Thermo Reports Fourth Quarter Results

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2016. Highlights saw fourth quarter revenue increased 6% to $4.95 billion while full year revenue increased 6% to $4.95 billion. The fourth quarter GAAP diluted earnings per share (EPS) increased 6% to $1.59; fourth quarter adjusted EPS grew 14% to $2.41. The full year GAAP diluted EPS increased 3% to $5.09 and full year adjusted EPS grew 12% to $8.27.

The company invested more than $750 million in R&D in 2016, and launched significant new products, including Q Exactive BioPharma mass spectrometry and Integrion chromatography systems, TSX laboratory freezers, Ion Torrent cancer assays, and new tests for drugs-of-abuse and autoimmune disease.

It also strengthened capabilities in Shanghai, Seoul and Singapore during the year to build on industry-leading presence in Asia-Pacific and emerging markets and continued to deliver strong growth in the region, led by outstanding performance in China.

Approximately $7 billion of capital was deployed in 2016, with $5.5 billion spent on strategic acquisitions, including FEI Company and Affymetrix and $1.5 billion was returned to shareholders through a combination of stock buybacks and dividends.

“I’m pleased to report that we achieved the goals we laid out for 2016, and successfully executed our strategy to deliver another excellent year,” said Marc N. Casper, president and chief executive officer of Thermo Fisher Scientific.

“We effectively deployed the largest R&D budget in our industry, and launched new high-impact products across all of our technology platforms. In Asia-Pacific and emerging markets, we leveraged our industry-leading scale to drive strong growth, especially in China, where we’re capturing opportunities aligned with the new five-year plan.

“We also continued to successfully execute our capital deployment strategy to create value for our shareholders. I’m really excited about our acquisition of FEI – the third largest in our history – and look forward to the opportunities we have to leverage these complementary technologies to drive growth.

“To sum it up, with a strong 2016 behind us, we’re positioned for another great year ahead.”