The investor's view
+5.4%
growth in revenue a year, FY2020 to FY2025
- Five fundamentals, each ranked against the Health Care companies covered
- A peer map of growth against margin
- Where the profit is made: 3 segments, by share of sales and of profit
Lab supplies and service out-earn the instruments
Q3 FY2026, the quarter to Jul 31, 2026 · 10-Q filed Sep 1, 2026
Largest source of revenue: Product, 71.0% of the total.
With 41.9% of revenue, CrossLab earns the most, suggesting an instrument pays off mainly through the service and supplies that follow.
CrossLab earned $270M of segment operating income on $786M of revenue, a 34.4% margin. Life Sciences and Diagnostics earned $176M on $746M (23.6%) and Applied Markets $86M on $346M (24.9%). Measured against consolidated operating income of $444M, CrossLab's result equals 60.8%.1
Segment results leave out restructuring and other costs the company does not charge to segments, so the three segment figures add up to more than the $444M consolidated total. The share is a comparison with that total, not a split of it.1
CrossLab sells repairs, maintenance, compliance support, consumables such as chromatography columns, software and lab automation. The filing says most of the portfolio is vendor neutral, serving labs "regardless of their instrument purchase choices."1
AnalysisAnalysis: an instrument is a single sale that depends on a customer's capital budget, while supplies and upkeep recur for as long as it runs. A profit base weighted toward the recurring arm should be steadier through budget cycles than the revenue mix alone suggests.
Cost of revenue fell 1.7% as revenue rose 8.1%; tariff refunds helped, so part of the gain may not repeat.
Gross profit rose 17.3% to $1,042M, 55.5% of revenue and 4.39 points above a year earlier. Cost of revenue fell to $836M from $850M while revenue grew to $1,878M from $1,738M.1
The filing credits higher volume, "a net benefit from tariff refunds", targeted price increases, favorable business mix, lower intangible amortization and lower restructuring expense, partly offset by wage increases and higher variable pay. It calls the timing and approval of its remaining refund claims uncertain.1
The gain carried through to operating income, which rose 23.3% to $444M, a 23.6% margin and 2.93 points above a year earlier, even though selling, general and administrative expense grew 13.9% and R&D 10.8%.1
AnalysisAnalysis: price, mix and volume are the parts of the gain that can persist; refunds end once the claims are settled. Gross margin in quarters without a refund benefit is the cleaner read of where the business has settled.
Operating income rose 23.3% but net income only 7.7%, because last year's quarter carried an unusually low tax charge.
The tax provision rose to $82M from $30M. Against income before taxes of $444M and $366M, that is an effective rate of 18.5% this quarter and 8.2% a year earlier.1
The filing says last year's quarter included a release of tax reserves after a remeasurement of the liability, and that this quarter had no significant discrete items. It adds that the global minimum tax rules have raised its income taxes through top-up taxes.1
Net income was $362M against $336M, a 19.3% net margin, essentially unchanged. Other income also slipped, to $14M from $18M, so income before taxes grew 21.3%, a little less than operating income.1
AnalysisAnalysis: the gap comes from a light prior-year tax charge, not a weaker business this quarter. Operating income is the cleaner measure of the period; the tax rate now sits closer to a normal level than the year-earlier one did.
After a first half where cash trailed net income, operating cash flow reached 1.43 times profit and free cash flow $439M.
Operating cash flow was $519M against net income of $362M, and capital spending was $80M, leaving free cash flow of $439M, 23.4% of revenue. The same quarter a year earlier produced $259M of free cash flow.1
The first half of the fiscal year was weaker. Operating cash flow was $268M against net income of $305M in the first quarter and $277M against $339M in the second, so cash fell short of profit in both quarters.1
Inventory days on hand rose to 120 from 107, which the company attributes to "strategic inventory purchases to mitigate tariff-related risks". Days' sales outstanding edged down to 71 from 72.1
AnalysisAnalysis: quarterly cash flow here swings with the timing of tax payments, incentive pay and inventory, so one strong quarter says less than a full year. The inventory build is cash the company chose to tie up, and it could come back if trade rules settle.
Have a question about Agilent Technologies? Ask CXProWealth on ChatGPT.Free membership required.
Where Agilent Technologies stands among its peers, ten years of growth and cash, where the profit is made, and the edge and the risks.
How Agilent Technologies's model works step by step, where every $100 of revenue goes against the industry, and how long it took to scale.
Revenue went from $5.4B in FY2007 to $6.9B in FY2025, the operating margin from 10.8% to 21.3%, over 18 years.
Member research, then your own questions on ChatGPT.
What Agilent Technologies's numbers depend on from here, read from the filing: the conditions behind this period's margins and growth, and where a change would show first.
Separates the parts of the gross margin gain that can persist from the parts that end with the tariff refunds.
What to watch to tell acquired growth from organic growth after the Biocare pathology deal.
Loading…
Explore its competitive edge, where the profit is made, the trends and the risks, with CXProWealth on ChatGPT.
Business Lens describes Agilent Technologies from its own filings with the SEC. It is not a view on its shares, a target, or advice to buy, sell or hold anything; figures are as filed and may be restated by the company later. The filing, the dates and the version are under the financial data above.