Shares of Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) tanked in after-hours trading after the medical diagnostics company reported earnings for its second quarter of Fiscal Year 2024. Earnings per share came in at $1.22, which beat analysts’ consensus estimate of $1.19 per share. However, sales decreased by 8.7% year-over-year, with revenue hitting $1.57 billion. This missed analysts’ expectations of $1.583 billion.
Pick the best stocks and maximize your portfolio:
- Discover top-rated stocks from highly ranked analysts with Analyst Top Stocks!
- Easily identify outperforming stocks and invest smarter with Top Smart Score Stocks
Looking forward, management revised its outlook downward and now expects revenue and adjusted earnings per share for FY 2024 to be in the ranges of $6.42 billion to $6.5 billion and $5.15 to $5.25, respectively. For reference, analysts were expecting $6.776 billion in revenue along with an adjusted EPS of $5.50.
Insiders Have Been Selling
When looking at insider activity, there seems to be a lot of selling. In fact, insiders have sold $417,100 worth of Agilent shares in the past three months. As a result, confidence from within appears to be low, as the Insider Confidence Signal for Agilent stock is Negative and is below the sector average, as shown in the picture below:
Is Agilent a Buy or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on Agilent stock based on three Buys, one Hold, and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 25% rally in its share price over the past year, the average Agilent price target of $150 per share implies 2.85% upside potential. However, it’s worth noting that estimates will likely change following today’s earnings report.
