Zacks Research Brokers Reduce Earnings Estimates for Avantor

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) – Research analysts at Zacks Research dropped their Q1 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Avantor in a research report issued on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research analyst Team now expects that the company will post earnings per share of $0.17 for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $0.20. Zacks Research has a “Strong Sell” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Avantor’s current full-year earnings is $1.06 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Avantor’s Q2 2026 earnings at $0.20 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.21 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $0.81 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $0.21 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $0.16 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $0.23 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $0.22 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $0.82 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $0.84 EPS.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Avantor had a negative net margin of 8.09% and a positive return on equity of 10.45%. The business’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. Avantor has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.770-0.830 EPS.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on AVTR. Bank of America downgraded shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, December 15th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Avantor in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Avantor from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating and set a $8.00 price objective on shares of Avantor in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $8.50 target price on shares of Avantor in a research report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.80.

Avantor Trading Down 4.0%

Shares of AVTR opened at $8.18 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.49, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Avantor has a 1-year low of $8.14 and a 1-year high of $18.02. The company has a 50-day moving average of $10.70 and a 200 day moving average of $11.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avantor news, Director Gregory T. Lucier acquired 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $9.16 per share, for a total transaction of $458,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $458,000. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe acquired 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $9.40 per share, for a total transaction of $940,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,760,000. This trade represents a 33.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AVTR. Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 117,746,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,469,481,000 after purchasing an additional 313,404 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Avantor by 1.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,988,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $823,542,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135,279 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its holdings in Avantor by 10.8% in the third quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 34,548,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $431,161,000 after purchasing an additional 3,356,861 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Avantor in the fourth quarter worth about $268,584,000. Finally, Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 20,500,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,937,000 after buying an additional 2,189,083 shares during the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avantor News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Avantor this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $8.50 price target (small upside relative to the current price), signaling limited near-term upside and continued cautious analyst positioning. Barclays Reaffirmation
• Neutral Sentiment: A recent Yahoo Finance piece outlines how analysts are resetting fair-value targets for Avantor, documenting the shift in analyst views but not pointing to an immediate positive catalyst. How The Avantor Story Is Shifting
• Negative Sentiment: Unusually large put-option volume: investors bought ~94,708 puts (up ~1,582% vs. typical), indicating significant bearish positioning or hedging activity that can amplify downside volatility.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research issued a wave of cuts to quarterly and full-year EPS estimates, downgraded multiple forward-quarter forecasts and assigned AVTR a “Strong Sell” / Zacks Rank #5 — a material negative read on near-term fundamentals and sentiment. Zacks Adds AVTR to Strong Sell List

About Avantor

Avantor, Inc (NYSE:AVTR) is a global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education & government, and advanced technologies & applied materials industries. The company delivers essential solutions that support research, development, production and safety applications. Its product portfolio spans from high-purity chemicals and reagents to biologics and cell culture media, as well as lab equipment, consumables and custom manufacturing services.

Avantor’s offerings are organized across two primary segments.