WASHINGTON, Jan. 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) (the “Company”) today announced results for the fourth quarter and full year 2024. All results in this release reflect only continuing operations unless otherwise noted.
Key Fourth Quarter 2024 Results
Key Full Year 2024 Results
Rainer M. Blair, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “We finished the year strong, with better-than-anticipated core revenue in all three of our segments. Good execution by our team also drove solid cash flow and operating margin expansion.”
Blair continued, “Looking ahead, we believe Danaher is better positioned than at any point in our 40-year history. The transformation in our portfolio over the last several years has created a focused life sciences and diagnostics innovator, poised for higher long-term growth, expanded margins and stronger cash flow.”
First Quarter and Full Year 2025 Outlook
The Company provides forecasted sales only on a non-GAAP core revenue basis because of the difficulty in estimating the other components of GAAP revenue, such as currency translation, acquisitions and divested product lines.
For the first quarter 2025, the Company anticipates that non-GAAP core revenue will decline low-single digits year-over-year. For full year 2025, the Company expects that non-GAAP core revenue will increase approximately 3% year-over-year.
Conference Call and Webcast Information
Danaher will discuss its fourth quarter results and financial guidance for the first quarter and full year 2025 during its investor conference call today starting at 8:00 a.m. ET. The call and an accompanying slide presentation will be webcast on the “Investors” section of Danaher’s website, www.danaher.com, under the subheading “Events & Presentations.” A replay of the webcast will be available in the same section of Danaher’s website shortly after the conclusion of the presentation and will remain available until the next quarterly earnings call.
The conference call can be accessed by dialing 800-445-7795 within the U.S. or by dialing +1 785-424-1699 outside the U.S. a few minutes before the 8:00 a.m. ET start and telling the operator that you are dialing in for Danaher’s earnings conference call (Conference ID: DHRQ424). A replay of the conference call will be available shortly after the conclusion of the call and until February 12, 2025. You can access the replay dial-in information on the “Investors” section of Danaher’s website under the subheading “Events & Presentations.”
ABOUT DANAHER
Danaher is a leading global life sciences and diagnostics innovator, committed to accelerating the power of science and technology to improve human health. Our businesses partner closely with customers to solve many of the most important health challenges impacting patients around the world. Danaher’s advanced science and technology – and proven ability to innovate – help enable faster, more accurate diagnoses and help reduce the time and cost needed to sustainably discover, develop and deliver life-changing therapies. Focused on scientific excellence, innovation and continuous improvement, our approximately 63,000 associates worldwide help ensure that Danaher is improving quality of life for billions of people today, while setting the foundation for a healthier, more sustainable tomorrow. Explore more at www.danaher.com.
NON-GAAP MEASURES AND SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS
In addition to the financial measures prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), this earnings release also contains non-GAAP financial measures. Calculations of these measures, explanations of what these measures represent and the reasons why we believe these measures provide useful information to investors, a reconciliation of these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures, as applicable, and other information relating to these non-GAAP measures are included in the supplemental reconciliation schedule attached.
In addition, this earnings release, the slide presentation accompanying the related earnings call, non-GAAP reconciliations and a note containing details of historical and anticipated, future financial performance have been posted to the “Investors” section of Danaher’s website (www.danaher.com).
