Stifel has raised its 12-month price objective for Bio-Techne Corp. (NASDAQ:TECH) to $65.00 from $60.00, while keeping its recommendation at Hold. The firm’s action follows the company’s latest quarterly report, which outpaced analyst forecasts and included an OEM order that was pulled into the second quarter from an original expectation in the fiscal third quarter.
Bio-Techne shares were trading at $66.19 at the time of the update, a level roughly in line with InvestingPro’s Fair Value assessment despite a notable 32.44% gain over the previous six months. That price performance has left the market valuation close to the new target range established by Stifel.
The earnings beat was accompanied by underlying profitability metrics: diluted earnings per share of $0.51 per InvestingPro data, and expectations that net income will increase over the year. In its quarterly disclosure the company reported a second-quarter EPS of $0.46, ahead of the $0.43 forecast, and revenue of $295.9 million, above the $290.42 million estimate.
Margin dynamics in the quarter were mixed. Management noted product mix pressures that weighed on margins, but those headwinds were counterbalanced by proceeds and cost effects from the Exosome Dx divestiture together with broader profitability initiatives. The firm continues to report a healthy gross profit margin of 66.28%.
Operational demand signals were highlighted in several areas: continued double-digit growth in large pharma, encouraging developments in biotech, and a roughly 40% increase in Lunaphore instrument orders. Liquidity and balance-sheet metrics also showed resilience, with a current ratio of 4.54 and a described moderate level of debt.
On the revenue outlook, Stifel projects flat organic revenue in Bio-Techne’s fiscal third quarter, citing two key factors - persistent headwinds in the cell therapy sector and the effect of having pulled an OEM order into the second quarter. That outlook is modestly below the Street consensus, which is modeling about 2% organic growth for the quarter.
The company has kept its full-year organic growth target unchanged at approximately 1%, with an implied acceleration to mid-single-digit organic growth in the fiscal fourth quarter. No analyst upgrades or downgrades were linked to the latest quarterly release.
Context and implications
Stifel’s price-target increase is tethered directly to the timing of revenue recognition for a sizable OEM order and to operational improvements that helped offset margin pressure. Investors will be watching upcoming quarterly revenue composition, cell therapy demand trends, and the company’s ability to sustain instrument order growth as indicators of whether guidance and the price target remain appropriate.