Is the post-earnings rally in this struggling life sciences stock for real this time?

6 days ago

The upward wave in shares of Danaher since the life sciences company reported second-quarter earnings has left patient investors wondering whether the rally has staying power this time. Danaher has been a tough stock to own for the Club since we initiated a position in January 2022. Among the myriad headwinds have been the slow post-Covid economic recovery in China, customer over-ordering due to the pandemic supply chain crisis, fewer biotechs going public to spend on Danaher's equipment, and President Donald Trump 's tariffs and cuts in National Institutes of Health spending. "Danaher always seems to be on the verge of getting better," Jim Cramer said after last week's better-than-expected quarter and full-year earnings guidance hike. Jim pointed out that Danaher has traditionally been well run and deserving of its more than 1,000% gain over 20 years. In recent years, however, it has lost its way. "I blame them because I don't really care about their excuses. I want wins," Jim added. Since a nearly five-year low close on April 8, before Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs were paused, shares have made a few runs to the low $200s before retreating. But now, is the 10% post-earnings swing higher to nearly $207 over the past six completed sessions the start of something to get us back toward 2025 highs above $250 and beyond? RBC analyst Conor McNamara told CNBC the wait might be a little longer. "For the entire sector, including Danaher and Thermo and the rest of the life science tool names, we believe a sustained rally will come once the sector returns to mid single-digit [revenue] growth, which is still a quarter or two away." Thermo Fisher Scientific shares have had a similar run after last week's beat and raise. Shares of both Thermo and Danaher were down modestly Wednesday. In a note to RBC clients last week, McNamara said investors want to see "consistent beats and raises," noting that Danaher's earnings released on July 22 should bolster confidence. The analyst and his team have a buy rating on Danaher and a $250 per share price target. DHR YTD mountain Danaher YTD In addition to better-than-expected Q2 earnings per share and revenue, all three operating segments — biotechnology, life sciences, and diagnostics — beat estimates. In the biotech segment, bioprocessing showed continued improvement, adding to management's confidence in a high single-digit, long-term growth outlook. Bioprocessing is the use of cell components to make a variety of products, including targeted therapies. Danaher is a leader in products and services that support health-care research and development. Danaher's quarter, however, was far from perfect . China, which makes up 12% of company revenue, remains the biggest headwind. Sales in the world's second-biggest economy in the second quarter declined mid-single digits on a percentage basis. CEO Rainer Blair said the company saw "growth in our biotechnology and life sciences businesses in China," adding that stimulus-related funding translated into new customer orders and revenue. However, Blair did acknowledge Q2 declines in diagnostics, citing "volume-based procurement and reimbursement changes implemented in late 2024." Volume-based procurement (VBP) is part of China's national strategy to control health-care costs. He said, "There's really no change to our expectations of $150 million adverse impact from volume-based procurement in 2025." While raising their full-year EPS guidance, management left unchanged their outlook for adjusted core revenue growth of roughly 3%. McNamara thought that "upside from China stimulus money and improved pharma spend" should have translated into a stronger revenue guide. "There is still too much uncertainty to definitively call the bottom," he added. The VBP issues were not called out in the RBC note. On the post-earnings call, Danaher CFO Matt McGrew said management didn't boost its full-year revenue outlook because they didn't want to assume some favorable first-half developments — specifically, better-than-anticipated performance in the respiratory business and foreign exchange benefits — would continue into year-end. Blair said the company's ongoing cost-cutting plan has helped "offset cost pressures from tariffs." We took those remarks to mean that guidance may very well prove conservative if the operating backdrop in the second half of the year holds. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long DHR. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

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Marriott cuts 2025 revenue forecast on soft travel demand

Yahoo

26 minutes ago

Yahoo

Marriott cuts 2025 revenue forecast on soft travel demand

(Reuters) -Hotel operator Marriott International cut its full-year revenue growth forecast on Tuesday, signaling slow travel demand in the United States amid looming economic uncertainties. American consumers have been cutting back on discretionary expenses, including travel, after U.S. President Donald Trump's shifting trade policies and the resulting trade war sparked fears of a recession. The Bethesda, Maryland-based company expects 2025 room revenue growth of 1.5% to 2.5%, with the midpoint below its previous forecast of 1.5% to 3.5% increase. Marriott has also taken a hit from lower government spending, which accounted for around 4% of its U.S. and Canada room nights in 2024. Excluding items, per-share profit for the quarter came in at $2.65, higher than the $2.50 a year ago.

