult comp that I already described. Sequentially, on a reported basis, BMP, we expect for Q3 to be about flat sequentially with a modest uptick in the fourth quarter. Michael Ryskin: Okay. And then going back to, I think, Mackenzie's question earlier on some of the end market trends. If we look through what you kind of gave us today, it looks like the biggest step-up in 2Q relative to 1Q was actually that Advanced Technologies. So would just love to go in a little bit deeper into where in advanced technologies you saw the increase either by customer type or product you sell. Just sort of what led that uptake? Was it more on the equipment side or on the consumables side? Just any sense of lumpiness there or sort of what drove that? Emmanuel Ligner: Sure, Michael. Just let's go maybe through -- and I guess your question was more a bit about VWR, isn't it? Michael Ryskin: Yes, yes. Emmanuel Ligner: Yes. So on VWR, as we said, so large global customers, especially the large global customers where we had renewed contracts with good opportunity. And there, it's a mix. It's a mix of what the customers really need. And it's a mix also depending on where the customers or large customers and large [ accounts ] are investing. But generally speaking, we see a good momentum in spend in large pharma. Also biotech, actually, you're right. The funding is coming back to biotech, and we see them spending money. It's a mix of equipment, a mix of consumables. And I would say, geographically speaking, it's U.S.A. and America is really driving it, okay? For the rest, I mean, I think it's a bit unchanged. And smaller customers that we see through e-commerce platform where we really see, again, the impact of what we've done with vwr.com, it's very, very broad. It's very distinct. Those customers are usually not buying equipment through the e-commerce platform, but -- so it's a more mix of consumables, and it's across many different applications. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Paul Knight with KeyBanc. Paul Knight: Emmanuel, now you've been in charge for a while, what's your view on self-manufacturing? Do you want to increase the level of self-manufacturing? Or do you think expanding vendor relationships is really the way to go in the future, being kind of a noncompetitor. What's your walkaway and views on self-manufacturing at this time? Emmanuel Ligner: It's a great question, Paul. Thank you. I think we have a lot of opportunities on self-manufacturing. It's a good service that we are providing to many people. In terms of VWR, I really like the fact that we are product agnostic. I really like the fact that we are differentiating ourselves, offering the broadest catalog that we can and offer optionality to the customers, really top products, many very famous brand that actually wants to work with us. And I think this is very important, a really good relationship with supplier. And then we have also the VWR brand. So product diagnostics for VWR, I think it's a really good position. It's a very good value proposition. And self-manufacturing, I mean, for us, internally, it's a business that we have. It's a service that we provide to people because we have really good capabilities and capacities, and we are capable to offer really high-quality product to the many different customers as an OEM, and it's a very good service, and it's growing actually. So I think a bit of both is very important for us. Paul Knight: And then regarding BMP, obviously, a great build-out over the years. What's the next steps in your view for BMP? Emmanuel Ligner: Well, I think the next steps from BMP for us is just making sure that we continue to drive operational excellence, the S&OP process that we put in, which is very important to have a very good visibility of the demand and the supply and really continue to invest in reducing lead times, improving on-time delivery, making sure that we continue to serve the customers the best we can. And in process chemicals, in particular, we really see the impact of what the team has been driving commercially and supply chain. I mean, we talked to you in the preamble about those particular product line where we are invested, where Mary and the team has done a really good job to take the output up by 25%. This is really important for us to continue to do so, reduce lead times, increase on-time delivery and not measured on our promise date, but really measure on what the customer deserves and what the customers want. So improving service level is really important. Quality, really good. Jerry that joined us last quarter is doing a really good job as well. And those are the areas that we'll continue to invest and continue to improve the service level is really important. Operator: And ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude our question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the conference back over to Emmanuel for closing comments. Emmanuel Ligner: Thank you, Krista. Let me conclude the call with a reminder of the key takeaway for Q2. First, Revival is working and the team is committed to continue to improve. Second, our growth trajectory is improving. And third, we continue to generate excellent free cash flow. Thank you for joining the call, and have a great day. Operator: And ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude today's conference call. Thank you for your participation, and you may now disconnect. Before you buy stock in Avantor, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Avantor wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut are built for long-term growth and could produce monster returns in the coming years. 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As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Avantor (AVTR) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

Becton, Dickinson and Company BDX, popularly known as BD, delivered adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $3.23 in the third quarter of fiscal 2026, up 4.9% year over year. The figure topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.9%. The adjustments include expenses related to purchase accounting adjustments and restructuring costs, among others. GAAP EPS for the quarter was $1.64, up 4.5% year over year. BD registered revenues of $4.98 billion in the fiscal third quarter, up 5.4% year over year on a reported basis. The figure surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.8%. At constant exchange rate (CER), revenues climbed 4.4% year over year. Robust performances by all the segments drove the top-line improvement. Shares of this company gained nearly 1.8% in today’s pre-market trading. Effective Oct. 1, 2025, BD reorganized its organizational units into five distinct, separately-managed segments, which are based on the nature of its product and service offerings. However, subsequent to the spin-off of BDX's former Biosciences and Diagnostic Solutions business and the combination of the business with Waters, the Life Sciences segment was eliminated, leaving the company with four distinct, separately-managed segments. In the quarter under review, the Medical Essentials segment reported revenues