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Statements in this release that are not strictly historical, including the statements regarding the anticipated financial results for the first quarter and full year 2025, the Company’s positioning for the future and any other statements regarding events or developments that we believe or anticipate will or may occur in the future are “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual results, developments and business decisions to differ materially from those suggested or indicated by such forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. These factors include, among other things: unanticipated, further declines in demand for our COVID-19 related products, the impact of global health crises, the impact of our debt obligations on our operations and liquidity, deterioration of or instability in the global economy, the markets we serve and the financial markets, uncertainties with respect to the development, deployment, and use of artificial intelligence in our business and products, uncertainties relating to national laws or policies, including laws or policies to protect or promote domestic interests and/or address foreign competition, contractions or growth rates and cyclicality of markets we serve, competition, our ability to develop and successfully market new products and technologies and expand into new markets, the potential for improper conduct by our employees, agents or business partners, our compliance with applicable laws and regulations (including rules relating to off-label marketing and other regulations relating to medical devices and the health care industry), the results of our clinical trials and perceptions thereof, our ability to effectively address cost reductions and other changes in the health care industry, our ability to successfully identify and consummate appropriate acquisitions and strategic investments, our ability to integrate the businesses we acquire and achieve the anticipated growth, synergies and other benefits of such acquisitions, contingent liabilities and other risks relating to acquisitions, investments, strategic relationships and divestitures (including tax-related and other contingent liabilities relating to past and future IPOs, split-offs or spin-offs), security breaches or other disruptions of our information technology systems or violations of data privacy laws, the impact of our restructuring activities on our ability to grow, risks relating to potential impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets, currency exchange rates, tax audits and changes in our tax rate and income tax liabilities, changes in tax laws applicable to multinational companies, litigation and other contingent liabilities including intellectual property and environmental, health and safety matters, the rights of the United States government with respect to our production capacity in times of national emergency or with respect to intellectual property/production capacity developed using government funding, risks relating to product, service or software defects, product liability and recalls, risks relating to our manufacturing operations and fluctuations in the cost and availability of the supplies we use (including commodities) and labor we need for our operations, our relationships with and the performance of our channel partners, uncertainties relating to collaboration arrangements with third-parties, the impact of deregulation on demand for our products and services, the impact of climate change, legal or regulatory measures to address climate change and our ability to address stakeholder expectations relating to climate change, labor matters and our ability to recruit, retain and motivate talented employees representing diverse backgrounds, experiences and skill sets, non-U.S. economic, political, legal, compliance, social and business factors (including the impact of military conflicts), disruptions and other impacts relating to man-made and natural disasters, inflation and the impact of our By-law exclusive forum provisions. Additional information regarding the factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements is available in our SEC filings, including our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the third quarter of 2024. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release and except to the extent required by applicable law, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events and developments or otherwise.
DANAHER CORPORATION
RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
Diluted Net Earnings Per Common Share and Adjusted Diluted Net Earnings Per Common Share1
Three-Month Period Ended
Year Ended
December 31, 2024
December 31, 2023
December 31, 2024
December 31, 2023
Diluted Net Earnings Per Common Share
From Continuing Operations (GAAP)
$ 1.49
$ 1.50
$ 5.29
$ 5.65
Amortization of acquisition-related intangible
assetsA
0.56
0.51
2.21
2.00
Fair value net (gains) losses on
investmentsB
0.09
0.19
0.08
0.24
ImpairmentsC
0.06
0.05
0.36
0.10
Acquisition-related itemsD
—
0.13
0.03
0.13
Litigation gainsE
—
(0.01)
—
(0.01)
Contract termination expenseF
0.08
—
0.08
—
Tax effect of the above adjustmentsG
(0.13)
(0.18)
(0.51)
(0.47)
Discrete tax adjustmentsH
(0.01)
(0.10)
(0.07)
(0.06)
MCPS “as if converted”I
—
—
—
0.01
Rounding
—
—
0.01
(0.01)
Adjusted Diluted Net Earnings Per Common
Share From Continuing Operations (Non-
GAAP)
$ 2.14
$ 2.09
$ 7.48
$ 7.58
1
For the year ended December 31, 2023, each of the per share adjustment amounts above have been calculated assuming the Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock (“MCPS”) had been converted into shares of common stock as of all dates presented.
Notes to Above Reconciliation
A
Amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets in the following historical periods ($ in millions) (only the pretax amounts set forth below are reflected in the amortization line item above):
Three-Month Period Ended
Year Ended
December 31, 2024
December 31, 2023
December 31, 2024
December 31, 2023
Pretax
$ 408
$ 380
$ 1,631
$ 1,491
After-tax
338
317
1,346
1,226
B
Net (gains) losses, including impairments, on the Company’s equity and limited partnership investments recorded in the following historical periods ($ in millions) (only the pretax amounts set forth below are reflected in the fair value net (gains) losses on investments line above):
Three-Month Period Ended
Year Ended
December 31, 2024
December 31, 2023
December 31, 2024
December 31, 2023
Pretax
$ 64
$ 139
$ 57
$ 182
After-tax
48
98
39
130
C
Impairment charges related to a trade name in the Diagnostics segment recorded in the three-month period and year ended December 31, 2024 ($43 million pretax as reported in this line item, $32 million after-tax), a trade name in the Life Sciences segment recorded in the year ended December 31, 2024 ($222 million pretax as reported in this line item, $169 million after-tax), technology-based intangible assets in the Diagnostics segment recorded in the three-month period and year ended December 31, 2023 ($23 million pretax as reported in this line, $18 million after-tax) and technology-based intangible assets and other assets in the Biotechnology segment recorded in the three-month period and year ended December 31, 2023 ($12 million and $54 million pretax as reported in this line item, $8 million and $40 million after-tax, respectively).
