Thermo Fisher Scientific Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
July 26, 2023

Key Takeaways

  • Thermo Fisher delivered Q2 revenue of $10.69 billion, adjusted operating income of $2.37 billion and $5.15 EPS, reflecting solid quarterly performance.
  • Slowing economic activity in China and cautious global customer spending led to a downward revision of full-year guidance to $43.4–44.0 billion revenue and $22.28–22.72 adjusted EPS.
  • Management activated its PPI business system to implement $450 million of additional cost actions in 2023, with $75 million of benefits realized in Q2 to protect margins.
  • The planned acquisition of Core Evitas will enhance real-world evidence capabilities, is expected to grow low double digits and add $0.03 to adjusted EPS in 2024.
  • Thermo Fisher launched high-impact innovations including the Orbitrap Astral mass spectrometer and Metrio 6 electron microscope, reinforcing its leadership in life sciences tools.
AI Generated. May Contain Errors.
Earnings Conference Call
Thermo Fisher Scientific Q2 2023
00:00 / 00:00

There are 11 speakers on the call.

Operator

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Thermo Fisher Scientific 2023 Second Quarter Conference Call. My name is Ellen, and I'll be coordinating the call for today. I would now like to introduce our moderator for the call, Mr. Rafael DeHada, Vice President of Investor Relations. Mr.

Operator

DeHada, you may now begin the call.

Speaker 1

Good morning and thank you for joining us. On the call with me today is Mark Casper, are Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer and Stephen Williamson, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Please note this call is being webcast live and will be archived on the Investors section of our website thermofisher.com under the heading News, Events and Presentations until August 11, 2023. A copy of the press release of our Q2 2023 earnings is available in the Investors section of our website under the heading Financials. So before we begin, let me briefly cover our Safe Harbor statement.

Speaker 1

Various remarks that we may make about the company's future expectations, Plans and prospects constitute forward looking statements for purposes of the Safe Harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward looking statements as a result of various important factors, including those discussed in the company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10 ks and subsequent quarterly report on Form 10 Q, which are on file with the SEC and available in the Investors section of our website under the heading Financials SEC filings. While we may elect to update forward looking statements at some point in the future, we specifically disclaim any obligation to do so, even if our estimates change. Therefore, you should not rely on these forward looking statements as representing our views as of any date subsequent to today. Also, during this call, we will be referring to certain financial measures not prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles or GAAP.

Speaker 1

A reconciliation of these non GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures is available in the press release of our Q2 2023 earnings and also in the Investors section of our website under the heading Financials. So with that, I'll now turn the call over to Mark.

Speaker 2

Thanks, Raf. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us today for our Q2 call. Let me recap our financial performance for the quarter, Then I'll provide additional context on what we're seeing playing out in the macro economy and the implications for our outlook. In the Q2, our revenue was $10,690,000,000 Our adjusted operating income was $2,370,000,000 And we delivered adjusted EPS of $5.15 per share. As you saw in our press release, the macroeconomic environment became more challenging in the quarter.

Speaker 2

Economic activity in China slowed and across the economy more broadly, Businesses became more cautious in their spend. This impacted our Q2 results and informed a more moderated view for the full year. We're taking appropriate actions to successfully navigate these conditions. As a reminder, when we set out our guidance at the beginning of the year, We assumed core market growth would be in the normal range of 4% to 6% for 2023. Given the more challenging macroeconomic environment at this point.

Speaker 2

We think it is best to assume that these conditions will persist for the remainder of the year and our current assumption is that core market growth will be in the 0% to 2% range this year. We're increasing our commercial intensity to help our customers through this environment and capture even more opportunities. We're also leveraging the PPI business system to appropriately manage our costs. Given these changes, We're revising our revenue and adjusted EPS guidance for the full year. I'll cover some of the key points around the guidance And Stephen will outline our underlying assumptions later in the call.

Speaker 2

For 2023, we now expect revenue to be in the range of $43,400,000,000 to $44,000,000,000 and adjusted EPS to be in the range of $22.28 to $22.72 As you know, during periods of change, we have a very Clear set of guiding principles on how we manage the company. These principles have 3 elements. 1st, Everything we do starts with our customers and ensuring that we're enabling their success. 2nd, we inspire our colleagues to bring their best every day to fulfill our mission. And third, we hold ourselves to an incredibly high standard to deliver differentiated short term performance, all while capitalizing on dynamic times to enhance our long term competitive position, creating an even brighter future for our company.

Speaker 2

To enable The differentiated short and long term performance in this environment, we're leveraging our PPI business system to deliver $450,000,000 of additional cost actions in 2023. That's in addition to what was embedded in our previous guidance. We're ramping up our commercial intensity to drive our share gain momentum and we continue to invest in our capabilities to be an even stronger partner for our customers. We're uniquely positioned to help them navigate their own challenges in this environment. When I think about our proven ability to navigate market dynamics combined with the long term market growth drivers for the life sciences industry, I'm incredibly confident for the future.

Speaker 2

As I look ahead, there is a clear need for new medicines and the scientific advances in life sciences are leading to Exciting and innovative therapies, which will make a profound positive impact on well-being and be one of the drivers creating the very strong and durable Tailwind in our industry. Let me now turn to our quarterly performance and provide you with an update on our end markets. Starting with Pharma and Biotech. Growth was flat for the Q2. The COVID-nineteen vaccine and therapy revenue runoff performed as expected during the quarter, resulting in a 5 point headwind within this market.

