Agilent Technologies (A)
Health Care · $50.8B market cap · SEC CIK 0001090872
ahead of 71% of the S&P 500 · #19 of 59 in Health Care
Next reports on Nov 23, 2026, after the close, with analysts expecting $1.76 in earnings per share.
52-week range $108.35 to $182.99. 3% below its 52-week high and 64% above its low.
The case for A
- Generated $1.2B of free cash flow in FY2025, 17% of revenue.
- Revenue growing 8.6% year over year.
- Return on equity of 20%.
- Current assets cover the near-term bills 2.1 times over.
- Within 3% of its 52-week high: the trend is up.
The case against
- Expensive for its growth: 35.3× earnings, where 10% a year of growth plus a 0.7% dividend would justify about 23×.
- Priced at 6.9× sales with revenue growing only 8.6%.
- Free-cash-flow yield of 2.3% is lower than 85% of Health Care companies.
What the score is made of
Each factor is half a curve over reported figures and half a rank among the other Health Care companies (momentum is judged against fixed thresholds only), and the five are blended by weight. The score is where that blend places it in the S&P 500. It describes the last filing and the current price. It is not a forecast.
| Valuewhat you pay for the earnings and cash, against the growth you get | 39 |
|---|---|
| Growthhow fast revenue and earnings are moving, this year and over five | 59 |
| Profitabilityhow much of the revenue becomes profit, and how much of that is cash | 73 |
| Momentumhow the price has behaved lately | 83 |
| Stabilityhow violently it moves, what it owes and what it pays you | 54 |
- Each factor except momentum is half fixed thresholds, half rank among the 59 Health Care companies.
The financials
Revenue growth
Is the business growing? Yes
| Last 12 months | +8.6% |
|---|---|
| Over 5 years | +5.4% a year |
| FY2025 revenue | $6.9B (+7%) |
Free cash flow
Is it generating real cash? Yes, plenty
| FY2025 free cash flow | $1.2B |
|---|---|
| Of revenue | 17% |
| Of profit | 88% |
Profit margins
Is profitability improving? Holding steady
| Gross margin | 54% |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 22% |
| Net margin, FY24 → FY25 → now | 19.8% → 18.8% → 19.5% |
Debt vs. cash
Is the balance sheet healthy? Yes, the debt is manageable
| Cash | $1.8B |
|---|---|
| Long-term debt | $3.0B |
| Net debt | $1.3B |
| Years to repay | 2.0 yrs |
Valuation
Is the stock price reasonable? No, expensive
| P/E | 35.3× |
|---|---|
| Fair P/E for its growth | 23× |
| P/FCF | 44.1× |
| Forward P/E | 26.0× |
| EV / EBITDA | 27.7× |
At 35.3× earnings it trades above the 23× that 10% a year of growth plus a 0.7% dividend would justify. At 44.1× free cash flow it trades well above that same mark.
The financials, five years deep
Pulled from Agilent Technologies's XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR. Italic rows are worked out from the others.
| FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | |||||
| Revenue | $6.9B | $6.5B | $6.8B | $6.8B | $6.3B |
| Change on the year | +7% | −5% | 0% | +8% | — |
| Free cash flow | |||||
| Free cash flow | $1.2B | $1.4B | $1.5B | $1.0B | $1.3B |
| Of revenue | 17% | 21% | 22% | 15% | 21% |
| Profit margins | |||||
| Operating margin | 21.3% | 22.9% | 19.8% | 23.6% | 21.3% |
| Net margin | 18.8% | 19.8% | 18.1% | 18.3% | 19.1% |
| Debt vs. cash | |||||
| Cash | $1.8B | $1.3B | $1.6B | $1.1B | $1.5B |
| Long-term debt | $3.0B | $3.3B | $2.7B | $2.7B | $2.7B |
| Net cash (debt) | −$1.3B | −$2.0B | −$1.1B | −$1.7B | −$1.2B |
What Agilent Technologies says it does
Overview Agilent Technologies, Inc. ("we", "Agilent" or the "company"), incorporated in Delaware in May 1999, is a global leader in life sciences, diagnostics and applied markets, providing application focused solutions that include instruments, software, services and consumables for the entire laboratory workflow. In November 2024, we announced a change in our organizational structure to support our market-focused, customer-centric strategy. Our former Diagnostics and Genomics segment combined with our liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry instrument platforms to form our new Life Sciences and Diagnostics Markets segment. Our chemistries and supplies, laboratory automation, and software and informatics divisions moved from our former Life Sciences and Applied Markets segment to our Agilent CrossLab segment. The remaining divisions in our former Life Sciences and Applied Markets segment which includes our…
Risk factors A lists in its 10-K
- General economic conditions may adversely affect our operating results and financial condition
- Our operating results and financial condition could be harmed if the markets into which we sell our products decline or do not grow as anticipated
- Economic, political, foreign currency and other risks associated with international sales and operations could adversely affect our results of operations
- Demand for some of our products and services depends on the capital spending policies of our customers, research and development budgets and on government funding policies
- Recent and dynamic government rule making and policy changes could increase our costs, affect our markets and customers and impact our results of operations
- Failure to adjust our purchases due to changing market conditions or failure to accurately estimate our customers' demand could adversely affect our income
- Our business will suffer if we are not able to retain and hire key personnel
- Our strategic initiatives to adjust our cost structure could have long-term adverse effects on our business, and we may not realize the operational or financial benefits from such actions
- Our acquisitions, strategic investments and alliances, joint ventures, exiting of businesses and divestitures may result in financial results that are different than expected
- The impact of consolidation and acquisitions of competitors is difficult to predict and may harm our business
- Public health crises may adversely impact, and pose risks to, certain elements of our business, results of operations and financial condition, the nature and extent of which are highly uncertain and unpredictable
- Some of our products are subject to particularly complex regulations such as regulations of toxic substances, and failure to comply with such regulations could harm our business
- Our business may suffer if we fail to comply with government contracting laws and regulations
- Our reputation, ability to do business and financial statements may be harmed by improper conduct by any of our employees, agents or business partners
- Environmental contamination from past and ongoing operations could subject us to substantial liabilities
- We are subject to environmental laws and regulations that expose us to a number of risks and could result in significant liabilities and costs
- Third parties may claim that we are infringing their intellectual property, and we could suffer significant litigation or licensing expenses or be prevented from selling products or services
- Third parties may infringe our intellectual property, and we may suffer competitive injury or expend significant resources enforcing our rights
- Our operating results may suffer if our manufacturing capacity does not match the demand for our products
- If we are unable to successfully manage the consolidation and streamlining of our manufacturing operations, we may not achieve desired efficiencies, and our ability to deliver products to our customers could be disrupted
- If we suffer a loss to our factories, facilities or distribution system due to catastrophe, our operations could be seriously harmed
- If we experience a significant disruption in, or breach in security of, our information technology systems, or if we fail to implement new systems and software successfully, our business could be adversely affected
- Our retirement and post retirement pension plans are subject to financial market risks that could adversely affect our future results of operations and cash flows
- Changes in tax laws, unfavorable resolution of tax examinations, or exposure to additional tax liabilities could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity
- If tax incentives change or cease to be in effect, our income taxes could increase significantly
- We have outstanding debt and may incur other debt in the future, which could adversely affect our financial condition, liquidity and results of operations
- We cannot assure that we will continue to pay dividends on our common stock
- Adverse conditions in the global banking industry and credit markets may adversely impact the value of our cash investments or impair our liquidity