Educational information, not financial advice or a personal recommendation. Not regulated by the FCA. Do your own research. Capital at risk.

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A)

Healthcare Balanced

Agilent Technologies provides the high-tech laboratory instruments and software that scientists use to test everything from food safety to new medicines.

$138.37

Is Agilent Technologies, Inc. a good stock for a UK beginner?

The honest version: Agilent Technologies provides the high-tech laboratory instruments and software that scientists use to test everything from food safety to new medicines.

No rating · no target price · nothing for sale here
Price-3.1%
Priced in USD - as a UK investor your £ return also moves with the pound-to-dollar exchange rate, on top of the share price itself.
52-week range+23% past year
$138.37
Low $108.35High $160.27
Where today's price sits versus its past year - context, not a signal.
If you had put $1,000 into Agilent Technologies, Inc.
$969-3%

Over about 2 years to 2026-07-31. This is the share price only - reinvesting the dividends would add to it. And it's the USD return - as a UK investor your actual £ return also moves with the exchange rate. Past performance is not a guide to the future, and it could just as easily have fallen.

Market cap: The company's total value on the stock market - share price times the number of shares. Big = 'large-cap', small = 'small-cap'.
$39.08B
Avg volume: How many shares change hands on a typical day. Higher means it's easy to buy or exit without moving the price.
2.40M
Day range: The lowest and highest price the shares traded at during the latest day.
$135.78 – $139.50
52-week range: The lowest and highest the shares have traded over the past year - a sense of how wide the swings have been.
$108.35 – $160.27
P/E ratio: Price-to-earnings: the share price divided by yearly profit per share. Lower can mean cheaper; higher often means investors expect fast growth.
27.8
Dividend yield: The yearly dividend as a percentage of the share price - roughly the income you'd earn from dividends alone.
0.7%
Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down.
1.25
How bumpy is it?Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down. 1.25
Calm
Wild
Roughly in step with the market

Based on beta - how much the price swings versus the whole market. Bumpier isn't bad; it just means a rougher ride, which matters more the sooner you might need the money.

Why has it been moving?▲ +6% past week · ▲ +23% past year

Prices move on results, news and the mood of the whole market - no single headline explains a day, and a quiet week is usually just noise, not a signal.

The bull case

Agilent becomes the industry standard for new biotech testing.

The bear case

New competitors offering cheaper, high-tech alternatives.

What does Agilent Technologies, Inc. do?

Think of Agilent as the 'picks and shovels' provider for the scientific world, supplying the complex tools researchers need to analyse chemicals and biological samples. Its earnings come from selling these precision instruments alongside the ongoing service contracts and software that keep them running. Much hinges on how much money pharmaceutical companies and research labs are willing to spend on upgrading their equipment each year.

VQGMI
Factor profile

On our factor screen it looks strongest on quality and growth, and weakest on value.

Value: How cheap the stock looks versus profits, sales and assets (higher = cheaper). 40Quality: How profitable and financially healthy the company is (higher = stronger). 66Growth: How fast revenue and earnings are growing (higher = faster). 65Momentum: How the share price has been trending recently (higher = stronger recent run). 57Income: The dividend income on offer and how sustainable it looks (higher = more/steadier). 61
Quick checks
What's strong
  • Strong profit margins suggest a healthy, efficient business.
  • Essential role in the pharmaceutical and research supply chain.
  • High return on equity shows effective use of shareholder capital.
What to watch
  • Global economic slowdowns often lead to reduced research budgets.
  • Rapid technological changes could make current products obsolete.
  • Heavy reliance on the healthcare and life sciences sectors.

What do Agilent Technologies, Inc.'s numbers mean?

P/E
27.0
This shows how much you are paying for every pound of the company's annual profit; a higher number suggests investors expect more growth in the future.
Net margin
19.6%
This tells us that for every £100 of sales, the company keeps about £19.60 as actual profit after all its bills are paid.
Return on equity
21.3%
This measures how efficiently the company uses the money invested by shareholders to generate profit, with a higher percentage generally being a good sign.
Beta
1.3
This indicates the share price tends to be more jumpy or volatile than the wider stock market.

