NEW YORK – Agilent Technologies reported after the close of the market on Tuesday that its fiscal first quarter revenues rose 8 percent year over year.
For the three months ended Jan. 31, Agilent said its revenues rose to $1.67 billion compared to $1.55 billion in the prior year quarter, beating analysts' average estimate of $1.46 billion. The firm said core revenues, which exclude the impact of currency and acquisitions and divestitures over the last 12 months, grew 9 percent in Q1.
The Santa Clara, California-based firm said it implemented changes to its segment reporting structure in Q1 2022, modifying prior-year period segment information to reflect the changes.
Agilent said that revenues for its diagnostics and genomic group rose 15 percent year over year to $339.0 million. Revenues for its life sciences and applied markets group rose 6 percent year over year to $976.0 million, and revenues for the Agilent Crosslab Group grew 8 percent year over year to $359.0 million.
Within the diagnostics and genomics group, the firm saw growth in its pathology, genomics, and nucleic acid solutions division, or NASD, in the recently completed quarter, Mike McMullen, Agilent president and CEO, said on a conference call to discuss the financial results.
Year over year, Agilent's pathology business grew roughly 10 percent, core genomics grew in the low teens, and the NASD business grew 45 percent, McMullen said.
Agilent's Resolution Bioscience business "achieved a major milestone in the first quarter," McMullen said, by completing a submission to the US Food and Drug Administration for premarket approval of its ctDx liquid biopsy assay as a companion diagnostic test with adagrasib, San Diego-based Mirati Therapeutics' candidate drug treatment for non-small cell lung cancer.
Further, Agilent recently announced a $20 million expansion of its manufacturing center in Shanghai "to meet growing demand for locally made liquid chromatography, spectroscopy, and mass spec systems," McMullen said.
He also noted that last week, Agilent acquired artificial intelligence software developed by Virtual Control that it plans to integrate with its gas chromatography and mass spectrometry platforms. "This technology has the potential to significantly improve productivity and accuracy by automating manual interpretation of chromatography data," McMullen said, adding, "We believe that this capability will be very well received by the high-throughput labs Agilent serves around the world."
In fiscal Q1, Agilent reported a net income of $283.0 million, or $.93 per share, compared to a net income of $288.0 million, or $.93, in Q1 2021. The firm reported Q1 adjusted EPS of $1.21, beating analysts' average estimate of $1.03.
Agilent's Q1 R&D spending rose 14 percent year over year to $117.0 million from $103.0 million, while its SG&A spending rose about 2 percent year over year to $417.0 million from $407.0 million.
"Building on our first quarter results, combined with a strong order book, we are raising our full year outlook, increasing our core growth and non-GAAP EPS expectations," McMullen said in a statement.
For the second quarter, Agilent expects revenues of $1.60 billion to $1.63 billion and adjusted EPS of $1.10 to $1.12. Prior to the release of the financial results, analysts were expecting Q2 revenues of $1.44 billion and EPS of $.99.
For fiscal year 2022, the company raised its revenue guidance to $6.67 billion to $6.73 billion, representing reported growth of 5.6 percent to 6.5 percent and core revenues growth of 7.0 percent to 8.0 percent. Fiscal year 2022 adjusted EPS is expected to be $4.80 to $4.90. Prior to the release of the financial results, analysts expected 2022 revenues of $5.97 billion and adjusted EPS of $4.27.
At the 40th Annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in January, Agilent had reiterated its previously announced fiscal year 2022 guidance, saying it expected total revenues of $6.65 billion to $6.73 billion and adjusted EPS of $4.76 to $4.86. In January, it also said it expected Q1 2022 revenues of $1.64 billion to $1.66 billion and adjusted EPS of $1.16 to $1.18.
At the end of its fiscal first quarter, Agilent had cash and cash equivalents of $1.11 billion.
In Wednesday morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange, shares of Agilent were up more than 1 percent at $132.64.