CluenexDanaher Corporation DHR
Danaher Corporation scores average on business quality (5.2 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.
Why it matters
- What Danaher Corporation does
Danaher sells life sciences and diagnostics tools, instruments, and consumables to biopharmaceutical companies, research labs, and hospitals worldwide. Revenue flows primarily from recurring sales of lab consumables and diagnostic tests that scientists and clinicians use daily.
- What it does best
Danaher dominates bioprocessing through the Danaher Business System, generating a free cash flow margin of 22% that outpaces peers like TMO at 16%. This operational framework locks in customers by streamlining complex lab supply chains so reliably that switching suppliers risks costly regulatory delays.
- The main risk
A sharp slowdown in biotech venture funding threatens the consumable orders that drive top-line volume. With revenue growth stuck at just 3%, any prolonged capital freeze among early-stage drug developers directly chokes off high-margin reagent pull-through.
Quality, check by check
Scored against its own industry, from company filings.
Operating margin stands at 20.9% and free cash flow margin hits the 72nd percentile of the sector, driven by consumable mix. The business scales efficiently, turning higher volumes directly into strong cash generation.
Danaher builds switching costs by embedding its life sciences instruments into core clinical and drug development workflows. Its gross margin sits in the 40th percentile of the sector, showing decent pricing power but intense competition.
Revenue grew 2.9% over the latest period, a crawl compared to historical post-pandemic peaks. Growth is flatlining as bioprocessing demand digests excess inventory built up in prior years.
Total debt sits at $18.4 billion against $4.6B in cash, while interest coverage of 18x makes borrowing costs manageable. Free cash flow reached $5.5B, showing solid conversion. The balance sheet is holding steady.
Insiders
Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.
1 sold $12.7M outside pre-planned sales.
Our sealed record on DHR
Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.
The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.
Questions
Danaher Corporation scores average on the Cluenex quality check (5.2 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is fair, moat fair, growth slow and financial health strong.
In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: 1 sold $12.7M outside pre-planned sales.
Oct 21, 2026, before the open.
See DHR today
- Today's verdict on DHR, and why
- Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
- The exact price that would change the verdict
- Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
Cite this page: Cluenex, “Danaher Corporation (DHR)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/dhr/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.