Speaker 2

From a segment perspective, that revenue runoff is essentially all in our Life Science Solutions segment, largely in our Biosciences business related to nucleotides and enzymes and to a lesser extent in bioproduction. The strongest growth in pharma and biotech end market this quarter was in our Pharma Services and Clinical Research Businesses. In academic and government, we grew in the high single digits in the quarter. We delivered very strong growth in our electron microscopy and chromatography and mass spectrometry businesses as well as our research and safety market channel. In Industrial and Applied, we grew in the low single digits for the quarter.

Speaker 2

The strongest growth in this end market was in our Analytical Instruments businesses. And finally, in Diagnostics and Healthcare, revenue in Q2 was approximately 20% lower than the prior year quarter. The team delivered very good core business growth during the quarter, driven by our microbiology, immunodiagnostics and transplant diagnostic businesses. Let me now turn to our growth strategy. We really made terrific progress in Q2 in this regard.

Speaker 2

Our growth strategy consists of 3 pillars: High impact innovation, our trusted partner status with customers and our unparalleled commercial engine. Starting with the first pillar, innovation. We had a really spectacular quarter. We launched high impact new products that are further strengthening our industry leadership by enabling our customers to bring new ground in their important work. We had a great showing at the American Society For Mass Spectrometry Conference, where we featured the groundbreaking Thermo Scientific Orbitrap Astro Mass Spectrometer, which is the most significant advancement in mass spectrometry in 15 years.

Speaker 2

The Orbitrap ASPO combines speed, high sensitivity and deep proteome coverage to enable researchers to uncover proteins that previously evaded detection. This will enable breakthroughs that could lead to the development of new targeted therapies for a range of diseases from cardiovascular disease to cancer. We've already started to deliver the Astral to our customers and we're very pleased with the strong bookings performance to date. In our electron microscopy business, we launched the Thermo Scientific Metrio 6 scanning transmission electron microscope, The latest innovation in our leading line of instruments designed for the semiconductor industry. This fully automated system enables our customers to rapidly obtain Large volume high quality data from increasingly complex semiconductors to accelerate development.

Speaker 2

In our Biosciences business, We introduced the Givko OncoPro Tumoroid Culture Media Kit. It accelerates development of novel cancer therapies. These kits support the culture of tumor cells derived from individual patients providing a better disease model for research And drug development that could potentially improve clinical trial success and help bring drug candidates to market faster and more cost effectively. And in Specialty Diagnostics, we launched the 1st and only immunoassay to help doctors stratify a mother's risk of developing preeclampsia, A serious complication that can develop in pregnancy and the postpartum period, endangering both mother and baby. We received breakthrough designation and FDA clearance for assessing a patient's risk of developing severe preeclampsia, Enabling doctors to better manage care.

Speaker 2

These are just a few examples of the exciting innovation going on across our company, which will make a significant difference for our customers and drive future growth. The second pillar of our growth strategy is the trusted partner status that we have built with our customers. This unique relationship gives us early insights into our customers' unmet needs and enables us to bring our industry leading products, Services and expertise together in ways that no one else can. We continue to strengthen our capabilities to be an even stronger partner for our customers. For example, in our Pharma Services business, we added an early development hub at our site in Bourguin, France, enabling early development in addition to commercial manufacturing.

Speaker 2

The 3rd pillar of our growth strategy is our unparalleled commercial engine. We have a meaningful commercial advantage due to the deep engagement that we're able to have with our customers across the globe. A great example of our progress here is further strengthening our commercial capabilities with the opening of a state of the art customer center of excellence in Milan. It features a customer application development lab to showcase our industry leading products, services and expertise. We continue to successfully execute our disciplined capital deployment strategy, which is a combination of strategic M and A and returning capital to shareholders.

Speaker 2

During the quarter, we completed a small bolt on acquisition of MarkMetrix, a developer of Raman based spectroscopy solutions for in line process analytics. This technology expands our capabilities to help our customers make precise and accurate measurements throughout their manufacturing processes in a wide range of applications, including biopharma. This business is a nice complement to our analytical instruments business. Let me give you a quick update on the Binding Sight acquisition, which we closed at the beginning of the year. Our protein diagnostics business has delivered outstanding growth And the integration is going incredibly well.

Speaker 2

Our team is progressing the innovation pipeline to advance the diagnosis and management of patients with multiple myeloma and immune disorders. And just after the close of the quarter, we announced an agreement to acquire Core Evitas, a leading provider of regulatory grade real world evidence for approved medical treatments and therapies. Real world evidence is the collection and use of data from patient health outcomes gathered through routine clinical care. This is a high growth market segment as pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers as well as regulating bodies are increasingly looking to monitor and evaluate the safety of approved medicines and examine their effectiveness and value in the post approval setting. Core Evitas will further strengthen our capabilities to serve our pharma and biotech customers.

Speaker 2

It's an excellent strategic fit for our company and highly complementary to our clinical research business. There is strong market demand for real world evidence, which improves decision making and reduces the time and cost associated with drug development. The acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of this year And I'm very excited about what this will mean for our customers and the patients they serve. Financially, we expect the business to deliver low double digit growth and accretive to adjusted EPS by $0.03 in 2024. So overall strong progress in the Q2 for capital deployment.

Speaker 2

During the quarter, we advanced our environmental, social and governance priorities, including launching a partnership with Pfizer to increase local access to next These are areas where advanced genomic testing has previously been limited or unavailable. Access to local NGS testing can help to provide faster analysis of associated genes, empowering healthcare providers to select the right therapy for that individual patient. Through the partnership, we will work with local labs using our NGS technology to ensure they meet industry standards for NGS testing for breast and lung cancer. Pfizer will work to enable affordable patient access and to raise healthcare provider awareness regarding the benefits of advanced NGS testing. Together, we'll continue to evaluate additional geographic opportunities and to expand testing for other types of cancer.

