Harvard Bioscience (NASDAQ:HBIO) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.29 EPS

Harvard Bioscience (NASDAQ:HBIO) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The medical instruments supplier reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by $0.29, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $20.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.20 million. Harvard Bioscience had a negative return on equity of 19.54% and a negative net margin of 65.51%.

Here are the key takeaways from Harvard Bioscience’s conference call:

• Harvard Bioscience said Q1 revenue of $20.8 million was in line with expectations, while adjusted gross margin improved to 59%, up about 300 basis points year over year.
• Management highlighted strong momentum in its new product innovation portfolio, especially Mesh MEA, BTX, and SoHo, and said these products are expected to drive double-digit revenue growth for the full year.
• Sales to pharma and large biotech customers grew more than 20% in the quarter, supporting the company’s push into translational science and more recurring, higher-margin revenue.
• Revenue was pressured by weaker academic and government demand in the Americas and lower distributor sales in APAC, though management said U.S. academic ordering should improve after NIH budget approvals and China returned to growth.
• The company reaffirmed full-year 2026 guidance, including 2%–4% revenue growth, 58%–60% gross margin, and 6%–10% adjusted EBITDA growth, and said Project Viking remains on track to deliver meaningful cost savings.

Harvard Bioscience Trading Up 4.0%

HBIO traded up $0.22 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $5.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 25,060 shares, compared to its average volume of 51,313. Harvard Bioscience has a twelve month low of $2.81 and a twelve month high of $9.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $5.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.37 million, a P/E ratio of -0.44 and a beta of 1.57.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on HBIO. New Street Research set a $6.00 price objective on Harvard Bioscience in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Benchmark cut their price objective on Harvard Bioscience from $20.00 to $6.00 and set a “speculative buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Harvard Bioscience in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Harvard Bioscience from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.00.

Insider Transactions at Harvard Bioscience

In other news, Director Stephen J. Denelsky bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.87 per share, with a total value of $48,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 21,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,270. This trade represents a 90.91% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William Snider bought 12,525 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $4.99 per share, for a total transaction of $62,499.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $117,389.75. This trade represents a 113.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have bought 36,000 shares of company stock valued at $177,354 over the last ninety days. 20.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Harvard Bioscience

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Corsair Capital Management L.P. raised its position in Harvard Bioscience by 1,008.7% in the 4th quarter. Corsair Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,108,692 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $741,000 after buying an additional 1,008,692 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Harvard Bioscience by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,077,069 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $606,000 after purchasing an additional 78,276 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Harvard Bioscience by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,021,241 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $683,000 after purchasing an additional 152,763 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in shares of Harvard Bioscience by 139.7% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 474,157 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $208,000 after purchasing an additional 276,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Harvard Bioscience by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 460,793 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 18,923 shares during the last quarter. 80.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Harvard Bioscience

Harvard Bioscience, Inc develops, manufactures and distributes life science research instruments and consumables used by academic, biopharmaceutical and government laboratories worldwide. The company’s product portfolio spans cellular physiology, microfluidics, electrophysiology and lab automation, providing tools that enable researchers to study everything from cell behavior and organ function to drug delivery and tissue mechanics.

Through its operating units—most notably Harvard Apparatus, BTX, Radnoti and Warner Instruments—Harvard Bioscience offers a diverse range of scientific equipment including precision pumps, stereotaxic instruments, electroporation and gene delivery systems, perfusion systems and microinjection tools.