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Should You Consider Retaining Bruker Stock in Your Portfolio Now?

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Bruker Corporation’s (BRKR - Free Report) BioSpin Group has been witnessing impressive growth in its end markets and the strategic buyout of Chemspeed is poised to expand its potential. Within BSI Nano, AI is driving significant growth in the semiconductor and metrology tools. The latest innovations and acquisitions in the CALID business uphold its robust growth prospects. Meanwhile, the impact of macroeconomic pressure and competitive challenges may hurt the company’s operational results.

In the past year, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock has underperformed the industry and the S&P 500. Shares of Bruker have risen 3.1% compared with 10% growth of the industry and 23.8% rise of the S&P 500 composite.

This renowned medical device company has a market capitalization of $11.77 billion. It has a long-term earnings growth rate of 10.6%, marginally exceeding the industry’s 10% growth. BRKR’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 10.1%.

Positives for BRKR

BioSpin’s Solid Growth Potential: Throughout the first half of 2024, BioSpin posted growth across the academic, government and industrial research markets and in its Integrated Data Solutions division. The company’s vendor-agnostic SciY platform also witnessed increased adoption. In the second quarter, BioSpin benefited from the strength in its preclinical imaging and software businesses, leading to a favorable impact on its overall performance.

Additionally, Bruker’s acquisition of Chemspeed Technologies AG has accelerated its entry into lab automation, digitalization and scientific software solutions. The strategic move bolsters the company’s Project Accelerate 2.0 portfolio transformation initiative by offering modular automation to enhance productivity in R&D and QC (Quality Control) departments. The division also benefits from enabling access to Bruker’s high-performance gigahertz and nuclear magnetic resonance technology.

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Bright Prospects for BSI Nano Group: The segment is witnessing robust revenue growth across its end markets, including academic, government, industrial and semiconductor metrology. The artificial intelligence megatrend is a major driver for the semiconductor metrology and advanced packaging tools business.

During the first half of 2024, the company’s advanced X-Ray and Nano Analytics businesses delivered strong sales. The success was backed by Nano’s robust revenue growth on rising demand in academic & government markets, along with the recent acquisition of NanoString, whose cutting-edge platforms and solutions for spatial transcriptomics and gene expression analysis enhance Bruker’s spatial biology portfolio.

CALID Group Holds Potential: Within this segment, Bruker’s flagship timsTOF platform is a key driver in the life science mass spectrometry business. Its success is further bolstered by its aftermarket business and the ongoing growth in applied mass spectrometry, optics-infrared, near-infrared and Raman business.

At ASMS (American Society for Mass Spectrometry) 2024, the company unveiled the timsTOF Ultra 2, featuring significantly enhanced sensitivity and the new neofleX Imaging Profiler MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometer. Earlier this year, Bruker acquired Nanophoton, enhancing its molecular microscopy portfolio with a broad range of state-of-the-art Raman microscopy systems. Furthermore, the acquisition of Tornado Spectral Systems significantly expanded Bruker’s biopharma PAT (Process Analytical Technology) product portfolio range.

What’s Weighing on Bruker?

Macroeconomic Factors: Global economic uncertainties are creating significant pressure on Bruker in terms of managing operations and predicting financial outcomes. Geopolitical conditions, along with rising energy and transportation costs, are affecting the company’s operational results. Bruker also faces high costs due to the persistent supply-chain risks associated with inflation, currency volatility and the worldwide shortage of semiconductor chips, components and raw materials, which are negatively impacting its profitability.

Competitive Landscape: Bruker faces substantial competition in a consolidating industry, with rivals such as JEOL and Oxford Instruments in magnetic resonance spectrometers, and Perkin Elmer, Mediso and others in the field of preclinical imaging. In the life science and chemical and applied markets, Bruker’s major competitors include Danaher, Agilent, GE-Healthcare, Waters and Thermo Fisher Scientific. The rise of business combinations among peers could further intensify the competition.

BRKR Stock Estimate Trend

In the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Bruker’s 2024 earnings per share has declined 1.9% to $2.61.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s 2024 revenues is pegged at $3.41 billion, indicating a 14.9% rise from the year-ago reported number.

Top MedTech Stocks

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are TransMedix Group (TMDX - Free Report) , Veracyte (VCYT - Free Report) and Boston Scientific (BSX - Free Report) . While TransMedix Group and Veracyte currently sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Boston Scientific carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

TransMedix Group’s earnings are expected to surge 255.8% in 2024. The company’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 287.5%. Its shares have soared 153.9% compared with the industry’s 9.9% rise in the past year.

Veracyte has an estimated earnings growth rate of 112.8% compared with the industry’s 12.5%. Shares of the company have soared 20.9% compared with the industry’s 9.8% rise over the past year.

VCYT’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 328.4%.

Boston Scientific has an estimated earnings growth rate of 17.1% compared with the industry’s 14.6%. Shares of the company have rallied 49.5% compared with the industry’s 14% rise over the past year.

BSX’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 7.2%.

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