Bruker Corporation (BRKR)
OvervaluedFundamental
33
Price
$57.59
Market Cap
$9.01B
Part 1 · What the company is worth
Overview
Bruker Corporation develops and manufactures high-performance scientific instruments for life science and materials research. The company operates across four business segments providing analytical and measurement solutions to academic institutions, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, clinical laboratories, hospitals, and industrial manufacturers. Products range from nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers and mass spectrometry systems to X-ray instruments and electron microscopy tools.
How it makes money
Bruker generates revenue through product sales of scientific instruments, aftermarket services including maintenance and lifecycle support, software solutions for data management and workflow integration, and consumable products such as diagnostic kits and reagents. The company serves a recurring revenue component through service contracts and consumables alongside capital equipment sales.
Revenue by segment
Mass spectrometry, microbiology diagnostics, optical spectroscopy, infrared and Raman molecular spectroscopy, and gas chromatography systems for life science research, applied markets, and clinical diagnostics.
Advanced X-ray instruments, atomic force microscopy, electron microscopy tools, semiconductor inspection and metrology equipment, spectroscopy systems, and spatial proteomics and genomics platforms for research and industrial quality control.
Nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers, magnetic resonance imaging systems, preclinical imaging tools, laboratory automation and quality control workflow solutions for pharmaceutical and academic research.
Bruker Energy & Supercon Technologies manufactures superconducting materials and devices, primarily metallic low-temperature superconductors used in magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear magnetic resonance, fusion energy research, and other scientific applications.
Competitive moat
Patents and licences · NarrowBruker's competitive advantage rests on proprietary technology platforms across magnetic resonance, mass spectrometry, X-ray, and spectroscopy technologies, supported by a patent portfolio of over 5,000 pending or granted patents. The company benefits from deep application expertise and integrated workflow solutions that span hardware and software. However, the scientific instrument market is competitive, with established competitors including Thermo Fisher, PerkinElmer, and Agilent, which limits the strength of the moat.
What drives demand
CyclicalBruker's demand is cyclical, driven primarily by R&D spending cycles in pharmaceutical development, academic research funding, semiconductor industry capital equipment cycles, and industrial manufacturing investment. The business is particularly sensitive to government research funding levels (NIH, NSF, DOE) and the health of commercial end-markets. The company is increasingly exposed to semiconductor metrology and AI-related demand, which are subject to chip cycle dynamics. Softness in U.S. academic spending and China market weakness demonstrates the cyclical nature of end-user demand.
Key risks
- Research Funding Dependency — A meaningful portion of Bruker's revenue derives from U.S. academic institutions and research organizations dependent on U.S. government funding, particularly NIH grants. Recent trends show NIH budgets under pressure, with funding down approximately 15% year-to-date, which directly impacts demand for Bruker's research instruments.
- Supply Chain and Geopolitical Disruption — Supply chain challenges, including increasing demand for certain components and production delays, could result in additional costs and manufacturing inefficiencies. Geopolitical risks include the Russia-Ukraine conflict affecting natural gas and key metals supply, tensions between the U.S. and China, and potential conflicts involving Taiwan and critical supply chain partners in Asia.
- Cyclicality and Business Sensitivity — Bruker faces cyclical demand tied to research and development spending in materials science, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and academic institutions. Weakness in any of these end-markets, including softness in China and U.S. academic/government spending, directly reduces instrument orders and revenue.
- Rapid Technology Change — Bruker operates in markets characterized by rapid technological advancement and innovation cycles. The company must continuously invest in R&D and new product development to maintain competitiveness. Failure to anticipate market needs or delays in launching competitive products could erode market share.
Customer concentration
The 2025 10-K filing does not disclose the percentage of revenue from the company's largest customers or customer concentration metrics for the fiscal year. Historically, Bruker has maintained a diversified customer base with no single customer accounting for more than 10% of revenue, but current-year specific percentages are not provided in the available filings.
The case for
Buyers argue that Bruker is materially undervalued relative to its market position as a global leader in scientific instrumentation with strong technology platforms and brand recognition. The company is benefiting from a structural shift toward semiconductor advanced packaging and high-bandwidth memory, where rising architectural complexity drives new demand for inspection and metrology tools. Semiconductor book-to-bill ratios have remained above 1.0x for three consecutive quarters, signaling sustained order momentum. Despite organic revenue declining 4% in 2025, the stock dropped over 50% since late 2024, creating a potential buying opportunity. With resilient free cash flow generation and a growing addressable market in semiconductor and AI-driven applications, analysts estimate realistic valuation closer to $15 billion versus the current $7.35 billion market cap, suggesting significant upside potential if margins recover.
