Abstract

Agilent Technologies will release fiscal Q1 2026 results on February 25, 2026 Post Market; our preview synthesizes last quarter’s results, management’s revenue mix, current-quarter consensus for revenue and EPS, and recent product clearances that could influence margins and sentiment.

Market Forecast

Market expectations for fiscal Q1 2026 center on a return to mid-to-high single-digit top-line growth and solid earnings per share, with revenue estimated at 1.81 billion (up 8.27% year over year) and EPS at 1.37 (up 7.78% year over year). EBIT is projected at 445.79 million (up 6.69% year over year); consensus does not provide a specific gross margin or net margin forecast for the quarter.

Agilent’s multi-segment base continues to be anchored by recurring services and consumables, with management’s revenue mix in the prior quarter led by Life Sciences and Diagnostics and CrossLab Services at 0.76 billion each, complemented by Applied Markets at 0.35 billion; the quarter also benefited from higher profitability. The most promising revenue engine into fiscal Q1, aided by the latest regulatory and product milestones, is Life Sciences and Diagnostics at 0.76 billion in the prior quarter, supported by new assay approvals and digital pathology expansion that could lift consumable pull-through and systems demand.

Last Quarter Review

In fiscal Q4 2025, Agilent delivered revenue of 1.86 billion (up 9.41% year over year), a gross profit margin of 53.20%, GAAP net income attributable to shareholders of 434.00 million with a net profit margin of 23.32%, and adjusted EPS of 1.59 (up 8.90% year over year). Quarter-on-quarter, net profit accelerated by 29.17%, reflecting stronger operating leverage and mix.

A key financial highlight was the combination of double-digit profitability and balanced execution across products and services, which supported both earnings and cash generation relative to the revenue trajectory. Main business highlights: Life Sciences and Diagnostics contributed 0.76 billion, CrossLab Services contributed 0.76 billion, and Applied Markets contributed 0.35 billion, together illustrating the company’s strategic emphasis on resilient, service-led revenues alongside instrument demand.

Current Quarter Outlook (with major analytical insights)

Main business: CrossLab Services and instrument-backed consumables mix

Agilent’s main business mix continues to tilt toward services and consumables via CrossLab, which delivered 0.76 billion in the prior quarter and is structurally positioned to smooth cyclicality in instrument orders. For fiscal Q1 2026, consensus revenue of 1.81 billion implies mid-to-high single-digit year-over-year growth despite mixed capital spending conditions in some laboratory and biopharma budgets. The services backbone typically supports stable gross margin capture, and last quarter’s 53.20% gross margin and 23.32% net margin suggest that a higher recurring revenue mix remains an important pillar for sustaining profitability through seasonal dynamics.

We will be watching new contract renewals, installed base utilization, and consumables intensity as leading indicators for gross margin resilience into fiscal Q1. Strong service attach rates historically dampen volatility from elongated sales cycles in larger instruments, while recurring software and informatics contracts can favorably mix-shift margin profiles. Any commentary on pricing discipline, backlog health, and underlying churn within CrossLab will be critical to gauging how much of the 8.27% top-line growth expectation translates into EBIT expansion, which the Street pegs at 6.69% year over year.

Most promising business: Life Sciences and Diagnostics momentum from new approvals and portfolio launches

Life Sciences and Diagnostics posted 0.76 billion in revenue in fiscal Q4 2025 and enters fiscal Q1 with fresh catalysts. On February 11, 2026, the company received US FDA clearance for its PharmDx diagnostic to help identify patients with epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancers who may be eligible for a targeted therapy regimen. On January 23, 2026, Agilent introduced the S540MD whole-slide imaging digital scanner system in key European markets as a regulated clinical device, with plans to broaden availability across additional European countries in 2026. These milestones point to incremental demand in clinical testing workflows and digital pathology, which can drive both instrument placements and ongoing consumables usage.

The business logic is twofold: approvals and clinical-grade imaging solutions widen the addressable base, while follow-on test utilization enhances recurring revenue density per placement. Incremental uptake from these launches may not be fully apparent in fiscal Q1 revenue, but they typically influence order intake and visibility for subsequent quarters. As a result, they can contribute to stabilizing gross margins if consumables ramp favorably and service agreements accompany new deployments. A notable consideration is reimbursement and adoption timelines in the targeted geographies; clarity on initial customer traction, channel readiness, and integration into standard-of-care pathways will influence the slope of contribution in the first half.

Key stock price driver this quarter: Operating leverage versus revenue quality

The factor most likely to influence the stock in fiscal Q1 is the balance between revenue quality and operating leverage. The Street’s 1.37 EPS estimate, up 7.78% year over year, implies that margin capture should be relatively close to last year’s baseline even as the revenue mix shifts. If service-heavy sales and consumables continue to outpace capital equipment, we expect healthy gross margin support, albeit with potentially modest dilution from product launches that begin ramping. Conversely, if new system placements accelerate more than expected without sufficient consumables or services attachment in the same quarter, short-term gross margin could lag while setting up higher lifetime value per customer for future periods.

Another swing factor is expense discipline relative to growth. In the prior quarter, net income rose faster than revenue on a quarter-on-quarter basis, demonstrating improving leverage. Sustaining that dynamic requires tight control over logistics, manufacturing efficiency, and go-to-market costs, especially if global macro conditions elongate customer decision cycles for larger capital projects. We will focus on management commentary regarding order pipelines, book-to-bill trends, and regional color to assess whether fiscal Q1 points to a sequential improvement or normalization of margins. Any quantification of early demand from the FDA-cleared diagnostic and European digital pathology rollouts will provide directional cues for the second fiscal quarter.

Analyst Opinions

Within the January 1, 2026 to February 18, 2026 time frame, institutional commentary explicitly previewing Agilent’s fiscal Q1 2026 is limited in public channels. Consensus compiled in the market reflects a Neutral stance overall, as evidenced by balanced expectations for mid-to-high single-digit revenue growth and high-single-digit EPS growth in fiscal Q1, alongside restrained margin assumptions. This majority “Neutral” posture hinges on the view that durable services and consumables should underpin results while near-term profit expansion may track slightly below revenue growth due to the early stages of new product and clinical launches.

The Neutral cohort’s analytical thrust emphasizes three points. First, the recurring revenue foundation through CrossLab supports earnings stability even if capital equipment budgets remain uneven through early 2026. Second, regulatory and product milestones in diagnostics and digital pathology are constructive and could build a stronger second-half trajectory as adoption broadens and consumable intensity rises. Third, given the prior quarter’s robust net margin and the projected 6.69% year-over-year increase in EBIT this quarter, the margin profile should remain healthy but may not inflect meaningfully until incremental pull-through from new placements and services ramps. On balance, consensus expects Agilent to meet or modestly exceed revenue and EPS estimates, with limited deviation in near-term valuation drivers until there is clearer evidence of accelerating diagnostic utilization and higher-margin mix.