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Washington, DC-based Danaher Corporation (DHR) is a leading global life sciences and diagnostics innovator, helping solve many of the world’s most important health challenges. It focuses on areas such as Life Sciences, Diagnostics, Biotechnology and more. Valued at $146 billion by market cap, Danaher employs over 61,000 people and operates in 50 different countries and 700 locations across the globe.
The healthcare giant has significantly underperformed the broader market over the past year. DHR stock has plummeted 15.7% over the past 52 weeks and 11.3% on a YTD basis, lagging behind the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) 23.5% surge over the past year and SPX’s 4% gains in 2025.
Zooming in further, DHR has also lagged behind the iShares Global Healthcare ETF’s (IXJ) modest 2.5% gains over the past year and a 6.4% surge in 2025.
Danaher’s stock prices plunged over 9.7% after the release of its mixed Q4 results on Jan. 29. While the company delivered a 2.1% year-over-year growth in revenues to $6.5 billion which surpassed the Street’s expectations, its adjusted net earnings for the quarter increased 2.4% year-over-year to $2.14 per share which missed the consensus estimates by 1.4%. Furthermore, the company expects its Q1 non-GAAP core revenue to decline by a low-single-digit and this wasn’t received well by the market.
For the current fiscal 2025, ending in December, analysts expect DHR to report a modest 2.5% year-over-year growth in non-GAAP EPS to $7.67. Furthermore, the company has a mixed earnings surprise history. While it surpassed the Street’s bottom-line estimates thrice over the past four quarters, it missed the expectations on one other occasion.
Despite the recent underperformance, analysts remain optimistic about Danaher's longer-term prospects. Among the 24 analysts covering the stock, the consensus rating is a “Strong Buy.” That’s based on 17 “Strong Buy,” one “Moderate Buy,” and six “Hold” ratings.
This configuration is slightly more bullish than three months ago when 15 analysts gave “Strong Buy” recommendations and two advocated “Moderate Buy” ratings.
On Jan. 31, Citigroup (C) analyst Patrick Donnelly reiterated a “Buy” rating on DHR, however, the firm lowered its price target for the stock to $265.
DHR’s mean price target of $269.55 represents a 32.4% premium to current price levels, while its street-high target of $310 indicates a staggering 52.3% upside potential.
