Agilent Technologies A recently launched its new ProteoAnalyzer system at the Singapore Cell and Gene Therapy Pan Asia Summit.
ProteoAnalyzer is an automated parallel capillary electrophoresis solution, enabling rapid, high-resolution protein analysis with minimal sample consumption, facilitating faster discoveries for researchers.
This biomolecular platform aims to elevate translational research from compound to novel applications. The platform includes easy-to-use QC workflows for assessing protein size and purity.
Agilent is expected to gain solid traction across pharma, biopharma and bioengineered food ingredients researchers on the back of its ProteoAnalyzer solution.
This apart, the company also updated its NovoCyte Opteon solution with up to five lasers and 73 detectors, aimed at revolutionizing cell analysis research.
Strength in DCG Segment Aids Prospects
The latest move is in sync with Agilent’s growing efforts toward strengthening its Diagnostics and Genomics Group (DCG) segment.
The company received European In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation (IVDR) Class C Certification for its GenetiSure Dx Postnatal Assay, demonstrating its compliance with higher standards set by IVDR. This certification ensures the continued availability of this trusted qualitative assay to clinical geneticists and healthcare professionals in the EU.
Agilent also received FDA approval for its PD-L1 IHC 22C3 pharmDx diagnostic tool, which helps in Gastric or Gastroesophageal Junction Adenocarcinoma diagnosis.
PD-L1 IHC 22C3 pharmDx identifies non-small cell lung, esophageal, cervical, head and neck and triple-negative breast cancer patients’ eligibility for treatment with KEYTRUDA, an anti-programmed cell death (PD1) therapy, along with chemotherapy, trastuzumab and fluoropyrimidine.
Agilent’s partnership with Incyte INCY to develop companion diagnostics for Incyte's hematology and oncology portfolio by leveraging its expertise in IVD assay development remains noteworthy.
The Incyte collaboration will allow Agilent to expand its biomarker portfolio, boosting its presence in the precision oncology sector.
Wrapping Up
The above-mentioned endeavors to strengthen the DCG segment will likely aid the company’s overall financial performance in the days ahead.
However, the underlined segment is suffering from sluggishness in next-generation sequencing reagents and increased clinical business mix at NASD.
Additionally, macroeconomic uncertainties, broad-based weakness across all end markets, especially in the Pharma, Food, and Academic and Government markets, and a softening demand in China remain concerns for the company. Agilent’s shares have lost 4.9% in the year-to-date period, underperforming the Zacks Computer & Technology sector’s 20.2% growth.
For fiscal 2024, management revised revenue guidance downward from $6.71-$6.81 billion to $6.42-$6.50 billion, implying a fall of 6-4.9% on a reported basis and 5.4-4.3% on a core basis from the fiscal 2023 reported figure. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2024 total revenues is $6.52 billion, indicating a year-over-year decline of 4.6%.
The company also revised fiscal 2024 non-GAAP earnings per share guidance downward from $5.44-$5.55 to $5.15-$5.25. The consensus mark for the same is pegged at $5.24 per share, indicating a year-over-year decline of 3.7%. The figure has moved downward by 0.2% in the past seven days.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Currently, Agilent carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
Some better-ranked stocks in the broader technology sector are PayPal PYPL and Arista Networks ANET, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
PayPal shares have gained 0.7% in the year-to-date period. The long-term earnings growth rate for PYPL is 14.79%.
Arista Networks shares have gained 27% in the year-to-date period. The long-term earnings growth rate for ANET is currently projected at 16.07%.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
