What to expect from Avantor's (AVTR) Q3 earnings

What happened

Avantor, a life sciences company, will report third-quarter results on Wednesday before the market opens. Last quarter it reported revenue of $1.69 billion, flat year on year, and beat analysts' revenue and full-year profit guidance estimates. Analysts expect revenue to grow 1.1% this quarter.

Confirmed

Global impact / market context

Avantor has missed Wall Street revenue estimates several times over the past two years, so this report tests whether the prior quarter's beat signals a lasting turnaround. A revenue miss could weaken investor confidence, while meeting the 1.1% growth expectation would support the view that its business has stabilized.

Analyst inference

Peers Thermo Fisher and Danaher already reported third-quarter revenue growth of 9.1% and 8.3%, both meeting or beating expectations. Their results suggest life sciences demand held up, which raises the bar for Avantor, whose expected 1.1% growth is far slower than those rivals delivered.

Analyst inference

What to watch

1. Avantor reports results Wednesday before the market opens. Watch whether reported revenue grows about 1.1% year on year, as analysts expect, after last quarter's flat $1.69 billion and the prior year's 5.3% decrease. Confirmed
2. Watch whether management reaffirms or raises its full-year profit guidance, which is earnings per share, meaning profit divided by shares outstanding, after last quarter's guidance beat, since analysts recently reconfirmed their estimates. Proposed
3. Watch Avantor's revenue against the 9.1% and 8.3% growth Thermo Fisher and Danaher reported, because a wide gap could suggest Avantor is losing share in life sciences tools and services. Analyst inference

Evidence

• stockstory.org