Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.01 EPS

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Avantor had a negative net margin of 1.25% and a positive return on equity of 10.91%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. Avantor updated its FY 2026 guidance to 0.770-0.830 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Avantor’s conference call:

• Revival reorganization creates two new reporting units — VWR Distribution & Services and Bioscience & Medtech Products — and relaunches the VWR brand to simplify go-to-market, improve customer clarity, and increase accountability across the business.
• The company guided 2026 organic revenue down -2.5% to -0.5% (reported -1.5% to +0.5% after FX) with EBITDA margins expected to compress ~100–150 bps and adjusted EPS of $0.77–$0.83, signaling a near-term transition year with margin and top-line headwinds.
• Q4 results were largely in line with guidance: revenue $1.66B (organic -4%), adjusted EBITDA margin 15.2%, adjusted EPS $0.22, and free cash flow $117M (or $150M excluding transformation expenses).
• Management plans targeted, self-funded investments—including $10–$15M for VWR e-commerce upgrades and ~$20M of operations investments—while emphasizing ongoing cost discipline (run-rate savings of $265M achieved) to support longer-term profitable growth.
• Capital allocation actions included a $75M Q4 buyback under a $500M program and ~$300M of 2025 debt paydown (adjusted net leverage 3.2x), with management prioritizing further deleveraging below 3x while retaining opportunistic repurchase flexibility.

Avantor Stock Down 13.5%

AVTR stock opened at $9.66 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $6.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -74.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.94. Avantor has a twelve month low of $8.90 and a twelve month high of $18.36. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $11.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVTR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore set a $12.00 price target on Avantor and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. UBS Group set a $12.00 target price on Avantor in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Avantor from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $12.00 price target (down from $14.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Avantor from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Avantor presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.38.

Key Avantor News

Here are the key news stories impacting Avantor this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat on the headline numbers: adjusted EPS $0.22 vs. $0.21 consensus and revenue $1.66B vs. $1.64B; operating and free cash flow remained solid. This supports the view that core operations generated cash despite top-line pressure. PR Newswire Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Management commentary, slide deck and earnings call transcripts are available for details on the “revival program” (VWR relaunch, supply‑chain and e‑commerce improvements) and cost actions; these will be key to any recovery but are execution‑dependent. Earnings Call Transcript (Yahoo) Slide Deck (Seeking Alpha)
• Negative Sentiment: FY2026 EPS guidance of $0.770–$0.830 is below the Street consensus (~$0.90), signaling weaker near‑term profitability and prompting re‑rating risk. (Guidance disclosed with the results.)
• Negative Sentiment: Full‑year 2025 GAAP net loss of $530M (GAAP loss/shr $0.78) — a material profit swing — increases investor concern about earnings quality and near‑term recovery prospects. How the Profit Swing Impacts Investors (Yahoo)
• Negative Sentiment: Unusual bearish options flow: ~48,044 put contracts were bought (a >1,000% jump vs. average), signaling speculators are positioning for further downside.
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest rose sharply in January to ~37.7M shares (up ~25%), representing ~5.6% of float — higher short activity can exacerbate downward pressure on the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Organic revenue declined (~4% in Q4; full‑year organic down 3%), and net margin was negative — underlying demand softness and margin pressure remain headwinds. Key Metrics vs. Estimates (Zacks)

Insider Activity at Avantor

In related news, Director Sanjeev K. Mehra acquired 350,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $11.09 per share, with a total value of $3,881,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,881,500. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Avantor

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Avantor by 28.1% during the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 4,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Avantor by 60.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Avantor by 119.1% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,189 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its position in shares of Avantor by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 206,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,576,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 6,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,468 shares during the period. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Avantor

Avantor, Inc (NYSE:AVTR) is a global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education & government, and advanced technologies & applied materials industries. The company delivers essential solutions that support research, development, production and safety applications. Its product portfolio spans from high-purity chemicals and reagents to biologics and cell culture media, as well as lab equipment, consumables and custom manufacturing services.

Avantor’s offerings are organized across two primary segments.