New York, Feb 8, 2026, 16:45 ET — The market has wrapped up for the day.
- Thermo Fisher closed out Friday with a modest gain, though the stock is still down steeply for the week.
- The company’s 2026 forecast remains under scrutiny, with investors parsing what it means for research lab funding.
- Attention turns to demand indicators and new remarks from industry events expected over the next few days.
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc finished Friday at $542.83, inching up 0.09%. Still, the stock remains roughly 6.7% lower since Feb. 2, weighed down by a sharp drop earlier in the week. U.S. markets are closed for the weekend; trading resumes Monday. 1
Thermo Fisher plays a key role in the life-sciences tools sector, an area where shifts in lab budgets can swing sentiment fast. After the recent slide, investors are weighing if this reset has gone too far or if it signals a deeper slowdown ahead.
Last week, the Waltham, Massachusetts company turned the spotlight back on government and academic clients as it rolled out a 2026 outlook. Thermo Fisher expects adjusted earnings between $24.22 and $24.80 per share—those numbers exclude certain items—and flagged ongoing pressure from cuts and freezes in U.S. academic research grants. CEO Marc Casper told analysts they’re assuming “similar conditions to last year” for those customers. Bernstein flagged the organic revenue growth target of 1% to 2% for the first quarter (that’s stripping out currency effects and M&A) as underwhelming. Thermo Fisher also said the Clario acquisition, if it closes by mid-2026, could lift adjusted EPS by 20 to 25 cents. 2
The stock now sits far from its recent highs. Thermo Fisher has traded between $385 and $644 over the past year; with Friday’s finish, shares are down about 16% from that upper mark. 3
M&A’s still in the mix: Back in October, Thermo Fisher said it would buy Clario, the clinical trial endpoint-data group, for $8.875 billion in cash up front, with possible earn-out and additional payments on the table. The company expects to wrap up the acquisition by mid-2026, assuming it clears regulatory hurdles and standard closing steps. In the announcement, Casper described Clario as “an outstanding strategic fit.” 4
The broader tools and medtech names showed a split. Danaher tacked on roughly 0.35% Friday, while Becton Dickinson advanced 1.77%. Steris finished up 3.39% at the close. Thermo Fisher, though, brought up the rear going into the weekend.
Looking to the coming week, traders are zeroed in on any signals that could shift sentiment on research spending, with a close eye on orders connected to universities and government labs. Another focus: whether management’s guidance comes off as simply cautious or slides into conservative territory. This stock’s price action has mirrored broader macro trends, all within one ticker.
The risks are clear enough. Should grant-related uncertainty stretch out longer than investors are banking on, or if lab clients stick with delaying orders, Thermo Fisher’s recovery might hit a wall—potentially sending estimates down further. Any holdup on the Clario timeline would only add to the gloom.
Forget earnings for now—the calendar is the thing to watch. Thermo Fisher’s next spotlight comes at the SLAS 2026 lab-automation conference in Boston, set for Feb. 7-11. That’s where fresh product news and on-the-ground buzz from customers could quickly shift sentiment around the group. 5
