On Tuesday, JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) made a significant adjustment to its outlook on Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) Corporation, a company listed on NASDAQ:BRKR, by upgrading the stock from Neutral to Overweight and raising the price target to $90, a substantial increase from the previous $60. The revision followed Bruker's announcement of a strong fourth quarter performance and the initiation of a promising 2024 guidance that exceeded expectations.
Bruker reported not only a sizeable fourth quarter beat but also accelerated its long-range plan (LRP) targets, originally set for 2026, to 2025. This change suggests an anticipated non-GAAP EPS growth of over 30% in 2025. The company's success is attributed to the robust demand across various regions and markets, particularly fueled by secular trends in proteomics and other 'omics research, which Bruker is well-placed to capitalize on with its NMR and timsTOF product portfolio.
The company's confidence in the long-term sustainability of its growth is further supported by a book-to-bill ratio slightly above 1.0, including in China, for the fourth quarter. Despite China's book-to-bill ratio being below 1.0, there was a noticeable quarter-over-quarter increase in orders. Bruker emphasized that the advancement of its LRP targets is driven by organic growth, as the forecasts do not include the pending first half of 2024 acquisitions of ELItech and Chemspeed.
Bruker has also indicated that, although recent acquisitions have temporarily impacted margins, there is an expectation of organic adjusted operating margin expansion of 50 basis points in 2024. The company is optimistic about reaching its greater than 20% target for 2026 once the recent deals become accretive in 2025.
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