D
Costs incurred for the fair value adjustment to inventory related to the acquisition of Abcam plc (“Abcam”) for the year ended December 31, 2024 ($25 million pretax as reported in this line item, $19 million after-tax). Transaction costs deemed significant, settlement of pre-acquisition share-based payment awards and fair value adjustments to inventory in each case related to the acquisition of Abcam in the three-month period and year ended December 31, 2023 ($95 million pretax as reported in this line item, $75 million after-tax). The Company deems acquisition-related transaction costs incurred in a given period to be significant (generally relating to the Company’s larger acquisitions) if it determines that such costs exceed the range of acquisition-related transaction costs typical for the Company in a given period.
E
Gain related to settlement of litigation in the Life Sciences segment recorded in the three-month period and year ended December 31, 2023 ($10 million pretax as reported in this line, $8 million after-tax).
F
Loss on the termination of a commercial agreement in the Diagnostics segment in the three-month period and year ended December 31, 2024 ($56 million pretax as reported in this line item, $56 million after-tax).
G
This line item reflects the aggregate tax effect of all non-tax adjustments reflected in the preceding line items of the table. In addition, the footnotes above indicate the after-tax amount of each individual adjustment item. Danaher estimates the tax effect of each adjustment item by applying Danaher’s overall estimated effective tax rate to the pretax amount, unless the nature of the item and/or the tax jurisdiction in which the item has been recorded requires application of a specific tax rate or tax treatment, in which case the tax effect of such item is estimated by applying such specific tax rate or tax treatment. The MCPS dividends are not tax deductible and therefore the tax effect of the adjustments does not include any tax impact of the MCPS dividends.
H
Discrete tax adjustments and other tax-related adjustments for the three-month period ended December 31, 2024, include the impact of net discrete tax benefits of $4 million due principally to net discrete tax benefits resulting from the release of reserves for uncertain tax positions due to the expiration of statutes of limitation and changes in estimates related to prior year tax filing positions, net of charges related to changes in estimates associated with prior period uncertain tax positions. Discrete tax adjustments and other tax-related adjustments for the year ended December 31, 2024 include the impact of net discrete tax benefits of $49 million due principally to net discrete tax benefits resulting from excess tax benefits from stock compensation, the release of reserves for uncertain tax positions due to the expiration of statutes of limitation and changes in estimates related to prior year tax filing positions, net of charges related to changes in estimates associated with prior period uncertain tax positions. Discrete tax adjustments for the three-month period ended December 31, 2023, include the impact of net discrete tax benefits of $71 million due principally to net deferred tax benefits resulting from changes in estimates related to prior year tax filing positions and the release of reserves for uncertain tax positions due to the expiration of statutes of limitation, net of charges related to changes in estimates associated with prior period uncertain tax positions. Discrete tax adjustments and other tax-related adjustments for the year ended December 31, 2023 include the impact of net discrete tax benefits of $47 million due principally to net discrete tax benefits from changes in estimates related to prior year tax filing positions, the release of reserves for uncertain tax positions due to the expiration of statutes of limitation and excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation, net of charges related to tax costs related to the separation of Veralto Corporation, tax costs from legal and operational actions undertaken to realign certain of its businesses and changes in estimates associated with prior period uncertain tax positions. The Company anticipates excess tax benefits from stock compensation of approximately $7 million per quarter and therefore excludes benefits in excess of this amount in the calculation of adjusted diluted net earnings from continuing operations per common share.
