Sifting through countless of stocks in the Life Sciences Tools & Services industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. or Danaher Corporation because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and Danaher Corporation compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and Danaher Corporation

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. provides life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services in the North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Life Sciences Solutions, Analytical Instruments, Specialty Diagnostics, and Laboratory Products and Biopharma Services. The Life Sciences Solutions segment includes reagents, instruments, and consumables for biological and medical research; discovery and production of drugs and vaccines; and diagnosis of infections and diseases. Its Analytical Instruments segment provides instruments, consumables, software, and services for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, academic, government, environmental, and other research and industrial markets, as well as clinical laboratories. The Specialty Diagnostics segment offers clinical diagnostics products, such as liquid ready-to-use and lyophilized immunodiagnostic reagent kits, calibrators, controls, protein detection assays, and instruments; immunodiagnostic offerings comprising developing, manufacturing, and marketing of complete blood-test systems for the clinical diagnosis and monitoring of allergy, asthma and autoimmune diseases; microbiology offerings, such as dehydrated and prepared culture media, collection and transport systems, instrumentation and consumables to detect pathogens in blood, diagnostic and rapid direct specimen tests, quality-control products, and associated products; transplant diagnostics products, including human leukocyte antigen typing and testing for the organ transplant market; and healthcare market channel offerings. Its Laboratory Products and Biopharma Services segment provides laboratory products, research and safety market channel, and pharma services and clinical research. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Danaher Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets professional, medical, research, and industrial products and services in the United States, China, and internationally. The company operates through Biotechnology, Life Sciences, and Diagnostics segments. The Biotechnology segment provides technologies, consumables, services, and solutions that advance, accelerate, and integrate the development and manufacture of therapeutics; cell line and cell culture media development services; cell culture media, process liquids and buffers for manufacturing, chromatography resins, filtration technologies, and aseptic fill finish; single-use hardware, consumables, and services, such as the design and installation of full manufacturing suites; lab filtration, separation, and purification; lab-scale protein purification and analytical tools; reagents, membranes, and services for diagnostic and assay development; and healthcare filtration solutions. The Life Sciences segment provides mass spectrometers; bioanalytical measurement systems; flow cytometry, genomics, lab automation, centrifugation, liquid handling automation instruments, antibodies and reagents, and particle counting and characterization; genome sample preparation; microscopes; protein consumables; filtration products; and genomic medicines, such as custom nucleic acid products, and plasmid DNA, RNA, and proteins under the ABCAM, ALDEVRON, BECKMAN COULTER, GENEDATA, IDT, LEICA MICROSYSTEMS, MOLECULAR DEVICES, PALL, PHENOMENEX, and SCIEX brands. The Diagnostics segment offers clinical instruments, consumables, software, and services that hospitals, physicians’ offices, reference laboratories and other critical care settings use to diagnose disease and make treatment decisions. The company was formerly known as Diversified Mortgage Investors, Inc. and changed its name to Danaher Corporation in 1984. Danaher Corporation was incorporated in 1969 and is headquartered in Washington, the District Of Columbia.

Latest Life Sciences Tools & Services and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Danaher Corporation Stock News

As of April 17, 2026, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. had a $195.7 billion market capitalization, compared to the Life Sciences Tools & Services median of $1.2 million. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.’s stock is down 9.1% in 2026, up 6.1% in the previous five trading days and up 19.41% in the past year.

Currently, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 29.7. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $44.6 billion with a 15.0% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 7.2%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $24.790 per share for the current fiscal year. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. currently has a 0.3% dividend yield.

As of April 17, 2026, Danaher Corporation had a $137.8 billion market cap, putting it in the 98th percentile of all stocks. Danaher Corporation’s stock is down 14.9% in 2026, up 2.7% in the previous five trading days and up 2.54% in the past year.

Currently, Danaher Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 38.7. Danaher Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $24.6 billion with a 14.7% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 4.6%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $8.401 per share for the current fiscal year. Danaher Corporation currently has a 0.8% dividend yield.

How We Compare Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and Danaher Corporation Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and Danaher Corporation’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and Danaher Corporation Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.	TMO	A
Danaher Corporation	DHR	C

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a Growth Score of 95, which is Very Strong. Danaher Corporation has a Growth Score of 56, which is Average.

The Growth Grade Winner: Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a more attractive growth grade than Danaher Corporation. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and Danaher Corporation’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.	TMO	B
Danaher Corporation	DHR	A

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a Quality Score of 73, which is Strong. Danaher Corporation has a Quality Score of 82, which is Very Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: Danaher Corporation

As you can clearly see from the Quality Grade breakdown above, Danaher Corporation has a better overall quality grade than Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.. For investors who are looking for companies with higher quality than others in the same industry, Danaher Corporation could be a good stock to add to their portfolios. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and Danaher Corporation’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.	TMO	B
Danaher Corporation	DHR	C

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 76, which is Positive. Danaher Corporation has a Earnings Estimate Score of 56, which is Neutral.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a better Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade than Danaher Corporation. For those who are specifically looking for companies with better short-term prospects when compared to other companies in the same industry, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Other Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and Danaher Corporation Grades

In addition to Growth, Estimate Revisions and Quality, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Momentum.

Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and Danaher Corporation pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. or Danaher Corporation Stock?

Overall, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 95, Estimate Revisions Score of 76 and Quality Score of 73.

Danaher Corporation stock has a Growth Score of 56, Estimate Revisions Score of 56 and Quality Score of 82.

Comparing Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and Danaher Corporation’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.