of $1.68 billion, up 4.5% and 3.2% from the year-ago quarter on a reported basis and at CER, respectively. Revenues in the Connected Care segment totaled $1.22 billion, up 4.9% year over year on a reported basis and 4.4% at CER. BioPharma Systems segment generated revenues of $670 million, up 6.6% year over year on a reported basis and 5.2% at CER. BD Interventional segment generated revenues of $1.41 billion, up 6.4% from the year-ago quarter on a reported basis and 5.5% at CER. In the third quarter of fiscal 2026, revenues in the United States improved 6.9% year over year to $3.08 billion. International revenues grossed $1.90 billion, up 3.2% from the year-ago quarter on a reported basis and 0.6% at CER. Becton, Dickinson and Company price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Becton, Dickinson and Company Quote In the quarter under review, BD’s gross profit increased 3.6% year over year to $2.32 billion. However, the gross margin contracted 83 basis points (bps) to 46.5%. Selling and administrative expenses increased 8.4% year over year to $1.26 billion. Research and development expenses increased 12.2% year over year to $258 million. Adjusted operating expenses of $1.52 billion rose 9% year over year. Adjusted operating profit totaled $796 million, reflecting a 5.5% decrease from the year-ago quarter. The adjusted operating margin in the fiscal third quarter contracted 184 bps to 15.9%. BD exited third-quarter fiscal 2026 with cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments of $709 million compared with $816 million at the fiscal second-quarter end. Total debt (including current debt obligations) at the end of the fiscal third quarter was $16.81 billion compared with $17.28 billion at the fiscal second-quarter end. Cumulative net cash provided by continuing operating activities at the end of third-quarter fiscal 2026 was $2.10 billion compared with $1.58 billion a year ago. Meanwhile, BD has a consistent dividend-paying history, with its five-year annualized dividend growth being 5.32%. BD has revised guidance for fiscal 2026 for New BD. BD continues to project its full fiscal year revenues to grow above low single-digit on a reported basis, while it continues to expect them to grow at low single-digit at CER. For the full fiscal year, adjusted EPS is now anticipated to be in the range of $12.62-$12.72, narrowed from the prior outlook of $12.52-$12.72. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $12.53. BD exited the third quarter of fiscal 2026 with better-than-expected results and solid top- and bottom-line results. Robust performances by all segments and both geographic regions were encouraging. Apart from these, there were a few other developments during the recent period. BDX was awarded a Vizient Innovative Technology contract for the BD CentroVena One Insertion System. The company launched the Elyra Thulium Fiber Laser System, thus expanding its kidney stone care portfolio. BD also announced a collaboration with Brazil-based pharmaceutical company, EMS, to expand access to GLP-1 therapies through a semaglutide launch utilizing BD's Vystra Injection Pen platform to support consistent, reliable self-injection for patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes. These raise our optimism about the stock. However, the contraction of both margins does not bode well. BDX currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space that have announced quarterly results are BrightSpring Health Services, Inc. BTSG, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated DGX and Avantor, Inc. AVTR. BrightSpring, sporting a Zacks Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted EPS of 45 cents, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 21.6%. Revenues of $3.87 billion outpaced the consensus mark by 6.1%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. BrightSpring has a long-term estimated growth rate of 46%. BTSG’s earnings surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed once, the average surprise being 16.1%. Quest Diagnostics reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted EPS of $3.12, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11%. Revenues of $3.04 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.2%. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Quest Diagnostics has a long-term estimated growth rate of 9.7%. DGX’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 5.8%. Avantor reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted EPS of 21 cents, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 10.5%. Revenues of $1.69 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.2%. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2. Avantor has a long-term estimated growth rate of 1.6%. AVTR’s earnings surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed once, the average surprise being 4.3%. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Becton, Dickinson and Company (BDX) : Free Stock Analysis Report Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (DGX) : Free Stock Analysis Report Avantor, Inc. (AVTR) : Free Stock Analysis Report BrightSpring Health Services, Inc. (BTSG) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

DaVita Inc. DVA delivered adjusted earnings per share (EPS) from continuing operations of $4.02 in the second quarter of 2026, up 36.3% year over year. The figure surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.3%. GAAP EPS from continuing operations for the quarter was also $4.02, reflecting an uptick of 55.8% year over year. Revenues of $3.55 billion in the second quarter increased 5.2% year over year. The figure topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.6%. Revenue per treatment (RPT) in the second quarter of 2026 was $415.9 million, up 2.8% year over year, but down 0.4% sequentially. Per management, the sequential decline reflected a lower commercial mix from declining Affordable Care Act enrollment and lower sequential revenue contribution from phosphate binders. Shares of this company lost nearly 7.1% in today’s pre-market trading. DaVita generates revenues via two sources — Dialysis patient service revenues and Other revenues. The dialysis patient service revenues were $3.37 billion, up 4.9% year over year. Other revenues were $187.7 million, up 8.7% from the year-ago quarter’s figure. Per management, the total U.S. dialysis treatments for the second quarter were 7,226,600 or 92,649 per day, on average. This represents a per-day increase of 1.09% on a sequential basis. Normalized non-acquired treatment increased 0.3% year over year in the second quarter of 2026. As of June 30, 2026, DaVita provided dialysis services to around 298,500 patients at 3,266 outpatient dialysis centers, of which 2,671 were U.S. centers while 595 were located across 14 other countries. As of June 30, 2026, DVA had approximately 64,900 patients in risk-based integrated care arrangements in its Integrated Kidney Care business, representing $5.8 billion in annualized medical spend. The company also had an additional 5,700 patients in other integrated care arrangements. DaVita Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | DaVita