Episode summary
Agilent: Back To The Lab - [Business Breakdowns, EP.223]
Business Breakdowns
· · Hosts: Matt Reustle · Guests: Mark de Vos
![Agilent: Back To The Lab - [Business Breakdowns, EP.223] – Business Breakdowns](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/swgRTd8Ksss/hqdefault.jpg)
Summary
Agilent is a laboratory tools business built around instruments, consumables, service, and software sold into life sciences, diagnostics, chemicals, food, and environmental testing. Mark de Vos frames it as a classic razor-and-razorblade model: about a third of sales come from instruments and roughly two-thirds from recurring consumables, servicing, and software tied to those machines. The core technology includes chromatography, where samples are separated and analyzed to identify molecules and contaminants.
The company’s history traces back to HP in 1938, then into Agilent’s 1999 spinout, with later portfolio pruning that left a more focused analytical business. De Vos argues that this focus has produced a steadier, more predictable company with durable market positions, especially in gas chromatography, where Agilent is said to hold about two-thirds of the global market. He also points to a growing service attach rate, which has risen from the high-20s to the low-30s percent range and could keep climbing.
The episode also highlights a newer growth engine: nucleic acid solutions, where Agilent makes oligos used in RNA-based drugs and vaccines. De Vos says this segment has grown to about $470 million, or roughly 7% of sales, and could expand further as demand for advanced therapies and new testing categories like PFAS rises.
Key takeaways
- Mark de Vos says Agilent’s business is now roughly one-third instruments and two-thirds recurring consumables, service, and software, which supports a stable revenue model.
- De Vos says Agilent leads gas chromatography with about two-thirds of the global market and is strong in applied testing niches like battery, environmental, and chemical analysis.
- He says Agilent’s service attach rate has risen from the high-20s to the low-30s percent range, with room to keep increasing as service gets bundled into instrument sales.
- De Vos says the nucleic acid solutions business has grown to about $470 million, or around 7% of sales, and has become a meaningful growth contributor.
- He argues that PFAS testing is an emerging upside area, describing it as a $400 million market growing about 20% per year where Agilent is the clear leader.
Notable quotes
“Agyant is a leading provider of instruments, services, and consumables for labs”
“about a third of it is selling instruments. The largest category of which is chromatography instruments”
“Gas chromatography is the golden business within agilant”
“not to underestimate the quality of what sounds like a boring business”
How the episode opens
This is business breakdowns. Business breakdowns is a series of conversations with investors and operators diving deep into a single business. For each business, we explore its history, its business model, its competitive advantages, and what makes it tick.
We believe every business has lessons and secrets that investors and operators can learn from and we are here to bring them to you. To find more episodes of breakdowns, check out join colossus.com. All opinions expressed by hosts and podcast guests are solely their own opinions.
Hosts, podcast guests, their employers or affiliates may maintain positions in the securities discussed in this podcast. This podcast is forformational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. This is Matt Russell and today we are breaking down Agyant.
If you aren't familiar with Agyant, it is a $30 billion market cap company at the time of this recording and they focus on one of the more interesting niches, equipment and instruments sold into laboratories. So you can think of this equipment being sold to the life sciences sector, diagnostics, applied chemical markets, some very unique R&D work. My guest is Mark Dvas, fund manager at Troy Asset Management.
And Mark brings us through the story of Agelant. This is something that was born within Huelet Packard, spun off a little more than 25 years ago. And Mark helps break down what can be a very complicated concept around things like cromatography and some of the other things that Agyant's involved in.
But this is a deeply ingrained industry player with a unique razor and razor blade model and a business that has evolved over time. These episodes tend to be my favorite and this one lives up to the others. Please enjoy this breakdown of Agyant.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- agilent overview
- lab equipment instruments
- chromatography
- life sciences diagnostics market
- agilent valuation and investment insights
Companies and tickers mentioned
- A
- HPQ
- HPE
- Agilent
- Hewlett-Packard
- Troy Asset Management
Watch the episode
Watch “Agilent: Back To The Lab - [Business Breakdowns, EP.223]” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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