I
In May 2020, the Company issued $1.72 billion in aggregate liquidation preference of 5.0% MCPS. Dividends on the MCPS were payable on a cumulative basis at an annual rate of 5.0% on the liquidation preference of $1,000 per share. Each share of MCPS converted on April 17, 2023 into 5.0175 shares of Danaher’s common stock. For the calculation of net earnings per common share from continuing operations, the impact of the dilutive MCPS is calculated under the “if-converted” method and the related MCPS dividends are excluded. For the purposes of calculating adjusted earnings per common share from continuing operations, the Company has excluded the paid MCPS cash dividends and assumed the “if-converted” method of share dilution (the incremental shares of common stock deemed outstanding applying the “if-converted” method of calculating share dilution only with respect to any MCPS the conversion of which would be dilutive in the particular period are referred to as the “Converted Shares”) for any MCPS that were anti-dilutive for the given period. For additional information about the impact of the MCPS on the calculation of diluted EPS, see note 2 in the Average and Adjusted Average Common Stock and Common Equivalent Diluted Shares Outstanding table below.
Average and Adjusted Average Common Stock and Common Equivalent Diluted Shares Outstanding
(shares in millions)
Three-Month Period Ended
Year Ended
December 31, 2024
December 31, 2023
December 31, 2024
December 31, 2023
Average common stock and common
equivalent shares outstanding – diluted
(GAAP)2
728.2
746.1
737.2
743.1
Converted shares3
—
—
—
2.5
Adjusted average common stock and common
equivalent shares outstanding – diluted (non-
GAAP)
728.2
746.1
737.2
745.6
2
The impact of the MCPS calculated under the if-converted method was anti-dilutive for the year ended December 31, 2023 and as such, approximately 2.5 million shares underlying the MCPS were excluded from the calculation of diluted EPS for the period and the related MCPS dividends of $21 million were included in the calculation of net earnings for diluted EPS for the period. As of April 17, 2023, all outstanding shares of the MCPS converted into 8.6 million shares of the Company’s common stock.
3
The number of converted shares assumes the conversion of all MCPS and issuance of the underlying shares applying the “if-converted” method of accounting and using the actual conversion rates as of December 31, 2023.
Sales Growth (Decline) by Segment, Core Sales Growth (Decline) by Segment
% Change Three-Month Period Ended December 31, 2024 vs. Comparable
2023 Period
Segments
Total Company
Biotechnology
Life Sciences
Diagnostics
Total sales growth (decline) (GAAP)
2.0 %
6.5 %
5.5 %
(3.0) %
Impact of:
Acquisitions
(1.5) %
— %
(5.0) %
— %
Currency exchange rates
0.5 %
1.5 %
0.5 %
1.0 %
Core sales growth (decline) (non-GAAP)
1.0 %
8.0 %
1.0 %
(2.0) %
% Change Year Ended December 31, 2024 vs. Comparable 2023 Period
Segments
Total Company
Biotechnology
Life Sciences
Diagnostics
Total sales growth (decline) (GAAP)
— %
(6.0) %
2.5 %
2.0 %
Impact of:
Acquisitions
(2.0) %
— %
(6.0) %
— %
Currency exchange rates
0.5 %
1.5 %
1.5 %
1.0 %
Core sales (decline) growth (non-GAAP)
(1.5) %
(4.5) %
(2.0) %
3.0 %
Forecasted Core Sales (Decline) Growth
The Company provides forecasted sales only on a non-GAAP core revenue basis because of the difficulty in estimating the other components of GAAP revenue, such as currency translation, acquisitions and divested product lines.
% Change Three-Month
Period Ending March
28, 2025 vs.
Comparable 2024
Period
% Change Year Ending
December 31, 2025 vs.
Comparable 2024
Period
Core sales (decline) growth (non-GAAP)
-Low single digit
~3.0%
Cash Flow from Continuing Operations and Free Cash Flow from Continuing Operations
($ in millions)
Three-Month Period Ended
Year-over-
Year
Change
Year Ended
Year-over-
Year
Change
December 31,
2024
December 31,
2023
December 31,
2024
December 31,
2023
Total Cash Flows from Continuing
Operations:
Total cash provided by operating
activities from continuing operations
(GAAP)
$ 2,019
$ 1,591
$ 6,688