Speaker 2

I'm very proud of the way we're making a difference, not only by enabling our customer success, but also by creating a better a great work environment for our colleagues and are making a positive impact for society. So to summarize our key takeaways from the 2nd quarter. While the macroeconomic environment has become more challenging, our team continues to leverage our PPI business system to deliver strong productivity. We're focused on driving market share gains and at the same time we're advancing our proven growth strategy to be an even stronger partner for our customers. We effectively deployed capital to create significant value for our customers and our shareholders.

Speaker 2

And the attractive long term outlook for the life sciences industry And Thermal Fisher is unchanged. We're incredibly well positioned to help our customers navigate the current environment, Capture incremental opportunities and exit this period an even stronger industry leader with a very bright future. With that, I'll now hand the call over to our CFO, Stephen Williamson. Stephen?

Speaker 3

Thanks, Mark, and good morning, everyone. As you saw in our press release and as Mark Just outlined, the macroeconomic environment became more challenging in the Q2. We're leveraging our PPI business system to effectively manage these conditions. In the quarter, we delivered $10,700,000,000 of revenue, which included just over 2% core organic revenue growth. We delivered $5.15 of adjusted EPS.

Speaker 3

Revenue in the quarter was $300,000,000 lower than we'd incorporated in our previous 2023 guidance. $280,000,000 of this was related to the core business and $20,000,000 related to testing. Approximately onethree of the change in core revenue was driven by lower economic activity in China and the remainder was driven by more cautious spending across our customer base globally, particularly in Biotech. Adjusted EPS in the quarter was $0.28 lower than we incorporated in our previous 2023 guidance, $0.07 of this was driven by FX and $0.21 by the lower revenue. Given the lower core revenue both in the quarter And assumed in our full year outlook, we're using the PPI business system to aggressively manage our cost base.

Speaker 3

In Q2, this enabled us to offset $75,000,000 The profit impact of the lower than expected revenue, this highlights that we're actively managing the business. Let me now provide you with some more details on our performance. Beginning with our earnings results, as I mentioned, we delivered $5.15 of adjusted EPS in Q2. GAAP EPS in the quarter was $3.51 On the top line reported revenue was 3 percentage points lower year over year. The components of our Q2 reported revenue included 3% lower organic revenue, a 1% contribution from acquisitions And a slight headwind from foreign exchange.

Speaker 3

As I mentioned, the revenue growth in the quarter was just over 2 percentage points. For context, core organic revenue growth includes the runoff in our COVID-nineteen vaccines and therapies revenue. Without that runoff impact, growth would have been 5% in the quarter. Turning to our organic revenue performance by geography. The organic growth rates by region are skewed by the pandemic related revenue in the current and prior year.

Speaker 3

In Q2, North America declined mid single digits. Europe grew in the low single digits and Asia Pacific declined in the mid single digits with China declining in the low teens. With respect to our operational performance, adjusted operating income in the quarter decreased 9% and adjusted operating margin was 22.2%, 150 basis points lower than Q2 last year. In the quarter, we delivered very strong productivity and achieved strong price realization. This is more than offset by lower pandemic related revenue, continued strategic investments and FX.

Speaker 3

Given the change in the macro environment, we're using the PPI business to drive significantly more productivity this year than initially planned. We've initiated $450,000,000 of additional cost actions. And as I mentioned earlier, we already began to see this benefit in Q2. Total company adjusted gross margin in the quarter came in at 41%, 220 basis points lower than Q2 last year. For the quarter, the change in gross margin was due to the same drivers as those for adjusted operating margin.

Speaker 3

Moving on to the details of the P and L. Adjusted SG and A in the quarter was 15.6 percent of revenue, an improvement of 50 basis points over Q2 last year. Total R and D expense was $345,000,000 in Q2, reflecting our ongoing investments in high impact innovation. R and D as a percent of our manufacturing revenue was 7.1% in the quarter. Looking at our results below the line for the Our net interest expense was $148,000,000 which is $36,000,000 higher than Q2 last year, mainly due to capital deployment.

Speaker 3

Our adjusted tax rate in the quarter was 10%. This was 300 basis points lower than Q2 last year, reflecting the results of our tax planning activities. Average diluted shares were 388,000,000 in Q2, approximately €6,000,000 lower year over year, driven by share repurchases net of option dilution. Turning to cash flow and the balance sheet. Year to date cash flow from operations was $2,300,000,000 year to date free Cash flow was $1,500,000,000 after investing $730,000,000 of net capital expenditures.

Speaker 3

During the quarter, we repaid $1,000,000,000 of senior notes and returned $135,000,000 of capital through dividends. Shortly after the quarter end, we announced the definitive agreement to acquire Core Evitas for approximately $900,000,000 We ended the quarter with $3,100,000,000 in cash and $34,000,000,000 of total debt. Our leverage ratio at the end of the quarter was 3.2 2 times gross debt to adjusted EBITDA and 2.9 times on a net debt basis. Concluding my comments on our total company performance, adjusted ROIC was 11.9%, reflecting the strong returns on investment that we're generating across the company. Now provide some color on the performance of our 4 business segments.

