Agilent beats quarterly results on strong demand from biotech clients

Aug 21 (Reuters) - Agilent Technologies on Wednesday beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter profit and revenue, banking on strong demand for its medical tools and equipment used in clinical studies.

"While market conditions continued to be challenged during the quarter, we saw steady signs of improvement as anticipated", said CEO Padraig McDonnell.

The public funding environment for early-stage biotechs is expected to improve in the second half of this year, on hopes of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserves in September. Some analysts have noted that funding for biotechs could stabilize due to a strong 2023 for U.S. regulatory approvals.

Last month, Agilent's larger peer Thermo Fisher also raised its annual profit outlook as the company banks on improved demand for its tools and services used in biopharma.

California-based Agilent on Wednesday raised the lower end of its forecasts for both full-year revenue and profit.

It now expects full-year revenue of $6.45 billion to $6.5 billion, compared with estimates of $6.46 billion, according to LSEG data. It had previously forecast a range of $6.42 billion to $6.5 billion.

The company expects to earn between $5.21 to $5.25 per share for fiscal 2024, compared with its previous forecast of between $5.15 to $5.25 per share.

Agilent reported a third-quarter adjusted profit of $1.32 per share for the quarter ended July 31, beating analysts' estimates of $1.26 per share.

It reported quarterly revenue of $1.58 billion, above estimates of $1.56 billion. (Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi and Shailesh Kuber)