Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on BIO. Citigroup raised their price objective on Bio-Rad Laboratories from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories from $265.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bio-Rad Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $358.50.

Bio-Rad Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of BIO stock opened at $256.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 3.94 and a current ratio of 5.44. Bio-Rad Laboratories has a one year low of $211.43 and a one year high of $343.12. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $305.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $300.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.20 and a beta of 1.18.

Bio-Rad Laboratories (NYSE:BIO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The medical research company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.57 by ($0.06). Bio-Rad Laboratories had a net margin of 29.42% and a return on equity of 3.95%. The firm had revenue of $693.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $694.64 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.90 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Bio-Rad Laboratories will post 10.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BIO. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Bio-Rad Laboratories by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 122,574 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,146,000 after purchasing an additional 15,275 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,355 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Focused Alpha LLC bought a new stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $1,273,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 4,591.1% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 57,232 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $17,341,000 after purchasing an additional 56,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its holdings in Bio-Rad Laboratories by 57.6% during the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 197 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. 65.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bio-Rad Laboratories News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Bio-Rad Laboratories this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Management outlined a 2026 program to expand margins via operational improvements and cost actions, which could improve profitability over time. Bio‑Rad outlines 2026 margin expansion and 0.5%-1.5% revenue growth guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Management reiterated a focus on operational fixes and provided a slide deck and detailed Q&A on the call — useful for modeling forward margin improvement timing and one‑time items. Q4 results presentation
• Neutral Sentiment: FY‑2026 revenue guidance is modest: management expects roughly flat to low‑single‑digit top‑line growth (about 0.5%–1.5%) with a revenue target around ~$2.6B — implies conservative near‑term growth expectations. Bio‑Rad Reports Fourth‑Quarter and Full‑Year 2025 Financial Results
• Neutral Sentiment: The company provided a full earnings call transcript and presentation that disclose drivers of the quarter and planned cost actions; these documents are important for forecasting the timing and magnitude of margin recovery. Earnings call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 EPS missed consensus: $2.51 actual vs. $2.57 expected, and revenue of $693.2M narrowly missed estimates — EPS declined from $2.90 a year ago, signaling pressure on short‑term earnings momentum. Q4 earnings miss
• Negative Sentiment: The company reported a negative net margin (reported -26.4%), which likely reflects discrete charges or restructuring that compressed reported profitability and increased investor uncertainty. Market summary and ratios
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction was sharp: shares dropped with elevated volume after the print and guidance; the combination of an earnings miss and conservative/ muted revenue growth guidance likely triggered the sell‑off. Shares tumble after Q4 miss

About Bio-Rad Laboratories

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc is a global provider of life science research and clinical diagnostic products. The company operates through two primary business segments: Life Science and Clinical Diagnostics. Within the Life Science segment, Bio-Rad offers instruments, reagents and consumables for protein analysis, cell biology, gene expression and other molecular biology applications. The Clinical Diagnostics segment supplies quality control products, blood-typing reagents and instruments, and molecular diagnostic assays used in blood screening, infectious disease testing and routine clinical laboratories.

Founded in 1952 by David and Alice Schwartz and headquartered in Hercules, California, Bio-Rad has grown its footprint across the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other regions.