Speaker 3

Let me start with a couple of framing comments. The scale and margin profile of our pandemic related revenue varies by segment and that revenue was higher in the prior year. That does skew some of the reported segment growth rates and margins. We continue to execute strong pricing realization across all segments to address higher inflation. Moving on to the segment details, starting with Life Science Solutions.

Speaker 3

Q2 reported revenue in this segment declined 25% And organic revenue was also 25% lower than the prior year quarter. This was driven by the moderation in pandemic related revenue in the segment versus the year ago quarter And to a lesser extent, the macro factors that I described earlier. Q2 adjusted operating income in Life Science Solutions decreased 38% Adjusted operating margin was 33.2 percent, down 7 10 basis points versus the prior year quarter. During the quarter, we delivered very strong productivity, which is more than offset by unfavorable volume mix. In the Analytical Instruments segment, reported revenue increased 9 in Q2 and organic growth was 10%.

Speaker 3

The strong growth in the segment this quarter was led by the electron microscopy business. Q2 adjusted operating income in this segment increased 26% and adjusted operating margin was 24.7%, up 3 30 basis points year over year. In the quarter, we delivered very strong productivity and had strong volume and mix, and that was partially offset by strategic investments and FX. Turning to Specialty Diagnostics, in Q2, revenue increased 1% and organic revenue was 5% lower than the prior year quarter. In Q2, we continued to see strong underlying growth in the core, led by our microbiology, immunodiagnostics and transplant diagnostics businesses.

Speaker 3

This was offset by lower pandemic related revenue versus the year ago quarter. Q2 adjusted operating income increased 22% in the quarter and adjusted operating margin was Business mix, which is partially offset by the impact of lower COVID-nineteen testing volume and strategic investments. And finally, in Laboratory Products and Biopharma Services segment, Q2 reported revenue increased 5% and organic growth was also 5%. During Q2, organic revenue growth in this segment was led by the Pharma Services and Clinical Research Businesses. Q2 adjusted operating income in the segment increased 19% and adjusted operating margin was 14.1%, which is 160 basis points higher in Q2 2022.

Speaker 3

We delivered very strong productivity in the quarter, partially offset by FX and strategic investments. Let me now turn to guidance. And as Mark outlined, we're revising our full year 2023 guidance to reflect both the more challenging macroeconomic environment and the offsetting actions that we're taking to navigate these conditions. Revenue for 2023 is now expected to be in the range of $43,400,000,000 to $44,000,000,000 with core organic revenue growth in the range of 2% to 4%. Adjusted EPS is now Where we're likely to end up for the year within that range is $43,500,000,000 of revenue rounding up to 3% core organic revenue growth and adjusted EPS of $22.36

Operator

Let me provide you

Speaker 3

with some additional details behind the change in guidance, Starting with revenue. Our revised guidance reflects a change in the assumptions for core organic revenue growth from 7% to a range of 2% to 4%, And it also assumes $100,000,000 lower testing revenue. Our core organic revenue change is driven by 2 factors: A reduction in the assumed level of economic activity in China and an assumption that the more cautious spending that we saw across our customer base in Q2 will continue throughout the remainder of the year. In relation to China, at the beginning of the year, we saw positive momentum in the Chinese economy. We had previously assumed that this momentum would continue through the rest of the year.

Speaker 3

However, as the second quarter progressed, Economic activity in China significantly slowed, resulting in less customer activity in the quarter. We think it is appropriate to assume that this condition remains in place the year. With regards to customer spending patterns more broadly, in Q2, customers in our end markets began the year with somewhat cautious Spending. This is something that was not confined to our end markets. Companies across most business segments were cautious with their spending given the uncertain macro conditions.

Speaker 3

This dynamic became more challenging in Q2. We previously assumed that this would lessen an impact as the year progressed, And we now think it's appropriate to assume that the cautious spending will continue through the remainder of the year. With strong commercial execution from our team, we expect to success Navigate these macro dynamics and deliver 2% to 4% core organic revenue growth for the year. And for context, as Mark mentioned, With the changes in the macro, we're now assuming core market growth for our industry to be in the range of 0% to 2% for 2023, It's a reduction of approximately 4 percentage points versus the 4% to 6% assumed previously for market growth.

Operator

When I think

Speaker 3

about the range of outcomes for the full year, core organic revenue growth, the largest swing factor is the extent of the budget flush at the end of the year. Should that be weaker than normal, then core organic revenue growth would round down to 2% and if stronger, it could round up to 4% for the year. And if China gets traction stimulating the economy, then that could also be an upside late in the year. So moving on now to profitability. As I mentioned earlier, we're using the PPI business system to aggressively manage our cost base.

Speaker 3

We put in place $450,000,000 of additional cost actions to limit the impact of the expected lower revenue on the P and L. This demonstrates our active management of the business. As a result, the high profitability pull through on the lower revenue is It's expected to be reduced to 35% in terms of how it flows through to the bottom line. And factoring in this and the updated view of FX, We now expect our adjusted operating income margin to be in the range of 23.2% to 23.4% for the year. Let me provide some more additional details on the updated 2023 guidance.

Speaker 3

We're assuming that we'll deliver $300,000,000 of testing revenue in 2023. This is $100,000,000 lower than our prior guidance and through the half year point we delivered $225,000,000 of testing revenue. Within the core, we continue to expect $500,000,000 of vaccines and therapies revenue in 2023. This is $1,200,000,000 Less than the prior year, a 3 percentage point impact on core organic revenue growth. Through the half year point, we delivered $365,000,000 of vaccines and therapies related revenue.

