New York, Jan 28, 2026, 20:50 ET — Market closed
- Danaher shares dropped 4.8%, ending at $224.54, following the company’s 2026 profit forecast, which roughly met market expectations.
- The life sciences and diagnostics group beat fourth-quarter profit and sales estimates, though investors focused on the speed of the recovery.
- Traders are eyeing Thursday’s session for any follow-through, while peer Thermo Fisher is scheduled to report before the bell.
Danaher shares dropped 4.8%, ending Wednesday at $224.54, after the life sciences and diagnostics firm released its 2026 profit outlook, which came in close to Wall Street forecasts.
This matters since Danaher is a key player in the lab tools supply chain. Its order trends frequently act as an immediate indicator of spending by drugmakers, biotech investments, and diagnostic testing activity.
This earnings cycle has been tricky for the sector. Investors want firmer evidence that post-pandemic demand fluctuations and inventory adjustments are easing, and that pharma and biotech budgets are starting to expand once more.
Danaher projected adjusted earnings of $8.35 to $8.50 per share for 2026, lining up closely with analysts’ consensus of $8.42, per LSEG data. The company also surpassed fourth-quarter profit and revenue forecasts, buoyed by easing policy uncertainty and a pickup in pharma spending, which helped counterbalance weakness in academic research funding, Reuters reported. (Reuters)
Danaher posted roughly $6.8 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter and adjusted earnings of $2.23 per share in its latest report. CEO Rainer Blair highlighted a “strong finish to the year,” crediting better-than-expected results across the board. He noted particularly robust performance in bioprocessing and rising momentum in diagnostics and life sciences. (Danaher Corporation Investors)
During the earnings call, CFO Matt McGrew described the 2026 guidance as targeting “the low end of the core growth… think 3% to 4%,” along with gains from earlier cost-cutting moves. Danaher’s core revenue excludes currency fluctuations and acquisition impacts, reflecting its non-GAAP sales metric. (The Motley Fool)
Trading volume surged, hitting roughly 7.8 million shares—more than twice the stock’s 50-day average, MarketWatch reports. Danaher trailed its rivals as Thermo Fisher dropped 2.6% and Abbott slid around 2.0% on the day. (MarketWatch)
Some analysts shrugged off the surprise element. Evercore ISI’s Vijay Kumar raised his price target to $254 from $250, maintaining an Outperform rating. He called the quarter “generally in-line with no major surprises,” following earlier company updates. (TipRanks)
The downside is straightforward: if funding for early-stage biotech and academic labs remains tight, or if pricing pressures from China resurface, Danaher’s rebound could falter near the lower end of its forecast. Even small earnings misses often slam these stocks, especially when investors are already in a “show me” mode.
With markets closed today, all eyes turn to Thursday’s session (Jan. 29) to see if the selloff continues or reverses as models recalibrate. Thermo Fisher is set to release its fourth-quarter results ahead of the open, with a conference call scheduled for 8:30 a.m. ET. (MarketBeat)
