(Reuters) -Medical equipment maker Thermo Fisher Scientific forecast annual profit and revenue below Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, signaling that a slump in demand for its services used to make therapeutics and vaccines will continue.
Shares of the Waltham, Massachusetts-based company fell 2% in premarket trading.
The downbeat forecast comes a day after rival Danaher said it expects its core revenue to decline by a low single-digit percentage this year.
Thermo Fisher and Danaher have both seen sluggish demand throughout last year for their bioprocessing services used to make therapies and vaccines, as their biotech clients were cautious in drug development spending owing to rising interest rates.
Slowing growth in China, a key market for both the companies, has also crimped demand for contract research services and lab equipment.
Thermo Fisher’s stock declined 4% and Danaher fell 2% last year.
Thermo Fisher said it expects revenue of $42.1 billion to $43.3 billion this year, below analysts’ expectations of $42.93 billion.
The company forecast an adjusted profit between $20.95 and $22.00 per share for 2024.
Analysts on average were expecting a profit of $22.04 per share in the year, according to LSEG data.
However, Thermo Fisher’s fourth-quarter profit came in slightly ahead of estimates, helped in part by its cost-reduction measures.
Thermo Fisher’s quarterly adjusted profit of $5.67 per share came in 3 cents ahead of analysts’ estimates.
Total costs and operating expenses for the quarter fell 5.8% to $9.03 billion.
(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
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