Speaker 3

Moving on to FX, we continue to assume that FX will be a year over year tailwind revenue of approximately $100,000,000 And then in terms of adjusted EPS, we now expect FX to be a headwind of $0.11 which is $0.05 higher than our previous guidance. The binding site acquisition is performing well and we now assume it will contribute approximately $260,000,000 to our reported revenue growth for the year and $0.09 to adjusted EPS. Below the line, we continue to expect net interest expense in 2023 to $480,000,000 The adjusted tax rate assumption for the year has improved to 10% versus our prior guidance of 10.8%, driven by our tax planning initiatives. We're now expecting net capital expenditures will be approximately $1,700,000,000 And we continue to expect the free cash flow will be $6,900,000,000 for the year. In terms of capital deployment, our guidance includes $3,000,000,000 of share which were already completed in January.

Speaker 3

We continue to assume that full year average diluted share count will be approximately 388,000,000 shares And that we'll return approximately $540,000,000 of capital to shareholders this year through dividends, a 17% increase over 2022. And as is our normal convention, our guidance does not assume any future acquisitions or divestitures. We've not included any operational benefit in 2023 for the So to conclude, we recognize that the change in guidance is significant. We think it's appropriate given the change in the macro environment. As we said at our Investor Day, should market growth be lower than normal, we will leverage the PPI business system and step up productivity And that's what we've done.

Speaker 3

We're well positioned to navigate the near term environment. And while the near term environment may be more challenging, the long term fundamentals Now let me turn the call back over to Raf.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Stephen. Operator, we're ready for the Q and A portion of the call.

Operator

Thank you. We'll now end the Q and A session. If you have any additional questions, please return to the queue. When preparing to ask your question, please ensure that you're unmuted locally. Our first question comes from Matt Sykes from Goldman Sachs.

Operator

Matt, your line is now open. Please proceed with your question.

Speaker 4

Hi, good morning and thanks for taking my question. Maybe just starting on the guidance, just given the significant change Relative to what you talked about at the Investor Day a few months ago, could you maybe help us a little bit with where some of the biggest deltas in terms of your expectations Relative to that time of the Investor Day and today, in terms of either end market or revenue segment and specifically within China, Were there certain categories or revenue segments or end markets where the weakness is more pronounced? I just kind of wanted to get a little more color on the delta and expectations from the Investor Day

Speaker 2

Today. Yes. So Matt, thanks for the question. In terms of the guidance change, The way that I think about it, let's start from the beginning of the year. I think it's the easiest place to start and we can talk about the Investor Day, right?

Speaker 2

In terms of the market growth and the conditions there, right, what we're seeing is That China really slowed quite meaningfully in Q2, right? And That's actually somewhat surprising given the Q1 really started to rebound off of the 0 COVID policies and There was government stimulus and all of a sudden Q2 really slowed down significantly. And when I think about that and then we're assuming that for the full year, right, in terms That is going to continue. We've seen customer caution. I mean, I think every business, when I say this is above Life Science Tools and Diagnostics.

Speaker 2

Businesses have been cautious this year on spend and it certainly manifested itself more meaningfully in Q2, particularly in biotech. And so when I think about it, about a point of our change in the growth outlook comes from China, about 3 points Of it comes from customer caution and within it, bioproduction is about a point or a third of the customer caution Pass back 2 thirds across the rest of the business. Versus sort of what the Analyst Day and sort of the view in May, We saw China certainly soft throughout the quarter. And In our business, the final month of a quarter is actually quite meaningful across all of our businesses. So while we certainly saw some customer caution In the beginning of the Q2, June saw no bounce at all, right?

Speaker 2

So it just It was kind of flat through the kind of flat through the quarter. So therefore, we just didn't see that view, which is why we've adjusted the outlook at this point in time.

Speaker 4

Great. That's very helpful color. Thanks, Mark. And then just for my follow-up, just on the AI segment in instruments. Could you maybe just given the visibility you might have into sort of the back half of this year, talk about sort of what the backlog looks like, order growth and how you're feeling about sort of The moderation in instrument growth in the back half of this year that you talked about earlier this year.

Speaker 2

Yes, Matt, thanks for the question. So when I think about Instruments, we obviously entered the year with a strong backlog and we entered the quarter with a strong backlog And the 10% growth is very strong performance. Orders were definitely softer than we expected in Q2, Primarily driven by China, which is a large component of the business there. And therefore, I would say we would expect that the growth rate would become more muted as the year unfolds in the analytical instruments business as we continue to work down the backlog.

Speaker 3

Thank you, Matt.

Speaker 4

Thanks very much.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from Dan Arias from Stifel. Dan, your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Speaker 5

Good morning, guys. Thanks for the questions. Stephen, on the PPI commentary and just being able Leverage that. Can you expand on that a little bit? I mean, should we take that to mean just sort of pressing harder on being lean in areas where you've done that in the past?

Speaker 5

Or is that more pulling some levers that haven't been fully pulled, so to speak? And then relatedly, the EPS guide only came in about 5% or so at the midpoint. So how do we think about mix as a factor there and how much room do you think that's left to you given the uncertainty that you're looking at in the back half?

Speaker 3

Yes. So Dan, I'll explain on the PPI side and then I'll get on to the kind of EPS for you. So on PPI, what we do It's how we run the company. So this is about the first thing you do when you think about economic conditions being different and activity levels being different with our customers is Prioritization in terms of what we're working on and deprioritize areas which may be less important, push things out as appropriately and then Make sure that we're investing in the right areas that we should be investing in and not titrating back any spending where that really matters. So it's about Prioritizing where we're spending our time and what we're working on.

