New York, January 11, 2026, 15:15 EST — Market closed
- Shares closed Friday on an upswing following Stifel’s hike of its price target and reaffirmation of a buy rating
- Marc Casper, CEO, will speak at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Jan. 13
- Investors are eyeing Thermo Fisher’s results set for Jan. 29, along with its outlook for 2026
Thermo Fisher Scientific shares closed up on Friday, heading into the week with two key dates marked: a management update at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference and the company’s quarterly earnings release later this month.
The stock’s been bouncing between optimism over steady demand from biopharma clients and jitters about 2026 spending, as budgets reset with the new year.
Stifel’s Daniel Arias bumped his price target on Thermo Fisher from $583 to $700, maintaining a buy rating. He expects the company to deliver a “solid year,” forecasting organic growth—excluding currency effects and acquisitions—back in the mid-single digits, with earnings per share climbing at a high-single-digit rate. TipRanks
Thermo Fisher shares climbed 2.04% on Friday, closing at $618.86 and ending a two-day slide. Volume hit roughly 2.3 million shares, outpacing the stock’s 50-day average of about 1.7 million. The S&P 500 rose 0.65%, while the Dow added 0.48%.
That outperformance counts as investors seek fresh insights—not just backward-looking optimism—on order trends in bioprocessing and research labs, where spending has been uneven across the life-science tools sector.
Thermo Fisher announced that Marc N. Casper, its chairman, president, and CEO, is set to present at the J.P. Morgan 2026 Healthcare Conference on Tuesday, Jan. 13, at 11:15 a.m. ET. Investors can watch the webcast live on the company’s investor site.
The conference, held Jan. 12-15 in San Francisco, frequently shapes healthcare strategies early in the year, particularly for firms connected to drug-development funding and deal rumors.
On Friday, peer stocks followed the wider market trend. Danaher’s shares climbed 1.43%, whereas Becton Dickinson dropped 1.18%, per MarketWatch data.
Not all weekend news was positive. A local report revealed Thermo Fisher intends to wind down operations at its Asheville-area site in North Carolina by the end of 2026. According to a WARN notice filed with the state, up to 421 employees could be impacted. The first round of layoffs is slated for Dec. 31, 2026, with job separations extending through Dec. 31, 2027. Thermo Fisher said it’s reviewing its operations to better match customer demand and emphasized “business continuity” alongside treating employees “with care and respect” as top priorities. WLOS
The bigger risk for the stock is straightforward: without stronger biopharma orders, the “re-acceleration” narrative quickly loses steam. Investors won’t stick around to pay a premium for 2026 guidance that misses its deadline.
Thermo Fisher announced it plans to report its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results ahead of the market open on Thursday, Jan. 29, followed by a conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Traders will eye Monday’s open for momentum, then shift to Casper’s Jan. 13 comments for clues on demand and margins. The Jan. 29 report will deliver the hard numbers and a 2026 forecast that either supports the new targets or challenges them.
