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QS Research · Michael Burry's Scion Capital analyst template · 2006

BRUKER CORP (BRKR)

As of 2026-11-02 · 12/15 boxes filled from SEC filings and market data

Conclusion: WATCH

Conviction low · base case -17% · downside -43% · upside +14%

Section 13's TTM base is distorted by the $134.9M goodwill impairment and restructuring, so I use forward FY26 non-GAAP EPS guidance as the clean earnings base. Base case: FY26 non-GAAP EPS midpoint $2.125 (S5) at 22x = $46.75, -16.6% vs today's $56.04 (N1). Downside case: same $2.125 at 15x = $31.88, -43.1%; upside case: same $2.125 at 30x = $63.75, +13.8%. The market already prices a recovery at about 26x forward earnings with only 1.1% FCF yield (N29), leaving no margin of safety, yet improving bookings and CEO insider buying make a short too risky. Verdict: watch.

Key numbers

The 15 boxes

  1. ✓ 1. Long-form business notes

    Bruker manufactures high-performance scientific instruments and analytical/diagnostic solutions across magnetic resonance, mass spectrometry, chromatography, X-ray, microscopy, metrology, and spectroscopy. FY2025 revenue reached $3.44 billion, up from $1.99 billion in FY2020, but profitability fell sharply to operating income of $68.2 million and a net loss of $22.5 million. Segment reporting changed from three reportable segments in FY2020 (BSI Life Science, BSI NANO, BEST) to four in FY2025 (BSI BioSpin, BSI CALID, BSI NANO, BEST), splitting BioSpin and CALID. The business expanded through acquisitions such as ELITechGroup (2024), Recipe and AST Revolution (2025) and new product launches in NMR, mass spectrometry, and diagnostics.

  2. ✓ 2. Competitive advantage

    Bruker has no clear durable competitive advantage. It operates in multiple highly competitive markets, with many listed competitors including Danaher, Thermo Fisher, Agilent, Waters, JEOL, Oxford Instruments, Rigaku, and Olympus, and acknowledges that some competitors have substantially greater financial, technical, and marketing resources. Principal competitive factors are technology-based applications expertise, product specifications, functionality, reliability, marketing, distribution, proprietary patents, and cost effectiveness. FY2023-FY2025 results show revenue growing to $3.44B but gross profit falling to $1.58B and operating income collapsing to $68.2M, indicating weak pricing power or cost pressure, not evidence of a durable moat.

  3. ✓ 3. 10-Q takeaways

    Bruker's Q2 2026 revenue rose 5.2% YoY to $838.5 million; non-GAAP organic revenue grew 2.8% to $820.1 million, with BSI CALID and BEST leading. GAAP operating loss of $65.3 million was driven by $134.9 million of goodwill impairments, while non-GAAP operating income reached $118.5 million (14.1% margin). Cash and equivalents were $184.9 million, and H1 free cash flow improved to -$59.2 million; tariff refund requests were mostly approved but trade uncertainty pressures bookings. A post-quarter segment reorganization will recast prior periods starting Q3 2026.

  4. ✓ 4. Corporate governance
  5. ✓ 5. Overview of the prior 3 years of 8-K filings
  6. ✓ 6. Other significant filings
  7. ✓ 7. Chronology of significant news and events
  8. ✓ 8. Comparables valuation interpretation
  9. ✓ 9. Insider trading interpretation
  10. ○ 10. Earnings-call notes
  11. ○ 11. Impression of the shareholder letter
  12. ○ 12. Scuttlebutt overview
  13. ✓ 13. Valuation and risk/reward summary
  14. ✓ 14. Current price suppression and potential catalysts

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