$A (-0.03%)

⠀

📊 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬

• Revenue: $1.88B (+8.1% YoY; +7.3% core)

• GAAP Operating Margin: 23.6% (+290 bps YoY)

• Adj. Operating Margin: 28.3% (+320 bps YoY)

• GAAP EPS: $1.28 (+8% YoY)

• Adj. EPS: $1.62 (+18% YoY)

• Adj. Net Income: $459M

⠀

🎯 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞

• Q4 Revenue: $1.98B–$2.00B (+6.4% to +7.4%; +5.2% to +6.2% core)

• Q4 Adj. EPS: $1.71–$1.74

• FY26 Revenue: $7.49B–$7.51B (+7.8% to +8.1%; +5.8% to +6.0% core)

• FY26 Adj. Operating Margin Expansion: >130 bps

• FY26 Adj. EPS: $6.18–$6.21

⠀

📌 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬

• Agilent raised its FY26 revenue growth, operating margin expansion and Adj. EPS outlook, with the EPS midpoint increasing by $0.15 versus prior guidance

• Growth was broad-based across all three segments: Life Sciences & Diagnostics +11%, CrossLab +6%, and Applied Markets +7% YoY

• Q3 Adj. EPS included a $0.06 benefit from tariff refunds, while Q4 guidance assumes no additional tariff-refund benefit

⠀

💬 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲

“We are seeing improving end markets, stronger demand in key regions, and excellent customer response to our innovative product launches.”

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Best Companies to Own: Methodology

The companies on this list are covered by Morningstar Research Services’ equity analysts and have shares available to US investors. This means that Morningstar equity analysts have calculated fair value estimates for the shares of the companies that trade on US exchanges. As a result, most of the companies on this list are based in the US.

Within that coverage list, the best companies meet the following criteria:

• Wide Economic Moat. The Morningstar Economic Moat Rating summarizes the length of a company’s competitive advantages. An economic moat is a structural feature allowing a firm to generate excess profits over a long period. If Morningstar Research Services believes that excess returns will persist for 20 years or more, that company earns a wide moat rating.
• Standard or Exemplary Capital Allocation.The stock’s Morningstar Capital Allocation Rating is an assessment of the quality of management’s capital allocation, with particular emphasis on the firm’s balance sheet, investments, and shareholder distributions. Capital allocation is judged from an equity shareholder’s perspective, considering companies’ investment strategy and valuation, balance-sheet management, and dividend and share buyback policies on a forward-looking basis. A company can receive an Exemplary, Standard, or Poor Capital Allocation Rating.
• Low or Medium Fair Value Uncertainty. The fair value Morningstar Uncertainty Ratingrepresents the predictability of a company’s future cash flows and, therefore, the level of certainty in the fair value estimate of that company. The Uncertainty Rating for a company can be Low, Medium, High, Very High, or Extreme. It captures a range of likely potential intrinsic values for a company based on the characteristics of the business underlying the stock, including such things as operating and financial leverage, sales sensitivity to the economy, product concentration, and other factors. The more predictable cash flows, the smaller the range of potential intrinsic values, the lower the uncertainty.

What Gives a Company an Economic Moat?

Companies with moats have one or more of the following characteristics:

• Network Effect. Lots of people are using the service, which then makes the service more valuable to the people who use it.
• Intangible Assets. Patents, brands, regulatory licenses, and other intangible assets can prevent competitors from duplicating a company’s products or allow the company to charge a significant price premium.
• Cost Advantage. Firms with a structural cost advantage can either undercut competitors on price while earning similar margins or charge market-level prices while earning relatively high margins.
• Switching Costs. When it would be too expensive or troublesome to stop using a company’s products, the company often has pricing power.
• Efficient Scale. When a niche market is effectively served by one or a small handful of companies, there is no room or incentive for potential competitors to enter the market.

To maintain analysts’ independence, Morningstar Research Services does not publicly rate its parent company Morningstar Inc. Therefore, Morningstar, Inc. is not on the list of the best companies available to US investors.

https://www.morningstar.com/stocks/best-companies-own-2026-edition

AGILENT Q4 EARNINGS BEAT ESTIMATES WITH STRONG DIAGNOSTICS PERFORMANCE | $A (-0.03%)

QUARTERLY PERFORMANCE

- $A Reports Q4 adjusted EPS of $1.46, surpassing $1.41 consensus estimate

- Total revenue reached $1.70 billion, exceeding $1.67 billion forecast

- Adjusted net income of $418 million topped expectations of $405.1 million

SEGMENT BREAKDOWN

- Life Sciences & Applied Markets

* Revenue: $833 million (vs. estimate $845.4 million)

* Segment showed slight underperformance against projections

- Diagnostics & Genomics

* Revenue: $442 million (vs. estimate $417.3 million)

* Demonstrated strong outperformance, exceeding expectations

- Agilent Crosslab

* Revenue: $426 million (vs. estimate $423.6 million)

* Maintained steady performance above estimates

FORWARD GUIDANCE

Fiscal Year 2024 Outlook:

- Revenue projected between $6.790-$6.870 billion

- Represents growth of:

* 4.3% to 5.5% (reported basis)

* 2.5% to 3.5% (core basis)

Q1 FY2024 Guidance:

- Revenue expected between $1.650-$1.680 billion

- Projects range from -0.5% to +1.3% (reported)

- Core growth range: -2.0% to -0.2%

MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE

CEO Padraig McDonnell noted continued market recovery and solid execution by the Agilent team in Q4, supporting the company's positive performance against estimates.