Bio-Rad's Q4 Earnings Miss Estimates, Revenues Surpass, Stock Down

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. BIO posted fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.51, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.3%. The bottom line decreased 13.4% from the prior-year quarter’s level.

The quarter’s adjustments primarily eliminate the impacts of certain non-recurring items, such as the amortization of purchased intangibles, restructuring costs and losses from the change in the fair market value of equity securities.

The company’s fourth quarter GAAP EPS was $26.65 against the loss per share of $25.57 a year ago.

Full-year 2025 adjusted EPS was $9.92, down 3.8% year over year. 

BIO's Revenues

Fourth-quarter revenues of $693.2 million topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.01%. The figure also edged up 3.8% year over year (up 1.7% at constant exchange rate or CER).

Full-year revenues of $2.58 billion, up 0.4% year over year (remained flat at CER).

Following the earnings announcement, Bio-Rad’s shares fell 12.3% last Friday, as investors reacted to concerns about a declining bottom line. In addition, management’s comments indicating that operating margin performance fell short of expectations further dampened sentiment.

BIO's Segmental Analysis

Sales in the Life Science segment totaled $267.9 million, down 2.6% year over year (down 4% at CER). The currency-neutral year-over-year sales decline was due to constrained academic research and biotech funding. 

Net sales in the Clinical Diagnostics segment were $425.3 million, up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis (up 5.6% at CER). The currency-neutral year-over-year sales increase was primarily driven by quality controls, blood typing and diabetes products, partially offset by lower sales of infectious disease products. 

BIO’s Margin Performance

In the quarter under review, Bio-Rad’s gross profit rose 0.9% to $345.2 million. The gross margin contracted 144 basis points (bps) to 49.8%.

Operating expenses amounted to $291.3 million, up 2.7% year over year. The operating profit totaled $53.9 million, down 7.7% from the prior-year level. The operating margin contracted 97 bps to 7.8%.

BIO's Financial Update

Bio-Rad exited the fourth quarter of 2025 with cash and cash equivalents (including short-term investments) of $1.54 billion compared with $1.66 billion at the end of fourth-quarter 2024.

Total debt (including current maturities) at the end of 2025 was $1.20 billion, which remained flat on a sequential basis.

Cumulative net cash flow from operating activities totaled $532.2 million compared with the year-ago figure of $455.2 million.

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. Quote

Bio-Rad’s 2026 Guidance

Bio-Rad provided its financial guidance for full-year 2026, with adjusted, currency-neutral revenue growth of approximately 0.5-1.5%. 

The adjusted operating margin for the full year is projected to be between 12% and 12.5%.

Our Take on BIO

Bio-Rad exited the fourth quarter on a mixed note, wherein earnings missed and revenues surpassed estimates. The company continued to navigate a dynamic global environment and evolving conditions across the markets for its life science and clinical diagnostics products. 

Diagnostics arm returned to growth in the quarter, driven by successful fulfillment of large customer orders in its quality control portfolio as well as the annualization of the diabetes testing reimbursement change in China. In Life Science, the company gained strong traction from the Stilla acquisition. Additionally, Bio-Rad launched the QX700 Droplet Digital PCR family of products.

Research customers continue to face uncertainty and are cautious with their budgets, reflected through continued weak instrument demand and some softness in consumables. Meanwhile, the contraction of both margins is also discouraging.

BIO’s Zacks Rank and Key Picks

Bio-Rad currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks from the broader medical space are Intuitive Surgical ISRG, Cardinal Health CAH and Align Technology ALGN.

Intuitive Surgical, currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), reported a fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted EPS of $2.53, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 12.4%. Revenues of $2.87 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.7%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

ISRG has an estimated long-term earnings growth rate of 15.7% compared with the industry’s 12.7% rise. The company’s earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 13.24%.

Cardinal Health, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present, posted a second-quarter fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS of $2.63, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 10%. Revenues of $65.6 billion topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.9%.

CAH has a long-term earnings growth rate of 15% compared with the industry’s 9.6% rise. The company’s earnings outpaced estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 9.3%.

Align Technology, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present, posted a fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted EPS of $3.29, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 10.1%. Revenues of $1.05 billion outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.3%.

ALGN has an estimated long-term earnings growth rate of 10.1% compared with the industry’s 9.5% rise. The company’s earnings outpaced estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed in one, the average surprise being 6.16%.

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