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TMO
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. · Healthcare / Life Science Tools & Services
$464.61
+3.75% this month
VERSUS
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DHR
Danaher Corporation · Healthcare / Life Science Tools & Diagnostics
$177.17
+6.06% this month
Scoreboard verdict
Across AI score, momentum, valuation, upside, operating margin
TMO
3
DHR
2
Comparison scoreboard
TMO LEADS 3/5AI Score
TMO ✓51.1
DHR 50.3
1Y Return
TMO ✓+19.05%
DHR -9.49%
Fwd P/E
TMO ✓17.22
DHR 19.47
Target Up.
TMO +27.67%
DHR ✓+34.56%
Op. Margin
TMO 17.89%
DHR ✓22.94%
Metrics last refreshed: 6/20/2026
Quick take
TMO vs DHR Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
TMO and DHR are complementary life science tools leaders with different primary exposures. TMO dominates lab research tools, CDMO manufacturing services, and clinical diagnostics — more diversified revenue with strong pharmaceutical services exposure. DHR's post-spinoff focus is primarily bioprocessing through Cytiva — the dominant single-use consumables supplier for biologic manufacturing. Both are recovering from COVID-related revenue normalization. TMO offers more diversification; DHR offers purer bioprocessing leverage.
TMO vs DHR — Thermo Fisher Scientific (world's largest life science tools company with instruments, CDMO services, and diagnostics providing diversified pharma supply chain exposure) versus Danaher (pure-play bioprocessing leader through Cytiva's monopoly position in single-use bioreactor consumables for biologic drug manufacturing, post-Veralto spinoff).
Live analysis · updated 6/20/2026
TMO holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. TMO leads on both 1-year return (+19.05%) and forward P/E (17.22x vs 19.47x for DHR), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. On fundamentals, TMO is growing revenue faster (6.20%), while DHR maintains the higher operating margin (22.94%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for DHR (+34.56%) than for TMO (+27.67%).
Normalized 1Y performance
TMO
DHR
Recent returns
TMO
DHR
Analyst price targets & sentiment
TMO · 27 analysts
STRONG BUYHOLDSTRONG SELL
Buy (1.6/5.0)
Price target range
analyst low$450.00
analyst high$767.00
analyst mean$599.19
current price$464.61
+27.7% upside to analyst mean
DHR · 23 analysts
STRONG BUYHOLDSTRONG SELL
Strong Buy (1.4/5.0)
Price target range
analyst low$210.00
analyst high$310.00
analyst mean$242.35
current price$177.17
+34.6% upside to analyst mean
Who should consider this stock?
TMO may suit investors who:
- →want diversified life science tools exposure across instruments, CDMO services, diagnostics, and lab consumables — TMO's breadth reduces dependence on any single market segment
- →are positive on biopharma outsourcing to CDMOs — TMO's pharma manufacturing services grow as drug companies outsource more production of complex biologics and GLP-1 drugs
- →value TMO's longer M&A track record and demonstrated acquisition integration capabilities built over 20+ years of consolidation
- →prefer lower single-business risk than DHR's post-spinoff concentration in bioprocessing through Cytiva
DHR may suit investors who:
- →want concentrated pure-play bioprocessing exposure — DHR's Cytiva provides the clearest leverage to biologic drug manufacturing growth from mRNA, cell and gene therapy, and GLP-1 drugs
- →believe Cytiva's consumable destocking is ending — recovering bioprocessing revenues after 2022-2024 inventory correction creates meaningful earnings inflection potential
- →value the Danaher Business System operational culture as a structural competitive advantage creating consistent margin improvement across businesses
- →are comfortable with DHR's post-spinoff strategic focus and new management team executing the founder-era DBS culture
Performance & AI score
| Metric | TMO | DHR |
|---|---|---|
| AI score | 51.1 | 50.3 |
| AI rank | #392 | #448 |
| Latest close | $464.61 | $177.17 |
| 1M return | +3.75% | +6.06% |
| 6M return | -17.41% | -20.42% |
| 1Y return | +19.05% | -9.49% |
$10,000 invested — hypothetical growth (dividends reinvested)
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | TMO | DHR |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $11.84K (+18.4%) started 2025-06-18 | $9.11K (-8.9%) started 2025-06-18 |
| 5Y ago | $9.79K (-2.1%) started 2021-06-21 | $7.86K (-21.4%) started 2021-06-21 |
| 10Y ago | $32.85K (+228.5%) started 2016-06-20 | $61.46K (+514.6%) started 2016-06-20 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
Valuation & upside potential
| Metric | TMO | DHR |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $174.42B | $127.47B |
| Trailing P/E | 25.77 | 34.84 |
| Forward P/E | 17.22 | 19.47 |
| Price/Sales | 3.54 | 5.89 |
| EV/Revenue | 4.75 | 5.71 |
| Analyst target | $599.19 | $242.35 |
| Target upside | +27.67% | +34.56% |
Growth, profitability & risk
| Metric | TMO | DHR |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 6.20% | 3.70% |
| Earnings growth | 11.30% | 9.80% |
| EPS growth | +11.30% | +9.80% |
| FCF margin | +12.21% | +18.44% |
| Operating margin | 17.89% | 22.94% |
| Profit margin | 15.15% | 14.89% |
| ROIC proxy | 13.52% | 7.08% |
| Return on equity | 13.52% | 7.08% |
| Dividend yield | 0.40% | 0.89% |
| Beta | 0.87 | 0.83 |
| Debt/equity | 82.90 | 37.17 |
| Current ratio | 1.53 | 1.87 |
| Quick ratio | 0.97 | 1.40 |
Drawdown & downside risk
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
1Y risk snapshot
TMO max drawdown31.45%
DHR max drawdown33.11%
TMO max wkly drop11.02%
DHR max wkly drop8.99%
5Y risk snapshot
TMO max drawdown41.02%
DHR max drawdown44.20%