Speaker 3

And part of that then is then reduction in discretionary spending, reduction in activity levels in certain areas. And We use PPI to be able to help us do that and put that into operation. We use the company scale in terms of the levers in sourcing, particularly in indirect. So You can lean on those levers when economic conditions aren't as strong, and that's definitely a way of getting some of the benefits. And then when we think about the expected slightly lower volumes, Manufacturing operations appropriately and generally across our businesses, we're appropriately reducing headcount where that makes sense across the business.

Speaker 3

And all of that wraps up into $450,000,000 of benefit this year and those actions have pretty much all been actioned right now in terms of the there's nothing Significant to come, it's more they've taken the appropriate actions given the environment that we see. Then in terms The back half of the year was your question around the phasing of EPS or the range of EPS, could you just clarify?

Speaker 5

I guess it was a little bit of both. I mean organic growth is going from high singles to potentially low singles and the The EPS only actually came in pretty modest amount. So I was just wondering how much room you think you've given yourself given your PPI comments, Whether you're I guess the answer is you're comfortable with it, but how comfortable actually are you given the range of outcomes in the back half?

Speaker 3

Yes. So we provided a range Outcomes and what's the thought about what the market conditions could be and when we think about what the pull through would be on the revenue in that range of outcomes Plus the activities we're working on the cost side, I think that's an appropriate range for EPS. And then the phasing first half, second half, Clearly, a higher adjusted operating income margin in the second half of the year, and that's really largely driven by the impact of the cost Actions of the $450,000,000 $75,000,000 impacted the first half and you'll have $375,000,000 of benefit in the second half. And revenue is a little bit more weighted and look at the year as a whole to the second half versus the first half. That's the other piece that drives the profitability and EPS difference.

Speaker 3

Thanks, Dan.

Speaker 5

Yes. Okay. Helpful.

Operator

Thank Our next question comes from Vijay Kumar from Evercore ISI. Vijay, your line is now open. Please proceed with your question.

Speaker 6

Hi, guys. Thank you for taking my question. Mark, maybe one on thanks for all the color on the assumptions around the guide change. When you look at the quarter, maybe can you talk about how things progressed?

Speaker 3

I think China was down,

Speaker 6

Low teens, overall organic, underlying organic was 2%. Did things worsen throughout the quarter? Because I think The implied guidance for back half is low singles, 2% -ish at the midpoint. So we're just wondering if the exit rate was around 2% -ish or is the back half assuming some improvement from the exit rate levels of 2Q?

Speaker 2

Yes. So, Vijay, in terms of the phasing of the quarter, I think really what was different was June saw none of the normal Order and pattern. So it was very similar to April May. That in my many years of doing this, that's unusual actually, Where the last month isn't a big step up in activity. This is the sort of the pattern of the industry a bit.

Speaker 2

So our assumption for the year This is effectively that the market conditions that we saw in Q2, in aggregate for Q2, Continues to play out for the balance of the year. And you have all sorts of different comparisons within the different businesses versus the prior year and so forth. But we felt that the 0% to 2% market growth and for us for the full year, The 2% to 4% core growth would be an appropriate performance. I think maybe the best color that I can give you is sort of how we think about it, right? Our best view on what happened in the market is informed by looking at all of the competitors, Peers that reported in Q1, obviously that goes well into May, all of our internal data about what's going on in the market, our extensive dialogue Customers and the few companies that reported so far, right?

Speaker 2

So that informs the 0 to 2. The way we think about this and the standard is, it's our job to gain market share. We put in 2 points of growth faster than that assumption. But that's our best view. When you look at the script and the comments that Stephen and I made, we made no comments about Share gain in Q2 because when you deliver 2% growth, we're not going to pat ourselves on the back.

Speaker 2

At least looking at the first few companies that have reported, it appears that our performance is actually quite good and that we're growing faster. There's a lot of companies you have to report, but it actually looks like on a relative basis, we actually had a solid quarter of growth. So hopefully that gives you some context of Where things are, but we're going to keep studying and make sure we got a good handle on our performance. And when we end 'twenty three that we will be proud that we navigated the environment Extremely well, delivered differentiated performance and set the company up for long term success.

Speaker 6

That's extremely helpful color, Mark. And maybe one follow-up here. The updated guidance, is it assuming China to remain decline for rest of the year? And what was PPDI's growth in the quarter?

Speaker 3

So, Subhidy, the declines were lessened on a reported basis because of run up in testing of vaccines and therapies a little bit in terms of the support for the pandemic that we did in the back half of the year last year. So we're assuming basically the same market conditions, not just China, but for the rest of the world as well as we saw in Q2 for the remainder of the year.

Speaker 2

Clinical Research, double digit growth.

Speaker 6

Yes. Fantastic. Thank you, Vijay. Thank you, guys. Thanks.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from Dan Brennan from TD Cowen. Dan, your line is now open. Please proceed with your question.

Speaker 7

Great. Thanks, guys. Mark, jets are hoping Abbott and Rogers can navigate through a difficult Schedule, certainly hope and expect you'll navigate thermo through these more difficult macro times here. Maybe just the first one, would love to get more color on China. Could you just walk us through just more color across your major customer segments, kind of unpack kind of how the quarter played out from that perspective?

Speaker 7

And then specifically would also love to hear color on bioproduction in China.

Speaker 2

Yes. So in terms of China, when I think about it, we had decline on an organic basis A little over 10%. Core was about flat in terms of it and I'm just trying to give some flavor. So you Obviously, we have the COVID testing. What we saw in China and it was very different than What our team expected, what we expected, and if I think about that, that's an unusual comment coming from us.

