TMO vs A Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
TMO (Thermo Fisher Scientific) is the global life science tools leader with unmatched breadth across instruments, reagents, and pharma services, while A (Agilent Technologies) is a focused analytical instruments specialist with leadership in chromatography, mass spectrometry, and genomics. Thermo Fisher is larger and more diversified; Agilent is more focused on analytical chemistry and materials characterization.
TMO vs A is life science tools scale leader (Thermo Fisher's end-to-end laboratory and pharma services platform) versus focused analytical instruments specialist (Agilent's LC/MS, genomics, and pathology for pharma, food, and environmental) — both essential life science tool suppliers with pharma spending exposure.
TMO holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. TMO leads on both 1-year return (+19.05%) and forward P/E (17.22x vs 19.65x for A), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. A leads on both revenue growth (10.00%) and operating margin (23.71%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for TMO (+27.67%) than for A (+23.50%).
- →Want the world's largest life science tools company with unparalleled product breadth, pharma services revenue through CDMO/CRO capabilities, and a long track record of value-creating acquisitions
- →Value Thermo Fisher's bioprocessing recovery as a catalyst for growth re-acceleration following the COVID normalization and biopharma inventory destocking cycle
- →Prefer maximum life science diversification across instruments, reagents, consumables, diagnostics, and pharma services from a single high-quality compounder
- →Want focused analytical instruments exposure through Agilent's leadership in liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, and genomics serving pharmaceutical, food, and environmental markets
- →Value Agilent's end market diversification (food safety, environmental testing, forensics) as a buffer against purely pharma-driven spending cycles
- →See Agilent's DAKO oncology pathology business as growing companion diagnostic and cancer biomarker testing revenues tied to personalized medicine adoption
| Metric | TMO | A |
|---|---|---|
| AI score | 51.1 | 50.8 |
| AI rank | #392 | #412 |
| Latest close | $464.61 | $127.06 |
| 1M return | +3.75% | +14.91% |
| 6M return | -17.41% | -7.02% |
| 1Y return | +19.05% | +9.45% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | TMO | A |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $11.84K (+18.4%) started 2025-06-18 | $11K (+10.0%) started 2025-06-18 |
| 5Y ago | $9.79K (-2.1%) started 2021-06-21 | $9.16K (-8.4%) started 2021-06-21 |
| 10Y ago | $32.85K (+228.5%) started 2016-06-20 | $31.81K (+218.1%) started 2016-06-20 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | TMO | A |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $174.42B | $36.67B |
| Trailing P/E | 25.77 | 26.02 |
| Forward P/E | 17.22 | 19.65 |
| Price/Sales | 3.54 | N/A |
| EV/Revenue | 4.75 | 5.31 |
| Analyst target | $599.19 | $160.35 |
| Target upside | +27.67% | +23.50% |
| Metric | TMO | A |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 6.20% | 10.00% |
| Earnings growth | 11.30% | 60.00% |
| EPS growth | +11.30% | +60.00% |
| FCF margin | +12.21% | +12.87% |
| Operating margin | 17.89% | 23.71% |
| Profit margin | 15.15% | 19.55% |
| ROIC proxy | 13.52% | 21.33% |
| Return on equity | 13.52% | 21.33% |
| Dividend yield | 0.40% | 0.79% |
| Beta | 0.87 | 1.26 |
| Debt/equity | 82.90 | 49.73 |
| Current ratio | 1.53 | 2.10 |
| Quick ratio | 0.97 | 1.46 |
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | TMO | A |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growth | +18.35% | +9.99% |
| CAGR | +18.38% | +10.00% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.55 | 0.31 | |
| Max drawdown | 31.45% | 29.87% | |
| Max daily drop | 9.20% | 5.95% | |
| Max wkly drop | 11.02% | 8.22% | |
| 5Y | Growth | -3.02% | -10.87% |
| CAGR | -0.61% | -2.28% | |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.05 | -0.08 | |
| Max drawdown | 41.02% | 43.19% | |
| Max daily drop | 9.20% | 9.66% | |
| Max wkly drop | 13.18% | 14.03% | |
| 10Y | Growth | +220.72% | +195.65% |
| CAGR | +12.37% | +11.46% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.40 | 0.37 | |
| Max drawdown | 41.02% | 43.19% | |
| Max daily drop | 9.20% | 11.01% | |
| Max wkly drop | 13.18% | 21.18% |
| Category | TMO | A |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. | Agilent Technologies, Inc. |
| Sector | Healthcare | Healthcare |
| Industry | Diagnostics & Research | N/A |
| Core business | Thermo Fisher Scientific is the world's largest life science tools company, providing laboratory instruments, reagents, consumables, and CRO/CMO services for pharmaceutical and biotech drug development, research, clinical diagnostics, and environmental testing — operating as the essential supplier to life science research globally. | Agilent Technologies provides analytical instruments, consumables, software, and services for life science and applied markets — including liquid chromatography (LC), mass spectrometry (MS), gas chromatography (GC), spectroscopy, pathology (DAKO cancer diagnostics), and genomics (SureSelect) for pharma, food safety, environmental, and forensics customers. |
| Investor focus | Investors track Thermo Fisher's organic revenue growth (ex-COVID testing and vaccines), bioprocessing recovery, Life Science Solutions segment performance, pharma services (CDMO/CRO) bookings, and the company's capital allocation between acquisitions and buybacks. | Investors track Agilent's revenue by end market (pharma, food, environmental, forensics), instrument order trends, liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry market share, and margin efficiency. |
- →Scale leadership as the world's largest life science tools company creates unique breadth advantage — researchers can source most laboratory needs from a single Thermo Fisher supplier relationship
- →Diversified across four segments (Life Science Solutions, Analytical Instruments, Laboratory Products & Services, Pharma Services) provides resilience when any single end market slows
- →Pharma services (PPD CRO, CDMO manufacturing) provides a fee-for-service recurring revenue stream less dependent on instrument purchase cycles
- →Market-leading position in liquid chromatography (LC) and LC/MS instruments used extensively in pharmaceutical quality control and new drug development
- →Diversified end markets spanning pharma, food safety, environmental testing, and forensics provides resilience when any single end market slows — food and environmental testing are less correlated to pharma spending cycles
- →DAKO oncology pathology products provide diagnostics exposure to companion diagnostics and cancer biomarker testing as personalized medicine grows
- →Biopharma funding environment affects instrument purchasing — when biotech funding is tight, smaller biotech companies reduce capital equipment purchases, affecting Thermo Fisher's instrument revenue
- →Post-COVID normalization created a significant air pocket in revenue — COVID testing, vaccine manufacturing, and pandemic-related demand was extraordinary and has since normalized sharply
- →Thermo Fisher's scale means acquisitions must be increasingly large to move the needle — smaller bolt-on acquisitions have less relative impact than on smaller peers
- →Pharmaceutical market exposure means Agilent shares the same biopharma spending cycle risks as other life science tool companies — funding tightness affects instrument purchases
- →Competition from Waters Corporation in LC/MS and Bruker in mass spectrometry means Agilent must continuously invest in instrument performance to maintain market share
- →China represents a significant portion of Agilent revenue — geopolitical tensions, economic slowdown, and Chinese government buy-domestic preferences create headwinds for multinational lab instrument suppliers
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