Hansen, Mueller Industries director, sells $105,710 in stock
Investing.com -- Shares in Swiss testing and inspection group SGS climbed more than 2% Thursday after it reported better-than-expected revenues for the third quarter.
The company’s total revenue for the three months stood at 1.73 billion Swiss francs, up 1.8% year-on-year, driven by 6% organic growth, a 1.9% contribution from acquisitions, and a 6.1% currency headwind.
The organic growth rate came in slightly ahead of the company-compiled consensus of 5.3%, bringing year-to-date growth to 5.5%—in line with its full-year target range of 5–7%.
Growth improved sequentially across most divisions, helped by easier comparisons. The strongest performance came from Industries & Environment, which grew 7.9% organically, followed by Connectivity & Products at 6.2%, supported by demand in Sustainability and Digital Trust.
Health & Nutrition rose 6.2% on strength in food testing, while Natural Resources gained 4.4%. Business Assurance lagged with 3.7% organic growth, weighed down by weakness in Consulting despite solid momentum in Sustainability.
Looking ahead, SGS reaffirmed its 2025 guidance, expecting 5–7% organic growth, 1–2% additional sales from bolt-on acquisitions, and “at least” 30 basis points of reported operating margin improvement, alongside strong free cash flow generation.
Visible Alpha consensus forecasts are broadly aligned, calling for 5.5% organic growth and an EBITA margin of 15.7%, around 40 basis points higher year-on-year.
"We do not expect any changes to consensus following today’s results, notwithstanding updates for FX," Morgan Stanley analyst Annelies Vermeulen said in a note.
The bank reiterated an Overweight rating on SGS shares, highlighting "another solid delivery amid an ongoing choppy macro environment."
Separately, RBC Capital Markets analysts said the Q3 print is "a small positive for the stock today."