Thermo Fisher forecasts 2026 profit below estimates on research funding cuts

By Puyaan Singh and Sahil Pandey

Jan 29 (Reuters) – Thermo Fisher Scientific on Thursday forecast annual profit below Wall Street estimates, expecting pressure from cuts to U.S. academic research to spill into 2026, sending its shares down 2.24%.

The Trump administration has been slashing funding and freezing grants for universities and research bodies to which Thermo provides its products and services.

“Our assumption for academic and government embedded in our guidance is similar conditions to last year … there’ll be a level of customer caution that will probably abate as the year goes down,” said CEO Mark Casper in a call with analysts.

The company, however, beat estimates for fourth-quarter profit and revenue on strong demand for its tools and services used in drug development by pharmaceutical clients.

Bernstein analysts said the first-quarter outlook of a 1% to 2% growth is soft, causing some question marks after fourth-quarter organic revenue grew 3%.

The company was also cautious about immediate biotech spending improvements, with Casper adding they are assuming market conditions will remain the same as last year and aim to “retire risk” and work their way up.

Biotech companies have seen an uptick in funding since 2025, following a post-pandemic crunch.

Casper said that a usual six-month lag between funding and biotech spending could strengthen the environment into 2027.

Thermo Fisher expects its annual adjusted per share profit at $24.22 to $24.80, below analysts’ average estimate of $24.61 at midpoint, according to data compiled by LSEG.

It expects full-year revenue of $46.3 billion to $47.2 billion, compared with estimates of $46.54 billion.

The company said the closing of its up to $9.4 billion buyout of Clario by mid-2026 could add 20 cents to 25 cents of additional adjusted per-share profit.

On an adjusted basis, the Massachusetts-based company earned $6.57 per share in the quarter, beating analysts’ average estimate of $6.45 per share.

(Reporting by Sahil Pandey and Puyaan Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)