Async Rituals To Keep Distributed Teams Aligned

Forbes

26 minutes ago

Forbes

Async Rituals To Keep Distributed Teams Aligned

Alexey Kachalov, UniOne cofounder & CTO, leads remote teams across 10+ countries and drives innovation in distributed work. Just six years ago, remote work was a niche perk for digital nomads and freelancers. Then came the global reset. During the Covid-19 pandemic, working remotely turned from a luxury into a necessity, and in doing so, it changed the talent game forever. Today, remote-first teams are no longer an exception but in many cases the expectation, especially in startups chasing global scale. With that shift, we unlocked enormous potential: diverse hires across time zones, 24-hour workflows and reduced overhead. Yet it also introduced new cultural challenges. When your team is scattered across the world (or even just the country), how do you maintain connection, cohesion and clarity without falling into the trap of Zoom fatigue? The answer lies in asynchronous rituals: carefully crafted, repeatable practices that keep remote teams aligned, engaged and performing at their best. Why Async Matters More Than Ever Asynchronous communication isn't just a convenience—it's a necessity for high-performing distributed teams. It allows everyone to work in comfort on their chosen schedule, gives space for deeper thinking and respects everyone's most precious resource: time. Harvard Business School research has shown that work rituals, especially when consistent and inclusive, can foster belonging and boost morale even without physical proximity. For remote teams, async rituals are culture in action. They help teams feel more complicit while scaling globally. At my company, we were also forced to change crowded offices to virtual space, and nowadays, thanks to a culture of async-first collaboration, we successfully operate across four continents and more than 10 time zones. Here are five rituals that help us feel connected despite long distances between us and can help your team, too. 1. Quarterly 'Performance Syncs': Reimagined What It Is: Instead of another quarterly meeting full of slide decks, host asynchronous 'performance shows.' Think mini TED Talks by team members, department podcast episodes or even short internal quizzes built around team wins. Why It Works: It engages people beyond passive listening. When teammates share knowledge creatively, others absorb it more deeply—on their own schedule. Implementation Tips: • Record all updates. • Assign a 'showrunner' per department to ensure variety and engagement. • Host follow-up chats in a shared thread to extend the dialogue. Impact: For us, post-sync engagement rose 62% quarter-over-quarter. Employees reported feeling more informed and inspired. 2. Daily Check-In Bots: Light Structure, High Accountability What It Is: A bot in the corporate collaboration platform pings each team member daily with three prompts: 1. What did you work on yesterday? 2. What's the focus today? 3. Any blockers? Why It Works: This can help keep everyone aligned without micromanagement. It encourages reflection and peer visibility. Implementation Tips: • Keep it short: No more than three questions. • Rotate a weekly 'check-in curator' to highlight interesting trends. Impact: This reduced our stand-up meetings by 80% while boosting cross-team awareness. 3. Deep Work Wednesdays What It Is: One day a week is declared sacred: No meetings, no pings, no expectations—just uninterrupted, focused work. Why It Works: This mimics the productivity of 'maker's time' in traditional offices. Teams can get more done and feel less overwhelmed. Implementation Tips: • Add a company-wide calendar block. • Publicly share what you plan to work on (and then celebrate what you shipped!). Impact: We saw a 42% increase in the delivery of key project milestones on Wednesdays. 4. Video-Mails For Richer Updates What It Is: Instead of writing lengthy updates, team members send short (3–5 minute) video messages—complete with screen shares, tone of voice and body language. Why It Works: It's more engaging and human than text. It provides richer context and asynchronous clarity. Implementation Tips: • Use it for product demos, project proposals or onboarding intros. • Create a searchable internal library of video updates. Impact: For us, this reduced follow-up questions by 30% and improved stakeholder buy-in. 5. Shared Celebrations And Virtual Rituals What It Is: Every Friday, share 'wins of the week' in a dedicated Slack thread, with emoji reactions, GIFs and shoutouts. Once a month, host virtual parties, from Zoom game nights to themed metaverse gatherings. Why It Works: Recognition builds motivation. Celebrations break monotony and build relationships. Implementation Tips: • Keep it light, inclusive and optional. • Rotate hosts to encourage diverse participation styles. Impact: This boosted employee satisfaction scores by 21% in our quarterly surveys. Takeaways: Principles For Building Async-Strong Cultures To lead a thriving remote-first team, focus less on control and more on clarity, connection and trust. Here's how to build that foundation: Design for autonomy, not availability. People do their best work when they have time to think, not just respond. Async gives them that space. Clarity beats presence. Replace 'online' signals with well-documented goals, status updates and responsibilities. Transparency drives performance. Make rituals visible and inclusive. A ritual only works if people can see it, participate in it and understand why it matters. Embrace digital body language. Emojis, GIFs, reactions—they're not fluff. They're the new signals of engagement and emotion in a distributed world. Async isn't about going silent. It's about being intentional with how we communicate, connect and collaborate across borders and time zones. Forbes Business Development Council is an invitation-only community for sales and biz dev executives. Do I qualify?

Russia weighs into U.S.-India tariff spat, saying New Delhi can choose its own trade partners

CNBC

29 minutes ago

CNBC

Russia weighs into U.S.-India tariff spat, saying New Delhi can choose its own trade partners

Russia on Tuesday weighed into the growing spat between India and the U.S., with the Kremlin saying New Delhi is free to choose its own trading partners. Washington and India's leadership are at loggerheads over imports of Russian oil, with U.S. President Donald Trump threatening New Delhi with much steeper tariffs if it continues to purchase the commodity from Russia. The Kremlin, an important trading partner of India's and one which had stayed silent as the spat erupted in the last few days, commented that Trump's tariff threats are "attempts to force countries to stop trade relations with Russia." "We do not consider such statements to be legitimate," Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov continued, speaking to reporters Tuesday. "We believe that sovereign countries should have, and have the right to choose their own trade partners, partners in trade and economic cooperation. And to choose those trade and economic cooperation regimes that are in the interests of a particular country." The dispute between Trump and New Delhi is being closely watched by investors after Trump threatened on Monday that he would be "substantially raising" the tariffs on India, although he did not specify the level of the higher tariffs. The president had threatened a 25% duty on Indian exports, as well as an unspecified "penalty" last week. He also accused India of buying discounted Russian oil and "selling it on the Open Market for big profits." India hit back at the U.S. later on Monday, accusing it and the European Union of hypocrisy. "It is revealing that the very nations criticizing India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia. Unlike our case, such trade is not even a vital national compulsion [for them]," the foreign ministry said in a statement. Western countries have used sanctions and import restrictions as a way to stifle Moscow's oil export-generated revenues that fund its war machine against Ukraine. However, some of Russia's trading partners, particularly India and China, have continued their purchases of discounted Russian crude that their economies largely rely on. India and Russia's trade relationship has grown since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022; Russia became India's leading oil supplier after the war began, with imports increasing from just under 100,000 barrels per day before the invasion — 2.5% of total imports — to more than 1.8 million barrels per day in 2023 — 39% of overall imports, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said earlier this year.