Inc. Quote In the quarter under review, DaVita’s gross profit increased 3.9% year over year to $1.16 billion. However, the gross margin contracted 38 basis points (bps) to 32.7%. General & administrative expenses climbed 2.6% year over year to $423.5 million. Adjusted operating profit totaled $738.6 million, reflecting a 4.7% increase from the prior-year quarter’s level. Adjusted operating margin in the second quarter contracted 8 bps to 20.8%. DaVita exited second-quarter 2026 with cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments of $688.9 million compared with $666.5 million at the first quarter of 2026-end. Total debt (including the current portion) at the end of second-quarter 2026 was $10.78 billion compared with $10.63 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2026. Cumulative net cash provided by operating activities at the end of second-quarter 2026 was $810.9 million compared with $504.2 million a year ago. During the three months ended June 30, 2026, DVA repurchased 2.2 million shares for $348 million. Subsequent to June 30, through Aug. 4, 2026, the company has repurchased 0.2 million shares of its common stock for $37 million. DaVita has revised its outlook for 2026. For 2026, DVA continues to expect RPT to reflect growth of 1%-2%, while treatment volume is expected to be near the top end of the company’s previous guidance range of 25 to 50 bps. Adjusted EPS from continuing operations for the full year is continued to be expected in the range of $14.10-$15.20. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is currently pegged at $15.07. DaVita ended the second quarter of 2026 with better-than-expected results. The uptick in the company’s top and bottom lines and RPT was encouraging. Solid revenues from both sources and a per-day increase in total U.S. dialysis treatments on a sequential basis were promising. An uptick in normalized non-acquired treatment was also recorded. On the earnings call, management highlighted plans to deploy expanded hemodialysis across its network after securing an adequate supply of newly approved dialyzers. The technology is compatible with DaVita’s existing machines, enabling broader patient access without significant capital investment. Management expects it to support improved clinical outcomes over time, with mortality-related economic benefits likely beginning in 2028. This initiative aligns with DVA’s broader focus on innovative dialysis technologies and raises our optimism about the stock. However, the sequential decline in RPT for the second quarter was disappointing. The contraction of both margins does not bode well for the stock. DVA currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space that have announced quarterly results are BrightSpring Health Services, Inc. BTSG, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated DGX and Avantor, Inc. AVTR. BrightSpring, sporting a Zacks Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted EPS of 45 cents, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 21.6%. Revenues of $3.87 billion outpaced the consensus mark by 6.1%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. BrightSpring has a long-term estimated growth rate of 46%. BTSG’s earnings surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed once, the average surprise being 16.1%. Quest Diagnostics reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted EPS of $3.12, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11%. Revenues of $3.04 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.2%. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Quest Diagnostics has a long-term estimated growth rate of 9.7%. DGX’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 5.8%. Avantor reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted EPS of 21 cents, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 10.5%. Revenues of $1.69 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.2%. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2. Avantor has a long-term estimated growth rate of 1.6%. AVTR’s earnings surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed once, the average surprise being 4.3%. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report DaVita Inc. (DVA) : Free Stock Analysis Report Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (DGX) : Free Stock Analysis Report Avantor, Inc. (AVTR) : Free Stock Analysis Report BrightSpring Health Services, Inc. (BTSG) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Avantor, Inc. AVTR reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of 21 cents, down 12.5% from the year-ago quarter. However, the bottom line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 10.5%. GAAP EPS for the quarter was 6 cents, down from 9 cents per share in the prior-year quarter. Revenues for the second quarter increased 0.5% to $1.69 billion and surpassed the consensus mark by 4.2%. Results benefited from the earlier-than-expected return to organic growth in VWR Distribution & Services. Bioscience & Medtech Products, or BMP, also performed near the high end of management’s expectations, supported by double-digit order growth and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.1 times. Better-than-expected performance, especially by VWR, led management to raise sales and EPS guidance for the full year. Shares of AVTR have risen 15.8% in yesterday’s trading session. In the year-to-date period, shares of the company gained 25.5% compared with the industry’s 1.6% growth. The S&P 500 has increased 8.2% in the same time frame. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Foreign currency translation had a favorable impact of 0.9% in the quarter. Excluding currency movements, total revenues declined 0.4% organically from the year-ago period. AVTR’s reported sales improvement reflected gains in its distribution business, partly offset by continued weakness in BMP. Management noted that commercial execution and customer-focused initiatives under the Avantor Revival program contributed to the better-than-anticipated quarterly performance. VWR Distribution & Services generated revenues of $1.24 billion, up 2.7% on a reported basis and 1.7% organically year over year. The segment returned to growth sooner than management had expected, driven primarily by higher volumes and stronger commercial execution. Performance improved across large global accounts as Avantor retained and expanded customer relationships, developed its new-business pipeline and accelerated contract onboarding. Small and midsized customers also contributed, aided by stronger e-commerce activity following upgrades to the company’s digital platform and the relaunch of vwr.com. Direct traffic, conversion rates and daily sales improved as the quarter progressed. Pharma and biotech customer activity provided an additional modest tailwind, although demand in education and certain European markets remained at subdued levels. BMP revenues totaled $451.8 million, reflecting a reported decline of 5.1% and an organic decrease of 5.6%. Despite the year-over-year contraction, the segment delivered sequential revenue growth and finished near the high end of the company’s expectations. Process Chemicals outperformed management’s forecast, supported by healthy end-market demand, improved operations and strong order activity. However, Fluid Handling and NuSil declined in the mid-teens, while Research & Specialty Chemicals recorded a mid-single-digit organic decrease. The normalization of prior-year customer ordering patterns in NuSil, Serum and Electronic Materials, along with a challenging comparison in Fluid Handling, created approximately 600-basis-point headwind to BMP’s organic growth. Management expects these pressures to ease going forward and continues to project a return to organic growth during the second half of 2026. In the quarter under review, Avantor’s gross profit declined 3.1% year over year to $537 million. The gross margin contracted approximately 120 basis points (bps) to 31.7%. Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased 2.4% year over year to $415.2 million. Adjusted operating profit totaled $225.1 million, down 10.7% from the prior-year quarter’s level. The adjusted operating margin in the quarter contracted 170 bps to 13.3%. Avantor exited the second quarter of 2026 with cash and cash equivalents of $306.8 million compared with $279.3 million at the first quarter of 2026-end. Total debt at the end of the second quarter of 2026 was $3.70 billion compared with $3.82 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2026. Cumulative cash provided by operating activities at the end of the second quarter of 2026 was $236.9 million compared with $263.7 million a year ago. Operating cash flow was $178.2 million in the quarter, while free cash flow totaled $142.8 million. Avantor repaid $112.1 million of debt and ended June with gross debt of $3.72 billion, cash of $306.8 million and adjusted net leverage of 3.3 times. Avantor raised its 2026 organic revenue growth outlook to a range of negative 0.5% to positive 0.5%. The previous forecast called for a decline of 2.5% to 0.5%. The increase reflects VWR’s stronger performance and improved expectations for the second half. Adjusted earnings guidance was raised to 80-83 cents per share from the prior range of 77-83 cents. The company maintained its adjusted EBITDA margin forecast of 14.8-15.3% and free cash flow outlook of $500-$550 million. Avantor, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Avantor, Inc. Quote Avantor exited the second quarter of 2026 with better-than-expected results, wherein earnings and revenues both surpassed their respective estimates. The company also raised its 2026 organic revenue growth and adjusted earnings guidance, reflecting stronger-than-anticipated performance and improved expectations for the second half of the year. The quarter’s key positive was the return of VWR Distribution & Services to organic growth ahead of schedule. The segment benefited from stronger commercial execution, new business wins, improved e-commerce trends and better engagement with large global and small and midsized customers. Bioscience & Medtech Products also performed near the high end of management’s expectations, supported by strength in process chemicals, double-digit order growth and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.1 times. Avantor’s Revival initiative continued to deliver measurable benefits through higher manufacturing throughput, a simplified customer onboarding process and stronger operating discipline. However, several challenges remain. BMP revenues continued to decline due to difficult prior-year comparisons and the normalization of customer ordering patterns in NuSil, Serum and Electronic Materials, while Fluid Handling also faced a tough comparison. Profitability remained under pressure, with gross and adjusted operating margins contracting year over year due to unfavorable mix, lower volumes and inflationary pressures, including freight costs. Demand in education and certain European markets also remained subdued, indicating that Avantor’s broader recovery is still dependent on sustained commercial execution and a stronger second-half improvement in BMP. AVTR currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Some other top-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are McKesson MCK, Phibro Animal Health PAHC and Cardinal Health CAH. McKesson carries a Zacks Rank #2 at present and has an estimated long-term growth rate of 13.7%. MCK’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 3.09%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. McKesson’s shares have gained 8.8% against the industry’s 12.7% decline in the year-to-date period. Phibro Animal Health, carrying a Zacks Rank of 2 at present, has an estimated long-term growth rate of 21.5%. PAHC’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 16.25%. Phibro Animal Health stock has climbed 44.2% against the industry’s 17.1% decline in the year-to-date period. Cardinal Health, carrying a Zacks Rank of 2 at present, has an estimated long-term growth rate of 17%. CAH’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 10.27%. Cardinal Health’s shares have lost 2.6% compared with the industry’s 3.1% decline in the year-to-date period. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Avantor, Inc. (AVTR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Cardinal Health, Inc. (CAH) : Free Stock Analysis Report McKesson Corporation (MCK) : Free Stock Analysis Report Phibro Animal Health Corporation (PAHC) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Revenue: $1.69 billion, declined 0.4% organically, up 0.5% on a reported basis. VWR Segment Revenue: $1.24 billion, up 1.7% organically. BMP Segment Revenue: $452 million, down 5.6% organically. Adjusted EBITDA: $254 million, margin of 15%. Adjusted Earnings Per Share (EPS): $0.21. Free Cash Flow: $152 million, excluding cash restructuring costs. Debt Repayment: $112 million repaid during the quarter. Adjusted Net Leverage Ratio: 3.3 times adjusted EBITDA. 2026 Guidance: Organic revenue growth outlook raised to -0.5% to 0.5%; adjusted EPS outlook raised to $0.80 to $0.83. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Signs with AVTR. Is AVTR fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Release Date: July 29, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Avantor Inc (NYSE:AVTR) exceeded expectations across several key financial metrics in the second quarter, driven by improved performance in the VWR distribution and service segments. The company delivered excellent free cash flow, enabling investments in the business while also paying down $112 million of debt. Avantor Inc (NYSE:AVTR) raised its 2026 organic revenue growth and adjusted EPS guidance, reflecting both second-quarter performance and higher expectations for the second half of the year. The VWR segment returned to positive organic revenue growth earlier than anticipated, with a 1.7% organic growth in the quarter. The company has made significant progress with its Revival program, which focuses on commercial excellence, operational performance, portfolio optimization, simplification, and talent, resulting in measurable improvements. Avantor Inc (NYSE:AVTR) reported a 0.4% decline in organic revenue