— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs
Thermo Fisher Scientific, a maker of medical and scientific equipment, forecast revenue and earnings growth at its 2024 Investor Day today.
The company, which has Lehigh Valley operations, projects “organic revenue growth of 7% to 9% and mid-teens adjusted EPS growth over the long term.”
Let’s define the terms. When Thermo Fisher says “organic revenue growth” it means increased sales from its current operations, not sales from potential acquisitions.
“Adjusted EPS growth” means earnings per share after items the company considers to be one-time or unusual are excluded. Those items can include acquisition costs, severance pay in case of a big layoff, gains and losses on the sale of a business and almost anything companies want to include.
Adjusted EPS seems like an odd metric, but it’s what Wall Street looks for, so it prevails. It’s viewed as a measure of recurring earnings.
EPS under GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) does not carry as much weight. Most companies report both.
Waltham, Massachusetts-based Thermo Fisher’s commentary on Investor Day is available here.
The big issue is the share price (NYSE: TMO), and that has been moving up. At 10:07 a.m. Thursday, the share price was $614.26, about 2% short of the 52-week high of $627.88. The current price is well over the 52-week low of $415.60.
— Disclosure: The editor owns Thermo Fisher stock as part of a buy-and-hold strategy. The editor is not a day trader and does not buy and sell derivatives.
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