Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) reported second-quarter 2026 results that exceeded its expectations on several measures, supported by a return to organic growth in its VWR Distribution & Services segment, strong free cash flow and progress under its Revival operational improvement program.
Revenue totaled $1.69 billion in the quarter, down 0.4% organically from a year earlier but up 0.5% on a reported basis. Adjusted EBITDA was $254 million, producing a 15% margin, while adjusted earnings per share were $0.21. The company generated $143 million in free cash flow, or $152 million excluding cash restructuring costs.
VWR Returns to Organic Growth
VWR Distribution & Services revenue was $1.24 billion, rising 1.7% organically year over year. The segment’s adjusted operating income was $126 million, for an adjusted operating margin of 10.2%.
Ligner said VWR returned to growth earlier than the company anticipated, driven primarily by actions taken to strengthen commercial execution, customer relationships and digital capabilities. He said more than half of the segment’s growth came from deliberate company actions, with the remainder supported by improved activity among pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers, particularly in the Americas.
Avantor cited stronger performance with large global customers, including business from new contracts and efforts to expand customer relationships. The company said historical pressures from recontracting activity continued to be a headwind in 2026 but have been diminishing, creating more favorable year-over-year comparisons as the year progresses.
The company also pointed to improved performance among small and midsize customers. Avantor relaunched the VWR brand and vwr.com, and said platform upgrades helped drive higher direct traffic, conversion rates and daily sales. E-commerce growth accelerated as the quarter progressed and contributed to segment growth, according to management.
Steven Eck, senior vice president, interim chief financial officer and chief accounting officer, said VWR’s organic growth improved from a 4.8% decline in the first quarter to 1.7% growth in the second quarter. VWR margins rose about 100 basis points sequentially, aided by higher volumes and improved mix, although year-over-year margins declined due primarily to mix and inflationary pressures.
Bioscience and Medtech Segment Shows Order Momentum
Bioscience & Medtech Products, or BMP, recorded $452 million in revenue, down 5.6% organically from the prior-year period. The decline reflected discrete comparisons tied to customer ordering patterns and shipments in 2025, as well as difficult comparisons in fluid handling.
Management said those factors represented roughly 600 basis points of headwind to BMP’s organic growth in the second quarter. Production chemicals performed above expectations, while fluid handling and NuSil revenue declined in the mid-teens as anticipated. Research and specialty chemicals declined by mid-single digits, primarily due to serum and electronic-materials headwinds.
Despite the revenue decline, BMP posted double-digit order growth and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.1 during the quarter. Order trends were healthy across all business units, with particular strength in production chemicals and fluid handling, Eck said.
BMP’s adjusted operating income was $118 million, representing a 26% adjusted operating margin. The margin declined year over year due to lower volumes but increased sequentially because of volumes and mix.
Avantor expects BMP to return to organic growth in the second half, supported by improving operations, a stronger order book and easier comparisons from some of the discrete factors. The company expects modest organic growth in the third quarter, while fourth-quarter growth is expected to be more muted because electronic materials will face an approximately 400-basis-point comparison headwind.
Revival Program and Cash Deployment
Ligner said Avantor’s Revival program is focused on commercial excellence, operational performance, portfolio optimization, simplification and talent. The company has refreshed about 25% of its senior leadership team and has invested in supply-chain capabilities, sales and operations planning, e-commerce and customer onboarding.
Among the operational initiatives, Avantor said it increased throughput on certain product lines at a large manufacturing site by more than 25% on average compared with the first quarter. It also redesigned its customer onboarding process, cutting the number of steps to eight from 14 and reducing completion times for complex accounts to as little as two days.
Free cash flow supported both investment and debt reduction. Avantor repaid approximately $112 million of debt during the quarter and ended the period with $3.4 billion in net debt and an adjusted net leverage ratio of 3.3 times adjusted EBITDA. The company said it has repaid nearly $500 million of debt over the past 12 months and remains committed to bringing leverage below three times, with an objective of reaching that level by year-end.
Moody’s revised its ratings outlook on Avantor to positive, and the company said it repriced one of its term loans in July.
Raised 2026 Outlook
Avantor raised its full-year organic revenue growth outlook to a range of negative 0.5% to positive 0.5%, reflecting second-quarter outperformance and higher expectations for VWR in the second half. The company maintained its adjusted EBITDA margin outlook and raised adjusted EPS guidance to $0.80 to $0.83.
The company continues to expect 2026 free cash flow of $500 million to $550 million. For the third quarter, Avantor expects adjusted EPS of $0.20 to $0.21 and total company organic revenue growth of about 250 basis points. Foreign exchange is expected to reduce reported third-quarter revenue by about 125 basis points and contribute roughly a 50-basis-point headwind to full-year reported revenue.
Avantor plans to host an investor day on Dec. 8 in New York City.
About Avantor (NYSE:AVTR)
Avantor, Inc (NYSE:AVTR) is a global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education & government, and advanced technologies & applied materials industries. The company delivers essential solutions that support research, development, production and safety applications. Its product portfolio spans from high-purity chemicals and reagents to biologics and cell culture media, as well as lab equipment, consumables and custom manufacturing services.
Avantor’s offerings are organized across two primary segments.