for the second quarter, despite a 0.5% increase on a reported basis. The Bioscience and Medtech Products (BMP) segment experienced a 5.6% organic revenue decline year-over-year, impacted by discrete factors. Inflationary pressures and mix issues led to a year-over-year decline in VWR's operating margin. The company faces continued inflationary pressures, particularly in freight costs, which could impact profitability. Certain end markets, such as education and specific geographies like Europe, remain stable but at lower levels than desired, potentially limiting growth opportunities. Q: How do you assess whether the growth in VWR was due to your actions or broader market recovery, and what is the basis for the guidance raise? A: Emmanuel Ligner, President and CEO, explained that more than half of the growth was due to deliberate actions taken by the company, such as winning large contracts and improving e-commerce. The guidance raise is based on these actions and the expectation of continued growth in the second half of the year. Q: Can you provide insights into the market share dynamics and KPIs for VWR's growth? A: Emmanuel Ligner highlighted that the company is focusing on new account acquisition, e-commerce improvements, and pricing strategies. The relaunch of VWR.com and enhanced customer engagement are key drivers. The company is committed to accelerating growth in the second half of the year. Q: How are you balancing investments in the business with margin expansion for next year? A: Emmanuel Ligner emphasized the strategy of simplifying, saving, and reinvesting for growth. The company has reduced headcount by 3% and is focused on driving a leveraged P&L to support both growth and margin expansion. Q: What are the expectations for BMP's growth and order book performance? A: Emmanuel Ligner noted that BMP has shown strong order intake and a positive book-to-bill ratio. The segment is expected to return to growth in the second half of 2026, driven by operational improvements and a strong order book. Q: What is your view on self-manufacturing versus expanding vendor relationships? A: Emmanuel Ligner stated that Avantor values being product agnostic and maintaining strong supplier relationships. The company sees opportunities in self-manufacturing but emphasizes offering a broad catalog and optionality to customers. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Interested in Avantor, Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better. Avantor exceeded second-quarter expectations, reporting $1.69 billion in revenue, $254 million in adjusted EBITDA, $0.21 in adjusted EPS and $143 million in free cash flow. Management raised its full-year organic revenue growth outlook to between -0.5% and 0.5% and adjusted EPS guidance to $0.80–$0.83. VWR Distribution & Services returned to organic growth, rising 1.7% year over year, while digital improvements, stronger customer relationships and better pharmaceutical and biotechnology demand supported the rebound. Bioscience & Medtech Products declined 5.6% organically but delivered double-digit order growth and is expected to return to growth in the second half. Avantor continued executing its Revival improvement program and reduced debt by approximately $112 million during the quarter, bringing net debt to $3.4 billion and leverage to 3.3 times adjusted EBITDA. The company remains focused on reducing leverage below three times by year-end while maintaining its $500 million–$550 million free-cash-flow target. Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) reported second-quarter 2026 results that exceeded its expectations on several measures, supported by a return to organic growth in its VWR Distribution & Services segment, strong free cash flow and progress under its Revival operational improvement program. Revenue totaled $1.69 billion in the quarter, down 0.4% organically from a year earlier but up 0.5% on a reported basis. Adjusted EBITDA was $254 million, producing a 15% margin, while adjusted earnings per share were $0.21. The company generated $143 million in free cash flow, or $152 million excluding cash restructuring costs. → This Tiny AI Supplier Could Be More Important Than the Chipmakers President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel Ligner said the results reflected improved execution and that the company has raised its organic revenue growth and adjusted EPS outlook for the full year. VWR Distribution & Services revenue was $1.24 billion, rising 1.7% organically year over year. The segment’s adjusted operating income was $126 million, for an adjusted operating margin of 10.2%. → Refiner Stocks Are Near Record Highs—Can Iran-Driven Margins Keep Them There? Ligner said VWR returned to growth earlier than the company anticipated, driven primarily by actions taken to strengthen commercial execution, customer relationships and digital capabilities. He said more than half of the segment’s growth came from deliberate company actions, with the remainder supported by improved activity among pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers, particularly in the Americas. Avantor cited stronger performance with large global customers, including business from new contracts and efforts to expand customer relationships. The company said historical pressures from recontracting activity continued to be a headwind in 2026 but have been diminishing, creating more favorable year-over-year comparisons as the year progresses. → Innovative ETF Strategies That Are Paying Off This Summer The company also pointed to improved performance among small and midsize customers. Avantor relaunched the VWR brand and vwr.com, and said platform upgrades helped drive higher direct traffic, conversion rates and daily sales. E-commerce growth accelerated as the quarter progressed and contributed to segment growth, according to management. Steven Eck, senior vice president, interim chief financial officer and chief accounting officer, said VWR’s organic growth improved from a 4.8% decline in the first quarter to 1.7% growth in the second quarter. VWR margins rose about 100 basis points sequentially, aided by higher volumes and improved mix, although year-over-year margins declined due primarily to mix and inflationary pressures. Bioscience & Medtech Products, or BMP, recorded $452 million in revenue, down 5.6% organically from the prior-year period. The decline reflected discrete comparisons tied to customer ordering patterns and shipments in 2025, as well as difficult comparisons in fluid handling. Management said those factors represented roughly 600 basis points of headwind to BMP’s organic growth in the second quarter. Production chemicals performed above expectations, while fluid handling and NuSil revenue declined in the mid-teens as anticipated. Research and specialty chemicals declined by mid-single digits, primarily due to serum and electronic-materials headwinds. Despite the revenue decline, BMP posted double-digit order growth and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.1 during the quarter. Order trends were healthy across all business units, with particular strength in production chemicals and fluid