The case against
Sellers fear that Bruker's structural growth prospects are overstated given the cyclicality of its core markets. The sharp decline in U.S. academic and government research funding, with NIH budgets down approximately 15% year-to-date, directly threatens a meaningful portion of Bruker's revenue base. Full-year 2025 results showed a net loss of $22.5 million and a loss per share of $0.15 (down from $0.76 profit in 2024), indicating margin compression and profitability challenges. China market weakness and biopharma sector softness add to near-term headwinds. Analysts have trimmed fair value estimates from $38 to $35 and cite 21.1% downside risk to a $48.24 target price, suggesting the current valuation may not yet reflect realistic earnings power. The competitive intensity in scientific instrumentation from larger players like Thermo Fisher and PerkinElmer, combined with execution risks in delivering new products, creates uncertainty about whether margins can recover to historical levels.
Generated with artificial intelligence on September 21, 2026, shared with all users
Direct competitors
Who this company fights with for the same customers
Generated with artificial intelligence on September 18, 2026, shared with all users
Named by Bruker in its own 10-K, Thermo Fisher sells mass spectrometers, molecular spectroscopy and electron microscopy systems to the same pharmaceutical, academic and industrial laboratories Bruker serves worldwide.
Agilent competes head-on in mass spectrometry, chromatography coupling and molecular spectroscopy for life-science and applied-chemistry labs, the core of Bruker's CALID business.
Waters sells LC-MS platforms to the same pharmaceutical QC, proteomics and food-safety customers that buy Bruker's timsTOF and triple-quadrupole instruments.
Through SCIEX and Leica Microsystems, Danaher bids against Bruker for the same mass-spectrometry and high-end microscopy budgets in research and clinical laboratories.
Shimadzu offers a full analytical-instrument catalogue — mass spectrometry, spectrophotometry, surface analysis — and is Bruker's main Japanese rival in Asian academic and industrial accounts.
JEOL is the main alternative supplier of NMR and electron-microscopy systems, the market where Bruker's BioSpin division holds its strongest position.
Balance Sheet & Liquidity
Revenue
$3.50B
Trailing 12 months (through 6/30/2026)
Net Income
$-71M
Trailing 12 months (through 6/30/2026)
Free Cash Flow
$43M
Total Equity
$2.46B
Total Liabilities
$3.73B
Current Ratio
1.85
Interest Coverage
0.50
Debt/EBITDA
6.33
Earnings Per Share
Revenue & Net Income
Free Cash Flow
Income Breakdown
Historical statement
Margins over time
Debt over time
How heavy the debt is
Growth grid
Growth — Revenue
Fair Value Estimation
Fair Value
$47.09
Current Price
$57.59
Margin of Safety
-22.3%
Fair Value Range
$30.61 - $63.58
Spread across the valuation methods used, not a statistically calibrated confidence interval.
Estimation Methods
Valuation Metrics
P/E Ratio
-
ROE
-0.4%
P/B Ratio
3.66
P/FCF
93.44
Gross Margin
46.4%
ROIC
-0.5%
Profitability Radar
Value Creation (Economic Moat)
ROIC
-0.5%
WACC
9.9%
ROIC − WACC
-10.4 pp
ROIC is below the cost of capital — the company is destroying value for every dollar invested.
