Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. TMO is slated to release first-quarter 2025 results on April 23, before market open.

Thermo Fisher’s fourth-quarter 2024 earnings of $6.10 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.9%. Its earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 4.21%. (Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.)

TMO’s Q1 Estimates

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $10.25 billion, suggesting a 0.9% decline from the prior-year quarter’s reported figure. The consensus mark for earnings is pegged at $5.10 per share, indicating a 0.2% decline from the year-ago quarter’s reported numbers.

Estimate Revision Trend Ahead of Earnings

Estimates for Thermo Fisher’s first-quarter earnings have moved south 0.2% to $5.10 per share in the past 30 days.

Now, let's take a look at how things might have progressed for the MedTech major prior to the announcement.

Factors at Play

Thermo Fisher’s Analytical Instruments segment is expected to have generated strong first-quarter sales, banking on its electron microscopy and chromatography and mass spectrometry businesses. In the first quarter, the company introduced the Invitrogen EVOS S1000 Spatial Imaging System, addressing the limitations of current fluorescent microscopy technologies by enabling researchers to generate a multiplexed high-quality image for multiple samples within several hours. 

In the fourth quarter of 2024, Thermo Fisher had several newly launched cutting-edge technologies. Within chromatography and mass spectrometry, it launched iCAP MX Series ICP-MS, to streamline Trace Elemental analysis for environmental, food, industrial and research laboratories. The company also launched Thermo Scientific Iliad (Scanning) Transmission Electron Microscope, which integrates a number of TMO’s advanced analytical technologies into a seamless and user-friendly workflow. Additionally, per management, the adoption of Thermo Scientific’s Orbitrap Astral continues to be incredibly strong. We expect these developments to have contributed to TMO’s first-quarter 2025 revenues.

Per our model, Thermo Fisher’s Analytical Instruments business should earn $1.78 billion in revenues, suggesting 5.8% growth year over year.

Within the Life-Science Solutions segment, the company is likely to have experienced sales growth, banking on its bioproduction and biosciences businesses. Within this segment, in the first quarter, Olink Explore Platform was selected by the UK Biobank Pharma Proteomics Project (UKB-PPP) to support the world’s largest human proteomics study of its kind. Also, TMO launched Olink Reveal, an affordable, high-plex proteomics that enables researchers to identify circulating biomarkers for a range of applications with reduced cost and set up requirements. These developments might have turned in favor of Thermo Fisher in the first quarter. 

Meanwhile, the bioprodution business has likely grown in the quarter, banking on strong adoption in the pharma and biotech segment. Within the business, the company introduced the Accelerator Drug Development solution in the previous quarter. It did so leveraging its combined CDMO and CRO capabilities to help enable customers advance their critical drug development programs with speed, quality and efficiency.  

In the first quarter, Thermo Fisher inked a definitive agreement to acquire Solventum’s Purification & Filtration business for approximately $4.1 billion in cash. We expect these developments to have contributed to TMO’s first-quarter 2025 revenues.

Per our model, the Life-Science Solutions business is expected to have generated $2.16 billion in revenues for the first quarter, calling for a 5.4% decline year over year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. price-eps-surprise | Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. Quote

The Specialty Diagnostics segment (Clinical Diagnostics business from the molecular controls that go into testing kits) is likely to have gained positive contributions from its transplant diagnostics and immunodiagnostics businesses as well as the healthcare market channel. Additionally, during the fourth quarter, the company launched the international CorEvitas Adolescent Alopecia Areata (AA) Registry in the United States and Europe. Also, TMO launched CorEvitas Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) Registry during the period. 

In the previous quarter, TMO received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) for its Ion Torrent Oncomine Dx Target Test as a companion diagnostic (CDx) to identify patients eligible for treatment with VORANIGO tablets. We expect this to have had a positive impact on the company’s first-quarter top-line performance. 

Our model projects TMO’s Specialty Diagnostics business to report $1.09 billion in revenues, suggesting 1.6% decline year over year.

Within the Laboratory Products and Services segment, revenues are expected to have increased due to the research and safety market channel. During the first quarter, the company introduced Thermo Scientific Vulcan Automated Lab, a groundbreaking solution designed to drive a new era of process development and control in semiconductor manufacturing. Also, TMO launched new lines of floor-model centrifuges — Thermo Scientific Cryofuge, Thermo Scientific BIOS and Thermo Scientific LYNX — to provide more sustainable solutions without compromising performance and sample security.

During the fourth quarter, the company introduced Thermo Scientific iCAP MX Series ICP-MS, designed for environmental, food, industrial and research labs to analyze routine and challenging trace elements to detect and mitigate harmful substances. This, too, might have had a favorable impact on TMO’s top line in the to-be-reported quarter. 

Our model expects Laboratory Products and Services business’s first-quarter revenues to be $5.65 billion, down 1.2% year over year. 

What Our Quantitative Model Predicts

Per our proven model, the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy), or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. This is not the case here, as you will see below.

Earnings ESP: Thermo Fisher has an Earnings ESP of -0.49%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.

Top MedTech Picks

Here are some medical stocks worth considering, as these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this reporting cycle:

Masimo MASI has an Earnings ESP of +0.64% and a Zacks Rank #1 at present. The company is expected to release first-quarter 2025 results on May 6. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

MASI’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 14.41%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter EPS implies a year-over-year increase of 61%.

Veeva Systems VEEV has an Earnings ESP of +0.17% and a Zacks Rank #1 at present. The company is expected to release first-quarter fiscal 2026 results on May 29.

The company’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 7.92%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter EPS implies a year-over-year increase of 16%.

Abbott Laboratories ABT has an Earnings ESP of +0.57% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present. The company is slated to release first-quarter 2025 results on April 16.

ABT’s earnings surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and matched on one occasion, the average surprise being 1.64%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Abbott’s first-quarter EPS suggests a year-over-year improvement of 9.18%.

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