handling, Eck said. BMP’s adjusted operating income was $118 million, representing a 26% adjusted operating margin. The margin declined year over year due to lower volumes but increased sequentially because of volumes and mix. Avantor expects BMP to return to organic growth in the second half, supported by improving operations, a stronger order book and easier comparisons from some of the discrete factors. The company expects modest organic growth in the third quarter, while fourth-quarter growth is expected to be more muted because electronic materials will face an approximately 400-basis-point comparison headwind. Ligner said Avantor’s Revival program is focused on commercial excellence, operational performance, portfolio optimization, simplification and talent. The company has refreshed about 25% of its senior leadership team and has invested in supply-chain capabilities, sales and operations planning, e-commerce and customer onboarding. Among the operational initiatives, Avantor said it increased throughput on certain product lines at a large manufacturing site by more than 25% on average compared with the first quarter. It also redesigned its customer onboarding process, cutting the number of steps to eight from 14 and reducing completion times for complex accounts to as little as two days. Free cash flow supported both investment and debt reduction. Avantor repaid approximately $112 million of debt during the quarter and ended the period with $3.4 billion in net debt and an adjusted net leverage ratio of 3.3 times adjusted EBITDA. The company said it has repaid nearly $500 million of debt over the past 12 months and remains committed to bringing leverage below three times, with an objective of reaching that level by year-end. Moody’s revised its ratings outlook on Avantor to positive, and the company said it repriced one of its term loans in July. Avantor raised its full-year organic revenue growth outlook to a range of negative 0.5% to positive 0.5%, reflecting second-quarter outperformance and higher expectations for VWR in the second half. The company maintained its adjusted EBITDA margin outlook and raised adjusted EPS guidance to $0.80 to $0.83. The company continues to expect 2026 free cash flow of $500 million to $550 million. For the third quarter, Avantor expects adjusted EPS of $0.20 to $0.21 and total company organic revenue growth of about 250 basis points. Foreign exchange is expected to reduce reported third-quarter revenue by about 125 basis points and contribute roughly a 50-basis-point headwind to full-year reported revenue. Avantor plans to host an investor day on Dec. 8 in New York City. Avantor, Inc (NYSE:AVTR) is a global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education & government, and advanced technologies & applied materials industries. The company delivers essential solutions that support research, development, production and safety applications. Its product portfolio spans from high-purity chemicals and reagents to biologics and cell culture media, as well as lab equipment, consumables and custom manufacturing services. Avantor's offerings are organized across two primary segments. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "Avantor Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for July 2026.

Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Management attributes the second quarter outperformance to the 'Revival' program, which focuses on commercial excellence, operational performance, and organizational simplification. The VWR Distribution & Services segment returned to organic growth earlier than anticipated, driven by deliberate actions to strengthen large global customer relationships and improve e-commerce engagement. VWR's growth was supported by a diminishing impact from historical recontracting headwinds and successful share-of-wallet gains within newly won large accounts. The BMP segment performed at the high end of expectations, with sequential revenue growth and double-digit order intake signaling a return to organic growth in the second half of 2026. Operational improvements, including the application of Lean and Six Sigma tools, increased throughput by more than 25% on average for key product lines at a major manufacturing site. Management highlighted a culture shift toward accountability and customer-centricity, supported by refreshing approximately 25% of the senior leadership team over the past year. Strong free cash flow generation remains a core strategic pillar, enabling the company to repay $112 million in debt during the quarter while investing in growth initiatives. Full-year 2026 organic revenue growth guidance was raised to a range of negative 0.5% to positive 0.5%, reflecting Q2 outperformance and higher expectations for VWR in the second half. Management expects BMP to return to organic growth in the second half of 2026, though growth is projected to be stronger in Q3 than Q4 due to specific year-over-year comparison dynamics. The company remains committed to reducing its adjusted net leverage ratio to below 3x by the end of the fiscal year through continued debt repayment and EBITDA growth. Guidance assumes that operational outperformance will allow the company to absorb ongoing macro inflationary pressures, particularly in freight costs, while maintaining EBITDA margins. Management expressed confidence that the company will exit 2026 with significant momentum, positioning 2027 as a year of sustainable growth. Discrete factors, including normalization of customer ordering in NuSil and Electronic Materials, represented a 600 basis point headwind to BMP organic growth in Q2. The company successfully redesigned its customer onboarding process, reducing steps from 14 to 8 and cutting completion times from days to minutes for simple accounts. Foreign exchange is expected to be a 50 basis point headwind to full-year reported revenue due to the recent strength of the U.S. dollar. Headcount has declined by approximately 3% year-to-date as part of a broader effort to simplify the organization and drive a more leveraged P&L. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. Management stated that more than half of VWR's growth resulted from deliberate internal actions rather than market recovery. Key drivers included gaining share of wallet in large accounts and improved conversion rates following the relaunch of vwr.com. BMP saw low double-digit order growth across the entire first half, with a book-to-bill ratio of 1.1x in Q2. Management noted particular strength in process chemicals and Fluid Handling, supported by healthy end-market conditions and improved lead times. Management emphasized the value of being 'product agnostic' in distribution to offer the broadest catalog to customers. Self-manufacturing is viewed as a high-quality service for OEM customers that provides additional growth opportunities, particularly in Medtech and Aerospace. While gross margins remained flat sequentially, management is targeting expansion through volume growth, digital channel mix, and cost discipline. Significant inflationary pressure persists in freight costs, which the company aims to offset through productivity gains.

