Specialist
Former VP at Agilent Technologies Inc
Agenda
- Trends and developments in the life science instruments sector, focusing on Agilent Technologies (NYSE: A)
- LC-MS (liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry) and gas spectrometry competitive landscape and product comparison across major players
- Agilent’s expansion into NGS (next-generation sequencing) instruments and diagnostics following its April 2021 Resolution Bioscience acquisition
- 2022 outlook and growth expectations, including international expansion in markets such as China with LSAG (Life Sciences and Applied Markets Group)
Questions
1.
What are the most important trends and developments you’ve been following in the mass spectrometry and life science instrument sector over the past 12 months or so?
2.
How has Agilent’s story evolved over the past 6-12 months in light of those dynamics?
3.
How are you assessing potential lingering impacts from the Omicron COVID-19 variant going into 2022? What’s the net-net impact on Agilent from increased diagnostic testing volumes, potential laboratory closures and other factors?
4.
How are you thinking of customer spending trends, particularly in the academic or pharma end markets? Do you anticipate any decreased willingness to spend from these demographics? What headwind could this pose to Agilent’s commercial performance over the near term?
5.
Could you quantify any spikes in raw materials prices or other supply chain disruptions’ impact on the manufacturing and sourcing process? How is Agilent navigating some of these challenges?
6.
Do you think Agilent could be particularly exposed to macroeconomic inflationary pressures, given its premium price point? Could inflation push customers to shift to lower-cost alternatives?
7.
What are customers considering beyond pricing when evaluating instruments? What’s been Agilent’s relative differentiation and value-add to substantiate its premium price point? How sustainable do you believe its pricing position is?
8.
What’s your near-term growth outlook for Agilent’s core end markets, considering life sciences and applied markets, pharma, academic and government, chemical and energy, etc? Its end-market mix has shifted over the past few years. Are there any segments you’re more bullish on to continue to drive penetration and revenue growth?
9.
How complete do you think Agilent’s product portfolio is? Are there any gaps in offerings it should focus on to plug? What are the main considerations around building products in-house vs acquiring inorganically?
10.
Could you discuss the potential in Agilent’s nucleic acid solution segment, including its oligonucleotide API manufacturing capabilities? How much of a competitive advantage does it enjoy here against the broader market?
11.
How do you assess Agilent’s R&D and innovation efforts? Are there any new offerings you’re excited about that could be a game-changer for the company?
12.
What are your thoughts on Agilent’s recently announced distribution agreement with Avantor to distribute the company’s chemistry and supplies product offerings in the US and Canada? To what extent does this broaden Agilent’s distribution channels, and how much of a tailwind was this partnership announcement for the company?
13.
How do you assess Agilent’s positioning internationally? What have been some of the headwinds operating in ex-US markets such as the EU and APAC?
14.
What’s your reasoning behind saying the company is over-exposed to China? How material might long-term concerns about IP and the threat of China aiming to compete with its own national players be to Agilent’s long-term positioning there?
15.
How do you assess Agilent’s historical execution on integration, particularly large acquisitions such as BioTek? How well has it eliminated duplicative costs and streamlined operations?
16.
Can you discuss the Resolution Biosciences acquisition Agilent made in March 2021 for USD 700m? What was the strategic rationale here? What are some advantages or synergies that could be leveraged from expanding its biosciences footprint?
17.
How do you anticipate Agilent’s buy-and-build growth strategy will evolve in 2022? Where might it consider acquiring next, and what traits does it consider in a potential bolt-on acquisition?
18.
How competitive is it to acquire tuck-ins, especially among large life sciences/diagnostic companies with war chests of deployable capital? To what extent could a crowded landscape impede Agilent’s ability to execute on its inorganic growth strategy?
19.
What are your thoughts on Agilent’s relative positioning vs large players such as Thermo Fisher and Danaher? To what extent do the BioTek and Resolution Biosciences acquisitions make Agilent a stronger player in LSAG [Life Sciences and Applied Markets Group]?
20.
How does Agilent stack up in mass spec against Thermo Fisher, Waters and others? How would you compare its relative portfolio offerings and market share? Are there any key areas of differentiation to note?
21.
Is there anything else you think might be especially important to highlight regarding Agilent Technologies?