TMO max wkly drop13.18%
DHR max wkly drop14.50%
10Y risk snapshot
TMO max drawdown41.02%
DHR max drawdown44.20%
TMO max wkly drop13.18%
DHR max wkly drop14.50%
Performance metrics by period
| Period | Metric | TMO | DHR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growth | +18.35% | -8.88% |
| CAGR | +18.38% | -8.89% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.55 | -0.35 | |
| Max drawdown | 31.45% | 33.11% | |
| Max daily drop | 9.20% | 5.40% | |
| Max wkly drop | 11.02% | 8.99% | |
| 5Y | Growth | -3.02% | -22.65% |
| CAGR | -0.61% | -5.01% | |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.05 | -0.21 | |
| Max drawdown | 41.02% | 44.20% | |
| Max daily drop | 9.20% | 9.73% | |
| Max wkly drop | 13.18% | 14.50% | |
| 10Y | Growth | +220.72% | +333.14% |
| CAGR | +12.37% | +15.80% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.40 | 0.46 | |
| Max drawdown | 41.02% | 44.20% | |
| Max daily drop | 9.20% | 9.73% | |
| Max wkly drop | 13.18% | 14.50% |
Business comparison
| Category | TMO | DHR |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. | Danaher Corporation |
| Sector | Healthcare | Healthcare |
| Industry | Diagnostics & Research | Diagnostics & Research |
| Core business | Thermo Fisher is the world's largest life science tools company — providing instruments, reagents, consumables, software, and services enabling scientific research, clinical labs, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and genomics. Revenue streams: Life Sciences Solutions (25%), Analytical Instruments (15%), Specialty Diagnostics (15%), and Laboratory Products & Biopharma Services (45%). Thermo Fisher is deeply embedded in pharma/biotech customer workflows — switching costs are extremely high once lab workflows are built around TMO instruments and reagents. COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing scale-up created a massive revenue boost (2020-2022) that has since normalized. | Danaher is a life sciences and diagnostics conglomerate transformed by the 2023 spinoff of Veralto (environmental and applied solutions) — now focused on Biotechnology (Cytiva bioprocessing instruments and consumables) and Life Sciences (laboratory analysis, genomics, diagnostics). Danaher's 'Danaher Business System' (DBS) is the legendary operational improvement methodology that drives margin improvement across acquired businesses. Post-spinoff Danaher is primarily a pure-play bioprocessing business through Cytiva (acquired from GE Healthcare in 2020) — the dominant supplier of single-use bioprocessing consumables for biologic drug manufacturing. |
| Investor focus | Investors focus on TMO's biopharma revenue growth (contract manufacturing services for GLP-1 drugs, cell and gene therapy manufacturing), instrument cycle recovery (capital equipment orders follow pharma capex cycles), and acquisition integration of recent deals. | Investors focus on Danaher's bioprocessing business recovery (Cytiva consumables destocking post-COVID vaccine inventory build), Danaher Business System margin improvement, and new CEO Rainer Blair's strategic direction after years of Larry Culp's leadership. |
TMO strengths
- →Irreplaceable position in pharma/biotech supply chain: TMO's instruments and reagents are embedded in every drug development workflow — from drug discovery research to clinical trials to manufacturing QC
- →Biopharma contract manufacturing services: TMO's CDMO capabilities manufacture the world's largest-selling drugs — GLP-1 weight loss drugs produced by customers use TMO's services extensively
- →Scale advantages across 80+ acquisitions over 20 years: TMO's M&A machine has built unrivaled scale — each acquisition adds products sold through existing customer relationships
DHR strengths
- →Cytiva's monopoly-like position in bioprocessing: single-use bioreactor bags, chromatography resins, and filtration systems for biologic drug manufacturing — extremely high switching costs for drug manufacturers
- →Danaher Business System: legendary operational improvement methodology creating consistent margin expansion across all acquired businesses — structural competitive advantage in running industrial companies
- →Pure-play bioprocessing focus post-Veralto spinoff: DHR is now the clearest pure expression of bioprocessing market growth — GLP-1 drugs, cell and gene therapy, and mRNA vaccines all require DHR's Cytiva products
Risks to watch — TMO
- →Biotech/pharma capex cycle sensitivity: when pharma companies cut R&D budgets or biotech funding dries up, TMO instrument orders slow immediately — COVID hangover reduced orders in 2023-2024
- →Post-COVID revenue normalization: TMO's COVID testing and vaccine manufacturing revenues peaked at $9B+ and are structurally declining — underlying organic growth must replace this windfall
- →Capital allocation at premium valuations: TMO's acquisitions are expensive — overpaying for M&A at peak healthcare valuations can destroy value long-term
Risks to watch — DHR
- →Cytiva bioprocessing destocking: COVID vaccine manufacturers built massive inventories of bioreactor bags and other consumables that they are still working through — DHR bioprocessing revenues declined 2022-2024 during this inventory correction
- →Leadership transition risk: Larry Culp left DHR to run GE — a legendary operator's departure creates uncertainty about whether the Danaher Business System culture will be maintained under new management
- →Bioprocessing market cyclicality: biologic drug manufacturing consumable demand follows drug development pipelines — delays in clinical programs reduce consumable demand
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