Net sales of $1,692.3 million; increase of 0.5%; organic decline of 0.4% Net income of $38.1 million; Adjusted EBITDA of $254.3 million Diluted GAAP EPS of $0.06; adjusted EPS of $0.21 Operating cash flow of $178.2 million; free cash flow of $142.8 million Increases FY 2026 organic revenue growth and adjusted EPS guidance RADNOR, Pa., July 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Avantor, Inc. (NYSE: AVTR), a leading global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the life sciences and advanced technology industries, reports better than expected results for the second fiscal quarter of 2026. Emmanuel Ligner, President and Chief Executive Officer, says: "Our Revival program is strengthening how we serve our customers, leading to improved business performance. "Our second quarter results exceeded our expectations across several key financial metrics, and we generated robust free cash flow, which we used to repay $112.1 million of debt, reinforcing our commitment to strengthen our balance sheet. I'm delighted by the improved performance in our VWR Distribution and Services segment, which returned to positive organic revenue growth more quickly than we anticipated. Also, our Bioscience and Medtech Products segment performed near the high end of our expectations. We continue to focus on creating a better experience for our customers and delivering long-term value for our shareholders," Ligner concludes. Second Quarter 2026 For the three months ended June 30, 2026, net sales were $1,692.3 million, which was up 0.5% compared to the second quarter of 2025. Foreign currency translation had a positive impact of 0.9%, resulting in a 0.4% decline in net sales on an organic basis. Net income decreased to $38.1 million from $64.7 million in the second quarter of 2025, and net income margin was 2.3%; adjusted net income was $143.3 million compared to $161.2 million in the prior-year period. Adjusted EBITDA was $254.3 million, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 15.0%. Operating income was $121.8 million, with an operating income margin of 7.2%; adjusted operating income was $225.1 million, with an adjusted operating income margin of 13.3%. Diluted earnings per share on a GAAP basis was $0.06, and adjusted diluted earnings per share was $0.21. Second Quarter 2026 – Segment Results VWR Distribution & Services Net sales were $1,240.5 million, a reported increase of 2.7%, as compared to $1,207.5 million in the second quarter of 2025. Foreign currency translation had a positive impact of 1.0%, resulting in a sales increase of 1.7% on an organic basis. Adjusted Operating Income was $126.4 million as compared to $141.6 million in the comparable prior period. Adjusted Operating Income margin was 10.2%. Bioscience & Medtech Products Net sales were $451.8 million, a reported decrease of 5.1%, as compared to $475.9 million in the second quarter of 2025. Foreign currency translation had a positive impact of 0.5%, resulting in a 5.6% sales decline on an organic basis. Adjusted Operating Income was $117.6 million, as compared to $131.4 million in the comparable prior period. Adjusted Operating Income margin was 26.0%. Adjusted Operating Income is Avantor's segment reporting profitability measure under generally accepted accounting principles and is used by management to measure and evaluate the performance of our Company's business segments. Balance Sheet and Cash Flow As of June 30, 2026, total debt, gross, was $3,715.4 million and cash and cash equivalents were $306.8 million. GAAP net leverage was (5.9x), and adjusted net leverage was 3.3x, as of June 30, 2026. For the three months ended June 30, 2026, operating cash flow was $178.2 million, while free cash flow was $142.8 million. Updated 2026 Guidance Avantor updates its fiscal 2026 financial guidance. Fiscal 2026 Assumptions Reported revenue range is 0.0% to +1.0%, reflecting 0.5% foreign exchange tailwind Blended EUR/USD exchange rate of 1.15 Net interest expense is expected to decline modestly when compared to Fiscal 2025 Adjusted effective tax rate of approximately 22.5% Fully diluted share count of 677M shares Conference CallWe will host a conference call to discuss our results today, July 29, 2026 at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The live webcast and presentation, as well as a replay, will be available on the investor section of Avantor's website. About AvantorAvantor® is a leading life science tools company and global provider of mission-critical products and services to the life sciences and advanced technology industries. We work side-by-side with customers at every step of the scientific journey to enable breakthroughs in medicine, healthcare, and technology. Our portfolio is used in virtually every stage of the most important research, development and production activities at more than 300,000 customer locations in 180 countries. For more information, visit corporate.avantorsciences.com and find us on LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and Facebook. Use of Non-GAAP Financial MeasuresTo evaluate our performance, we monitor a number of key indicators. As appropriate, we supplement our results of operations determined in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") with certain non-GAAP financial measures that we believe are useful to investors, creditors and others in assessing our performance. These measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for reported GAAP results because they may include or exclude certain items as compared to similar GAAP-based measures, and such measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. Rather, these measures should be considered as an additional way of viewing aspects of our operations that provide a more complete understanding of our business. We strongly encourage investors to review our consolidated financial statements included in reports filed with the SEC in their entirety and not rely solely on any one single financial measure or communication. The non-GAAP financial measures used in this press release are sales growth (decline) on an organic basis, Adjusted Operating Income, Adjusted Operating Income margin, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted net income, adjusted EPS, adjusted net leverage, free cash flow