How much money does Agilent Technologies, Inc. make?

Revenue and profit by quarter, and how much of each sale turns into profit.

RevenueNet income
$0$465.25M$930.50M$1.40B$1.86BQ2 25Q3 25Q4 25Q1 26Q2 26
Gross margin
52.6%
Net margin
19.6%
Return on equity
21.3%

Does Agilent Technologies, Inc. pay a dividend?

Yes - Agilent Technologies, Inc. currently pays a dividend of about 0.7% a year (the yearly payout as a share of the price). A dividend is a slice of profit handed to shareholders; the yield moves as the price moves, and a company can cut or stop it.

When does Agilent Technologies, Inc. report earnings, and how did recent quarters go?

Agilent Technologies, Inc. is next scheduled to report on about 2026-08-26 - dates can move, and we don't predict results; this just tells you when to look.

Each quarter a company reports its results against what analysts expected. ‘Beating’ or ‘missing’ is about that expectation, not whether the business is doing well in absolute terms.

ReportedExpected EPS: The earnings per share analysts expected for the quarter - the average of their forecasts. 'Beating' or 'missing' is measured against this number.Actual EPSvs expected
2026-05-27$1.41$1.49Beat +6%
2026-02-25$1.37$1.36In line
2025-11-24$1.58$1.59In line
2025-08-27$1.37$1.37In line
2025-05-28$1.26$1.31Beat +4%
2025-02-26$1.27$1.31Beat +3%

Across the last 6 quarters here, Agilent Technologies, Inc. came in ahead of what analysts expected 3 times. One quarter is noise, not a trend.

See who else reports over the next two weeks →

Reported vs expected earnings per share (EPS) from published results; the expectation is the analyst consensus, not our view. Report dates are estimates that can move.

More in Healthcare

Eli LillyWest Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.Incyte CorporationThe Cigna GroupZimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc.Moderna, Inc.Gilead Sciences, Inc.Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

What are the scenarios for Agilent Technologies, Inc.?

An illustrative range for the year ahead, with the assumption behind each case — not a prediction or a price target.

$161$138$108today · $138▲ Bull · $149• Base · $138▼ Bear · $128in 1 yearILLUSTRATIVE · NOT A PREDICTION OR PRICE TARGET
Bull
+5% to +10%Increased demand for lab equipment from pharmaceutical research.
Base
-2% to +2%Steady demand consistent with current growth trends.
Bear
-5% to -10%Budget cuts in global scientific research spending.

What are the pros and cons of Agilent Technologies, Inc.?

3bull points
6bear points

How many points the write-up makes each way — a balance check, not a score or verdict.

The bull case3
  • Strong profit margins suggest a healthy, efficient business.
  • Essential role in the pharmaceutical and research supply chain.
  • High return on equity shows effective use of shareholder capital.
The catch3
  • The share price is more volatile than the average company.
  • Relies heavily on the spending budgets of other large organisations.
  • A relatively low dividend yield may not appeal to income-focused investors.
Key risks3
  • Global economic slowdowns often lead to reduced research budgets.
  • Rapid technological changes could make current products obsolete.
  • Heavy reliance on the healthcare and life sciences sectors.
What would flip the thesis

The write-up's own warning lights — if these start happening, the case above changes.

Confidence: medium · data: USD · flags: none · Charts by TradingView Lightweight Charts™
Found this useful? The Almanac is free and ad-free - a coffee keeps it that way.Support →

Built from public filings & market prices, checked for an education-only tone, and never a price target. How we make these →

This plain-English summary was auto-generated on 2026-08-01 from public data and checked for an education-only, no-advice tone (the figures above carry their own, usually fresher, 'as of' date). It's information, never a recommendation.

Figures as of 2026-08-01. Prices may be delayed and numbers can go stale - always double-check before acting.