Danaher's revenue outlook cut, biotech miss overshadow profit forecast raise

Danaher's results also weighed on peers; Agilent Technologies fell 1.7% before the bell, while Thermo Fisher Scientific, Revvity and Illumina declined 2% to 4%.

Danaher lowered the upper end of its core revenue growth outlook range for the year to 4% from 6% to reflect the impact of weaker respiratory testing revenue, while maintaining the lower end at 3%.

Revenue from its biotechnology unit rose 4% to $1.92 billion, below estimates of $1.97 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Danaher said underlying demand for bioprocessing, including equipment and consumables used to make biologic drugs, remained strong, with orders rising by a mid-teens percentage in the quarter, although customer project timing weighed on revenue.

"Assuming demand is not falling off a cliff this badly and this is just a push-out issue, we would think some of the weakness would get bought throughout the day for shares to close down," Barclays analysts said.

Danaher expects full-year adjusted per-share profit of $8.45 to $8.60, up from $8.35 to $8.55 previously. Analysts were expecting full-year adjusted profit of $8.45 per share.

The company posted second-quarter profit of $1.94 per share, above analysts' estimates of $1.83 per share. Revenue rose 5.5% to $6.27 billion, topping estimates of $6.10 billion.

Life sciences revenue increased 5.5% to $1.88 billion, above estimates of $1.80 billion.

Danaher raised its annual profit forecast on Tuesday, but shares fell nearly 12% in premarket trading after the life sciences firm trimmed its core revenue growth outlook and reported weaker-than-expected revenue in its biotechnology business.