and free cash flow conversion. Organic net sales growth (decline) eliminates from our reported net sales change the impacts of revenues from acquisitions and divestitures that occurred in the last year (as applicable) and changes in foreign currency exchange rates. We believe that this measurement is useful to investors as a way to measure and evaluate our underlying commercial operating performance consistently across our segments and the periods presented. This measure is used by our management for the same reason. Adjusted Operating Income is our operating income or loss adjusted for the following items: (i) amortization of acquired intangible assets, (ii) charges associated with the impairment of certain assets, (iii) gain on sale of business, and (iv) certain other adjustments. Adjusted Operating Income margin is Adjusted Operating Income divided by net sales as determined under GAAP. We believe that these measures are useful to investors as ways to analyze the underlying trends in our business consistently across the periods presented. These measures are used by our management for the same reason. Additionally, Adjusted Operating Income is our segment reporting profitability measure under GAAP. Adjusted EBITDA is our net income or loss adjusted for the following items: (i) interest expense, (ii) income tax expense, (iii) amortization of acquired intangible assets, (iv) depreciation expense, (v) losses on extinguishment of debt, (vi) charges associated with the impairment of certain assets, (vii) gain on sale of business, and (viii) certain other adjustments. Adjusted EBITDA margin is Adjusted EBITDA divided by net sales as determined under GAAP. We believe that these measures are useful to investors as ways to analyze the underlying trends in our business consistently across the periods presented. These measures are used by our management for the same reason. Adjusted net income is our net income or loss first adjusted for the following items: (i) amortization of acquired intangible assets, (ii) losses on extinguishment of debt, (iii) charges associated with the impairment of certain assets, (iv) gain on sale of business, and (v) certain other adjustments. From this amount, we then add or subtract an assumed incremental income tax impact on the above-noted pre-tax adjustments, using estimated tax rates, to arrive at Adjusted Net Income. We believe that this measure is useful to investors as a way to analyze the business consistently across the periods presented. This measure is used by our management for the same reason. Adjusted EPS is our adjusted net income divided by our diluted GAAP weighted average share count adjusted for anti-dilutive instruments. We believe that this measure is useful to investors as an additional way to analyze the underlying trends in our business consistently across the periods presented. This measure is used by our management for the same reason. Adjusted net leverage is equal to our gross debt, reduced by our cash and cash equivalents, divided by our trailing 12-month Adjusted EBITDA (excluding stock-based compensation expense and including the expected run-rate effect of cost synergies and the incremental results of completed acquisitions and divestitures as if those acquisitions and divestitures had occurred on the first day of the trailing 12-month period). We believe that this measure is useful to investors as a way to evaluate and measure the Company's capital allocation strategies and the underlying trends in the business. This measure is used by our management for the same reason. Free cash flow is equal to our cash flows from operating activities, less capital expenditures, plus direct transaction costs and income taxes paid related to acquisitions and divestitures (as applicable) in the period. Free cash flow conversion is free cash flow divided by adjusted net income. We believe that these measures are useful to investors as they provide a view on the Company's ability to generate cash for use in financing or investing activities. These measures are used by our management for the same reason. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are included in the tables accompanying this release. Forward-Looking and Cautionary StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are subject to the safe harbor created thereby under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this press release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements discuss our current expectations and projections relating to our financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance and business. These statements may be preceded by, followed by or include the words "aim," "anticipate," "assumption," "believe," "continue," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "goal," "guidance," "intend," "likely," "long-term," "near-term," "objective," "opportunity," "outlook," "plan," "potential," "project," "projection," "prospects," "seek," "target," "trend," "can," "could," "may," "should," "would," "will," the negatives thereof and other words and terms of similar meaning. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions; they are not guarantees of performance. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events. Although we believe that our assumptions made in connection with the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot assure you that the assumptions and expectations will prove to be correct. Factors that could contribute to these risks, uncertainties and assumptions include, but are not limited to, the factors described in "Risk Factors" in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, as such risk factors may be updated from time to time in our periodic filings with the SEC. All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements. In addition, all forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligations to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise other than as required under the federal securities laws. Investor Relations ContactChris Fidyk Vice President, Investor RelationsAvantor [email protected] Global Media ContactValerie ColladoDirector of External Communications and Community [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/avantor-reports-second-quarter-2026-results-302836954.html