Speaker 2

Actually, our leadership Team from China came to the U. S. And had the opportunity to sit down and chat with them about what are they seeing. So, and I'm heading over to China in a few weeks as well for a week. Yes, it's an important market.

Speaker 2

It really does feel like it is broad economic based. And so we saw that across our different businesses, not limited to 1. Clearly, bioproduction was soft in China, so Consistent with some of the other comments that you've heard from others, but we saw the slowdown, really cut across the Portfolio, if you will, and it seems to be economic activity. We always assume, hey, are we doing something wrong? Are we losing share?

Speaker 2

All of those things, because I think that's sort of the PPI discipline, which is fact based, hold yourself accountable to a high standard. At least at what we're seeing, it just feels like Customers got extraordinarily cautious in China, activity slowed and it showed up across the portfolio. And

Speaker 3

While I

Speaker 2

haven't had a moment to distract myself on some fun activities, I look forward to at some point Football and seeing if the jets actually make an improvement. Thanks.

Speaker 3

This is Dan. I can't comment on the jets. But when I think about China, It is way broader than life science tool. This is the Chinese economy. They're clearly having problems getting that economy back up and running post COVID, and They have a history of being able to do that, so but we're not counting on that for the remainder of the year as the way to frame it from a wider economic viewpoint.

Speaker 3

Thanks, Dan. Great.

Speaker 7

And then maybe just on the end market 4% to 6%, which you took down to 0% to 2% right now under your planning For 2023, kind of from what you see today, is that 0 to 2 the best starting point as we think about modeling out ThermoWorks top line for 2024?

Speaker 2

Do you want to talk a little bit about it?

Speaker 3

Yes. So broadly on 2024, when I think about what you need to do to model a company going forward, it's Two factors. 1 is the jumping off point for the 2023 margins and then what's the macro conditions assumption you use for 2024. So, obviously, on the macro, we're assuming that the near term conditions stay the same throughout the remainder of the year. You will need to make your own assumption around what that market growth is for next year.

Speaker 3

We'll have more clarity on that when we get towards the end of this year and know what The macro conditions are like. So there's not macro within our industry, it's a macro in terms of the overall economic situation across the globe. So We'll have a clearer view on that towards the end of this year. As Mark said earlier, we'll hold ourselves to the standard of delivering a couple of points higher than What the market growth is when we think about that. So as you weave in what assumption you have, I think the assumption is we'll be driving a couple of points of share gain above that.

Speaker 3

Then from a margin standpoint, a normal assumption for the year would be start with 50 basis points of expansion on top of what we just ended the year. And then when you think about my guide for this year, there will be some small benefit of carryover of the cost actions into 2023 as well. So that will help you Think about the margin profile for 2024 at this point and provide you more refined view on that when we give the guidance for 2024 in more detail.

Speaker 2

Thanks, Tim.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from Derik De Bruin from Bank of America. Derik, your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Speaker 8

Hi, thank you and good morning. So Dan sort of asked some of the question I wanted to talk to you about on 2024. I guess, Mark, what's your view that we're not entering a more prolonged downturn in the life sciences tools market? And I'm just sort of thinking about this from a historical perspective when we've sort of seen some resets in the market and it's taken a while for This to sort of like wash through the system. So it's like what's your confidence that we're not in a Situation where we've got a couple we've got a period where the growth is going to be sort of back in that lower range.

Speaker 2

Yes. So Derek, it's a great question. So if I step back from the crystal ball for which moment And say what's the drivers here? This is an unbelievable industry with incredible tailwinds. And even since the Analyst Day, if you look about the Progress on approved medicines that are going on and the cycle that that creates of more funding To fuel the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, it's extraordinarily encouraging for the long term, right?

Speaker 2

So when I think about 4% to 6% market growth for the long term, as bullish as ever, right, in terms of that. When I think about the dynamics, most of what is going on is around the macroeconomic environment, not the life science tools, diagnostics, pharma Pharma Services, right, in terms of caution in the economy, credit availability, all of that cycle higher interest Trades and therefore less funding going into higher growth businesses, all of that dynamic is a macro. Within our own industry, You clearly have the pandemic unwind, right? That's shaking out. And as you look at the industry's numbers And even if you look at our numbers, the pandemic related activity will be relatively modest this year.

Speaker 2

So most of that We'll have washed out in the industry this year. So when I think about 2024, as Stephen said, it's really going to be what's the macro, not the life science Tools macro that I think is the big driver because the science can be exquisite. There's so many great things going on in Pharma and Biotech. There'll be great new discoveries. All of that will attract funding.

Speaker 2

And this is Question of, is this a kind of stabilization year for the economy and then it bounces, that's the bull case? Or Is this a more prolonged period and then that obviously is more of the bearish case on sort of what the macro is and while we won't have a perfect crystal ball as we get into our

Speaker 8

Yes, it is. It is. So just to follow-up on this is like how much of the pharma and biotech slowdown is just This digestion of the excess COVID spending and clearly there was frothy biotech markets and People worry about supply chain, so there is a lot of money that went into the system as people did this. How much is this just digesting that excess spend Versus are you seeing new concerns? Are these customers seeing new concerns over regulatory environment, drug pricing, patent expirations?

Speaker 8

Are you seeing any signs in slowing clinical trial activity or higher cancellations rates? Just some sort of thought on what's just A hangover period from COVID versus new trepidation in the space.

