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Agilent Q4 Revenues Rise 8 Percent

NEW YORK—Agilent Technologies reported after the close of the market on Monday that its fiscal fourth quarter revenues increased 8 percent year over year.

For the three months ended Oct. 31, revenues rose to $1.48 billion from $1.37 billion in Q4 of 2019, beating the average Wall Street estimate of $1.4 billion. The company said core revenues, which exclude the impact of currency and acquisitions and divestitures within the past 12 months, grew 6 percent year over year in Q4.

Revenue for the diagnostics and genomics group (DGG) rose 9 percent to $294 million from $269 million in the year-ago quarter. Core revenues were up 7 percent year over year. The life sciences and applied markets group (LSAG) saw an 8 percent revenue growth in Q4 to $671 million from $622 million. The group's core revenues were up 4 percent on a core basis.

Revenues from the Agilent CrossLab group (ACG) grew 11 percent to $518 million from $467 million. Core revenues were up 7 percent, the firm said. 

"We delivered excellent fourth-quarter results that are a testament to the Agilent team and our single-minded focus on our customers," Agilent President and CEO Mike McMullen said in a statement. "We enter fiscal 2021 with solid movement ... [and] while there is still some uncertainty looking forward, we are well-positioned to pursue our successful growth strategy well into the future."

On a conference call following the release of earnings, Agilent CFO Robert McMahon noted that the firm's pharma business showed strength across all geographic regions, with 12 percent growth in the quarter.

Agilent's net income in Q4 rose to $222 million, or $.71 per share, from $194 million, or $.62 per share, a year ago. On an adjusted basis, earnings were $.98 per share for the quarter, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $.93 per share.

The firm's Q4 R&D expenses remained flat year over year at $102 million, while SG&A expenses inched up about 1 percent $387 million from $385 million in the prior year quarter.

In October, Agilent partnered with San Francisco-based startup InterVenn to explore glycoproteomic biomarkers for diseases common in Southeast Asia, such as cancer.

Also, earlier this month, the US Food and Drug Administration approved Agilent's/Dako's PD-L1 IHC 22C3 pharmDx test as a companion diagnostic to identify patients with PD-L1-high triple negative breast cancer.

In fiscal year 2020, revenues rose three percent to $5.34 billion from $5.16 billion in 2019, beating the average Wall Street estimate of $5.26 billion. The company said core revenues also grew 1 percent in 2020.

DGG revenues rose 3 percent to $1.05 billion from $1.02 billion a year ago. LSAG saw a 4 percent revenue increase to $2.39 billion from $2.30 billion. ACG revenues rose 8 percent year over year to $1.9 billion from $1.84 billion.

Agilent's net income in fiscal year 2020 fell to $719 million, or $2.30 per share, from $1.07 billion, or $3.37 per share, in 2019. On an adjusted basis, the firm reported earnings of $3.28 per share for the year, beating analysts' consensus estimate of $3.23 per share.

The firm's 2020 R&D costs rose about 23 percent to $495 million from $404 million, while SG&A expenses for the year rose about 3 percent to $1.50 billion from $1.46 billion in the prior year.

Agilent ended the fiscal year with $1.44 billion in cash and cash equivalents.

For fiscal year 2021, the firm expects revenues of $5.6 to $5.7 billion, and adjusted earnings per share of $3.57 to $3.67 billion. For Q1 2021, Agilent is expecting revenues of $1.42 billion to $1.43 billion, and adjusted earnings per share of $.85 to $.88.

In morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Agilent's shares were down a fraction of a percent, at $111.82.