What Happened?
Shares of life sciences company Avantor (NYSE: AVTR) fell 17.4% in the afternoon session after the company reported disappointing third-quarter 2025 results that missed revenue expectations and included a significant loss.
The life sciences company’s sales fell 5.3% year on year to $1.62 billion, falling short of analyst estimates. Adjusted earnings per share of $0.22 also missed expectations. The quarter was marked by a substantial operating loss, driven by a large non-cash goodwill impairment charge, which caused the operating margin to plummet to -40%. To add to the concerns, organic revenue, which excludes currency impacts and acquisitions, declined 4.7%, a worse result than Wall Street had anticipated.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Avantor’s shares are quite volatile and have had 19 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for Avantor and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 8 days ago when the stock gained 2.9% on the news that Bank of America Securities maintained its "Buy" rating on the company. This followed a similar move from Raymond James, which maintained its "Outperform" rating on the stock. The positive sentiment may have also been bolstered by broader trends, as the biotechnology sector experienced a significant surge in investor attention. This heightened interest was viewed as a potent indicator of wider market movements, signaling a potentially favorable environment for companies in related industries.
Avantor is down 45.1% since the beginning of the year, and at $11.63 per share, it is trading 49.4% below its 52-week high of $22.99 from November 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Avantor’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $505.65.
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