Speaker 2

Sure. So, Derek, the way I would think about it is, if you go back to the beginning of the year And sort of how we talked about our guidance, Pharma and Biotech, right? As a company, as a reminder, our core organic growth was 14% in 2022. Within that, vaccines and therapies were essentially flat. So actually the whatever the stripping that out, we actually grew faster than that.

Speaker 2

Pharma Biotech incredibly strong In 2022. Our view was, while the market would be a good end market in 2023, But given the comparisons, it would moderate meaningfully. That's not a negative comment. It's just such an oversized growth and Our very strong growth in the prior year period, we knew that growth would slow. And when you look at the Q2 results, You're flat and at 5 points of headwind, which actually performed literally exactly as we had forecasted For the quarter, so kind of 5% growth excluding the sort of vaccine and therapy runoff this year.

Speaker 2

That gives you a sense of What the sort of base activity is in that market, which actually is reasonable, right, slower than some other periods, but given the comparison, it actually Is a reasonable view. In terms of the color and all of those things, pharma is doing fine, Right. I mean in terms of what's happening there and it's really biotech Every quarter that funding has been a little bit more challenged or not as strong as the past, companies get more conservative because they think about what's their runway on spending. And that really picked up in terms of the headwinds in Q2 against an incredibly difficult comparison in the prior The final point I would make here is that there are some green shoots starting to happen in biotech, right, in terms of new company formation, some of the funding. Actually, Q2 started to show some signs of positivity.

Speaker 2

That obviously takes a while to flow through the numbers, but actually that's an encouraging data point as well. Hopefully, that Level of context gives you some of how to think about it.

Speaker 9

Great. Thanks, Mark. Thanks, Joel.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from Rachel Bartenstahl from JPMorgan. Rachel, your line is now open. Please go ahead.

Speaker 10

Perfect. Hey guys, thank you for taking the questions this morning. So I just wanted to dig a little bit deeper on that guidance cut and how you guys are bucketing where the So you said that of the 400 basis points, one point was really from China, 3 points were around customer spending with 1 of that coming from bioproduction. So can you just give us a bit more color on where the remaining two points of weaker customer spend is happening? It sounds like PPD growth was strong.

Speaker 10

So where else are you seeing weakness in the portfolio? And then also from an end market perspective, is this really all just weakness in pharma biotech or is there some additional weakness in industrial, for example?

Speaker 2

Yes. So when I think about customer caution, sort of a macroeconomic view, you see that across all types of customers. So it's not Limited to one segment. It's more pronounced than biotech, but we saw it in some industrial customers and certainly we saw it in some of the other customers that we serve academic and governance so forth. So it's not limited to one view.

Speaker 2

In terms of The growth where the impact in the change of growth is in the other segments, clearly with our view is that The instruments business will slow in the second half of the year. So that's probably one of the changes. And then and some of the run rate activity that you would see in Things like bioscience reagents or customer channels, which actually those are great businesses. We think customer will be a little bit more muted in spending. So it's really Not pinned to one area, but just a spread across the portfolio, probably with instruments feeling the most of the impact.

Speaker 1

Okay. Operator, we're ready for

Speaker 3

one we'll take one last question.

Operator

Okay. Thank you. Our next question comes from Jack Meehan from Nephron Research. Jack, your line is now open. Please proceed.

Speaker 9

Thank you. Good morning. I wanted to ask about M and A. These dynamic times historically have a way of creating new opportunities. There's been a few larger assets talked about in the press.

Speaker 9

Just would love to get your thoughts. Do you expect to be active if something materialized?

Speaker 2

Yes, Jack, thanks for the question. So in terms of capital deployment and M and A, we've been active on return of capital, Both of the increase in the dividend and the share buybacks earlier in the year. We've also been active on M and A with closing the binding site to start the year. We're excited about core evitas and we have a lot of firepower and we're very active, right? I do agree with your sentiment that In these periods, there are opportunities.

Speaker 2

So we're actively looking at a number of things. And we're only going to do transactions That fit our criteria, which is ultimately it's going to strengthen our offering from a customer perspective. It's going to clearly add shareholder value in terms of the returns that we generate from the transaction. So you'll see us be active and whether that It happens in terms of the second half of the year or into 'twenty four, I would we're certainly busy is the way I would think about it.

Speaker 9

Great. I have one follow-up on Pharma Services. It sounds like that business grew faster than PPD this quarter. Can Can you talk about how the demand profile is holding up there? And I need to ask about the tornado that hit Rocky Mount.

Speaker 9

Does that have any Material impact on the market as you see it?

Speaker 2

Yes. So Pharma Services really strong performance In terms of growth and the way you characterize it is accurate. So very strong growth in that business. When I think about New wins and some of the things that we're securing for the future, the team is doing a nice job of building out a Strong backlog for the future, so that business is in a good spot. When I think about the tornado that Hit in North Carolina.

Speaker 2

The good news is that nobody was injured, at least in our Discussions with the customer and they're assessing the issues from a market perspective and we stand ready to help our customers as we do in any And we never view that as a business opportunity. We always view it as we have very material relationships with our customers and Our colleagues are there to support them and we will support in any way that is helpful as they work through the natural disaster. So thank you, Jack, for the question and thanks everyone for the questions today. Let me wrap up with thanks for joining us. We're very well positioned to deliver and continue to deliver differentiated performance, which we'll do.

Speaker 2

And as always, thank you for your support of Thermo Fisher Scientific, and we'll keep you updated on our progress. Thanks everyone.

Operator

That concludes today's conference call. Thank you everybody for joining. You may now disconnect your lines. Have a lovely rest of your day.

Powered by Quartr