Danaher beats quarterly profit, expects incremental costs from US tariffs

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(Reuters) -Danaher beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter profit on Tuesday, on the back of better-than-expected demand for its respiratory testing kits, and said it expects to incur additional tariff-related costs this year.

The medical equipment maker said it anticipates tariff costs of “several hundred millions of dollars” in 2025, from potential impact on the costs of parts and materials used in its products as well as finished goods shipped to customers.

Life sciences companies, which were already seeing weak orders and activity levels for equipment in China, are now in the midst of an ongoing tariff war between U.S. and the region as the escalation is expected to have a strong impact on the sector.

Danaher, which brings about 12% of its revenue from China, expects to largely offset the impact from tariffs with manufacturing footprint changes, supply chain adjustments, surcharges and additional cost savings actions.

The company said it currently expects end-market demand for the remainder of 2025 to be relatively consistent with the first quarter.

It reported sales of $5.74 billion for the quarter ended March 28, beating analysts’ estimates of $5.59 billion according to data compiled by LSEG.

Danaher, which typically only provides core revenue growth forecast, said it expects a full-year adjusted profit in the range of $7.60 to $7.75 per share. Analysts’ were expecting $7.68 per share.

On an adjusted basis, Danaher reported a profit of $1.88 per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ estimates of $1.64 according to data compiled by LSEG.

Shares of the Washington, D.C.-based company rose 2.7% before the bell.

(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)