Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (BIO) Stock Price & How to Invest

Bio-Rad Laboratories designs and sells laboratory instruments, consumables, and reagents across two segments. Life Science supplies tools for molecular biology, protein analysis, and genomics, including its droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) systems, real-time PCR, electrophoresis, imaging, and process chromatography products. Clinical Diagnostics sells the workflows routine hospital and reference labs rely on: quality-control and data-management systems, blood typing and immunohematology, diabetes monitoring, and specialty assays. Trailing revenue runs around $2.59 billion, and the business is known for recurring consumables attached to a large installed base of instruments.

The investment picture is unusual because Bio-Rad also owns roughly 28% of Sartorius, a German bioprocessing and lab-equipment company, and in mid-2026 that stake (worth on the order of $5 billion at the time) was valued at nearly the whole of Bio-Rad's own market capitalization. In May 2026 activist Elliott Investment Management disclosed positions in both Bio-Rad and Sartorius, arguing the market gives Bio-Rad little credit for its core operations and pushing to unlock value. Meanwhile the operating business is soft: 2026 guidance was cut, with a conflict in the Middle East hurting the blood-typing diagnostics franchise, even as digital PCR grows at a double-digit clip. The second quarter then surprised on profit: revenue of about $651 million was flat year over year, but non-GAAP EPS of $2.62 was far above the roughly $1.75 consensus, after a first quarter where EPS of $1.89 had slightly missed the ~$1.99 estimate. The shares rose about 18% over the following three months, and as of October 16, 2026 BIO closed near $355, up about 16% year to date and about 14% over one year, with a market value near $9.5 billion. Third-quarter results are scheduled for November 4, 2026, with consensus EPS of about $2.22 on revenue near $650 million. The result is a stock where activism, capital allocation, and a volatile equity stake matter as much as instrument sales.

Revenue is not growing (Q2 2026 was down about 0.1% year over year, and analysts expect about $2.57 billion for 2026, slightly below 2025), and the 2026 outlook was cut in the spring, with currency-neutral revenue guided to roughly a 3% decline to modest growth and operating margin trimmed toward 10% to 12%. A Middle East conflict reduced first-quarter revenue and remains a headwind for the blood-typing diagnostics business, which drew a meaningful share of the segment from that region. Because the Sartorius stake dwarfs the operating business in value, Bio-Rad's stock and reported results are highly sensitive to that single holding, and reported GAAP earnings can swing to losses on non-cash marks. Instrument demand across life-science tools has been weak, and any activist campaign carries execution and timing uncertainty. Dual-class shares concentrate voting control with the founding family, which can limit outside influence over the pace of change. After an 18% three-month rally, the stock trades above the average of the few analyst targets (about $335) and at about 36 times forward earnings, so a softer Q3 report on November 4 could weigh on it.

3 analysts publish price targets on BIO, averaging $335.00 against a $353.70 price as of October 2026, or -5.3%. The published targets run from $280.00 to $390.00, a moderate spread, and the ratings split 1 buy, 1 hold, 1 sell. Over the last six months there have been 4 raises and 1 cut among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full BIO forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc.. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. Sartorius stake and activist pressure. Bio-Rad's roughly 28% holding in Sartorius was worth close to its entire market value in mid-2026, so movements in that German stock swing Bio-Rad's book value and sentiment heavily. The most optimistic published target, $390.00, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. Revenue is not growing (Q2 2026 was down about 0.1% year over year, and analysts expect about $2.57 billion for 2026, slightly below 2025), and the 2026 outlook was cut in the spring, with currency-neutral revenue guided to roughly a 3% decline to modest growth and operating margin trimmed toward 10% to 12%. The most pessimistic target, $280.00, is roughly what BIO is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on BIO, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

No. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (BIO) has not split its stock in the last 10 years. That is a statement about the window we check rather than about the company’s entire history, so an older split is possible. It also matters less than it once did: fractional shares mean a high price per share no longer keeps smaller investors out, which removed most of the practical reason to split.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.

• Revenue (TTM): ~$2.59B (flat YoY)
• Q2 2026 revenue: ~$651M
• Q2 2026 non-GAAP EPS: ~$2.62 (vs ~$1.75 est.)
• Net income (TTM, GAAP): ~$222M (~8.6% margin)
• P/E (trailing / forward): ~45x / ~36x
• Market cap: ~$9.5B
• Next earnings: Nov 4, 2026 (EPS est. ~$2.22)

At roughly $355 per share and a $9.5 billion market cap as of October 16, 2026, Bio-Rad trades on about 36 times forward earnings and 3.7 times sales, a richer multiple than in mid-2026 when the market valued the Sartorius stake at close to the whole company. Trailing GAAP earnings remain volatile because non-cash marks on the Sartorius holding flow through results, so headline EPS and P/E can be misleading. The activist thesis rests on the gap between the sum of the parts and the traded value, and that gap has narrowed as the shares rallied.

Other names that sit close to BIO: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get BIO exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so BIO sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where BIO fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

Bio-Rad is really two assets in one ticker: a steady but sluggish tools franchise (revenue flat at about $2.6 billion) plus a giant Sartorius stake, and the value case hinges as much on activist-driven capital allocation as on the underlying instruments business. A large Q2 2026 earnings beat has lifted the shares, so margin delivery now carries more of the weight.

Whether BIO is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is BIO a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the BIO stock forecast.

For income investors, whether BIO pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does BIO pay a dividend? And to weigh BIO against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: BIO vs TMO and BIO vs DHR.