Thermo Fisher's New R&D Alliance With AstraZeneca May Lift Its Stock

By Zacks Equity Research | October 07, 2025, 8:39 AM

Thermo Fisher Scientific’s TMO clinical research business, PPD, announced a new research and development (R&D) partnership with AstraZeneca’s AZN BioVentureHub in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is a unique open innovation platform, offering an inside track to AstraZeneca's scientific expertise, world-class infrastructure and facilities.

The partnership aims to leverage the combined expertise of Thermo Fisher and AstraZeneca to drive innovation and strengthen the life science ecosystem. A specialized team from Thermo Fisher will co-locate with AstraZeneca scientists to work on collaborative R&D projects with an initial focus on chromatography, molecular genomics and proteomics.

TMO Stock Outlook Following the News

Since the Oct. 1 announcement, TMO shares have risen 2.5%, closing at $543.95 yesterday.  Given the company seizing the opportunity to co-locate with AstraZeneca scientists, driving collaborative innovation, strengthening the science ecosystem and boosting value generation for all collaborators, giving easy access to cutting-edge technologies for emerging life sciences and biotech companies as well as academic groups, we expect the upward trend in the Thermo Fisher stock to continue.

Thermo Fisher is currently valued at $205.16 billion. The company’s earnings yield of 4.1% is well ahead of the industry’s -4.1% yield. It surpassed earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an earnings surprise of 1.8%. 

More on Thermo Fisher’s New Collaboration

The AstraZeneca BioVentureHub is part of a growing innovation ecosystem in Gothenburg, which includes the GoCo Health Innovation City, the future home of Thermo Fisher's bioanalytical laboratory, which is under construction and expected to begin operations in March 2026. The state-of-the-art facility will serve pharmaceutical and biotech customers in Europe and across the globe, providing leading-edge bioanalytical laboratory capabilities to support all phases of pharmaceutical development to help customers deliver life-changing medicines to patients worldwide.

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In addition to the new lab coming online in Sweden, the business operates a global network of good manufacturing practices (GMP), central, bioanalytical and vaccine science laboratories with operations based in Middleton, WI; Highland Heights, KY; Richmond, VA; Athlone, Ireland; Brussels, Belgium; Singapore; and Suzhou, China.

According to key leadership at Thermo Fisher, the AZN collaboration will drive advancements in areas such as drug and analytical development, reinforcing the company’s mission to enable customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer.

Industry Prospects Favor Thermo Fisher

Per a Grand View Research report, the global life science tools market was valued at $167.82 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 10.21% through 2033. Some of the key factors driving growth are the increasing use of genomic technologies, higher investments in pharmaceutical and biotechnology R&D and the growing demand for sophisticated research instruments.

Other Developments at Thermo Fisher

The company recently introduced the Thermo Scientific Hypulse Surface Analysis System. This innovative surface analysis instrument represents a significant advancement in accurate X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) depth profiling, which is critical for materials scientists worldwide.

Thermo Fisher also expanded its neurodegeneration research capabilities with the launch of the Olink Target 48 Neurodegeneration Panel. It delivers simultaneous measurement of 41 key and emerging proteins for neurodegeneration research with absolute quantification and is optimized for plasma measurement from as little as 1µL of sample.

TMO Stock Price Performance

In the past three months, TMO shares have risen 27.6% against the industry’s 3.6% decline.

TMO’s Zacks Rank and Key Picks

Thermo Fisher currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space include Phibro Animal Health PAHC and Masimo MASI. While Phibro Animal Health sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Masimo carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Estimates for Phibro Animal Health’s fiscal 2026 earnings per share have increased 3.3% to $2.53 in the past 30 days. Shares of the company have surged 71.7% in the past year compared with the industry’s 1.1% growth. PAHC’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 27.9%. In the last reported quarter, it delivered an earnings surprise of 9.6%.

Masimo shares have jumped 5.8% in the past year. Estimates for the company’s 2025 earnings per share have remained constant at $5.30 in the past 30 days. MASI’s earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 13.8%. In the last reported quarter, it posted an earnings surprise of 8.1%.

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AstraZeneca PLC (AZN): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (TMO): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Masimo Corporation (MASI): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Phibro Animal Health Corporation (PAHC): Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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