Fundamental Analysis Criteria
Passed (9)
- Price CAGR 10.91%
- Gross margin 46.4%
- Debt/equity ratio
- Positive free cash flow
- Current ratio
- Revenue growth 5Y 11.6%
- Earnings surprise, average 19.0%
- Share dilution -61.5%
- Piotroski F-Score 5/9
Failed (13)
- EPS shows upward trend
- ROIC -0.5%
- P/FCF 93.44
- P/B ratio 3.66
- Operating margin -0.9%
- CapEx intensity
- Interest coverage
- Debt/EBITDA
- Return on tangible assets
- Low reliance on intangibles
- DCF valuation (Overvalued)
- ROE -2.9%
- Net margin trend -2.0% vs 2.3%
Unavailable (4)
- Dividend payout –
- Price below Graham Number
- PEG ratio (needs P/E > 0 and growth > 0)
- Earnings quality (operating cash flow / net income)
Piotroski F-Score
Mixed signals: some areas need attention
Earnings Quality
Low quality: investigate accounting
Share Dilution
Buying back shares. Shareholder friendly
Institutional Holdings
Governance
Executive Team
| Name | Title | Age |
|---|---|---|
| Dr. Frank H. Laukien Ph.D. | Chairman, CEO & President | 65 |
| Mr. Gerald N. Herman CPA | Executive VP & CFO | 67 |
| Dr. Mark R. Munch Ph.D. | Corporate Executive VP and President of Bruker Nano Group & Corporate | 63 |
| Mr. Juergen W. Srega | President of Bruker Biosystems Group & Bruker Daltonics Division | 70 |
| Mr. Thomas M. Bures | Chief Accounting Officer | 50 |
| Mr. J. Brent Alldredge J.D. | Senior VP, General Counsel, Secretary & Global Head of Compliance | 50 |
| Dr. Wolfgang Pusch Ph.D. | President of Bruker Microbiology & Infection Diagnostics Group | - |
| Dr. Burkhard Prause Ph.D. | President and CEO of Bruker Energy & Supercon Technologies, Inc. | 58 |
Audit Risk
7
Board Risk
6
Compensation Risk
6
Shareholder Rights Risk
5
Documents
- View document
Annual Report (10-K)
A yearly overview of the business, its financial results, and the risks it faces.
Filed on 2026-02-27
- View document
Quarterly Report (10-Q)
A snapshot of financial performance for the most recent three-month period.
Filed on 2026-08-05
- View document
Current Report (8-K)
An announcement of a major event, such as a leadership change or big news.
Filed on 2026-08-14
via SEC EDGAR
Income History
via SEC EDGAR
Part 2 · The price and its context
This part shows how the price has behaved, not whether the company is worth owning. Inside: technical analysis, potential, historical drawdowns, gamma exposure.
Market Reaction Profile
How much BRKR moves, measured on its daily prices.
More volatile than 89% of the tracked stocks (90-day volatility).
- Volatility 30d
- 53.7%
- Volatility 90d
- 65.2%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (1y)
- 1.37Correlation 0.31
- Max drawdown (12m)
- -39.8%
- ATR (14d, % of price)
- 5.32%
Earnings reactions
How BRKR moved around its past quarterly results.
Next earnings release
Nov 4, 2026 · In 11 days · Before the open
EPS estimate: 0.42Revenue estimate: $865M
What usually happens
- Over the last 12 releases the stock moved a median of 6.0% the next day, up or down.
- Next-day moves: up 4, down 8 (out of 12).
Release history
| Date | When | EPS est. | EPS actual | Surprise | Gap | 1 day | 5 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 4, 2026 | Before the open | 0.39 | 0.49 | +24.9% | -15.9% | -21.8% | -12.4% |
| May 6, 2026 | Before the open | 0.24 | 0.31 | +30.1% | +10.2% | +11.3% | +17.7% |
| Feb 12, 2026 | Before the open | 0.66 | 0.59 | -10.9% | -7.7% | -11.6% | -8.6% |
| Nov 3, 2025 | Before the open | 0.34 | 0.45 | +31.7% | -3.1% | -0.6% | +2.5% |
| Aug 4, 2025 | Before the open | n/a | n/a | n/a | -10.2% | -8.6% | -19.9% |
| May 7, 2025 | Before the open | n/a | n/a | n/a | -0.5% | +3.3% | -1.8% |
| Feb 13, 2025 | Before the open | n/a | n/a | n/a | +2.8% | -1.0% | +2.5% |
| Nov 5, 2024 | Before the open | n/a | n/a | n/a | -7.8% | +3.4% | -4.5% |
| Aug 6, 2024 | Before the open | n/a | n/a | n/a | -7.5% | -2.2% | -4.9% |
| May 2, 2024 | Before the open | n/a | n/a | n/a | -5.3% | -11.3% | -6.7% |
| Feb 13, 2024 | Before the open | n/a | n/a | n/a | +5.8% | +8.8% | +14.9% |
| Nov 2, 2023 | Before the open | n/a | n/a | n/a | +5.3% | -1.1% | +1.2% |
Release dates from SEC 8-K filings.
Updated 10/24/2026
Historical statistics for educational purposes only. They are not forecasts and not investment advice.
Price reaction to the news
Latest news on BRKR and what the price did next.
Return of the stock minus return of SPY over the same days. A news item close to a price move did not necessarily cause it. Historical data for educational purposes only, not investment advice.
Latest News
Recent headlines for BRKR.