Quick Facts
- Back with a perfect score.Tecan Group rejoins the OMSP1 this month with an Obermatt 360° View of 100, replacing Emmi.
- A Swiss life sciences veteran. Founded in 1980 and headquartered in Männedorf, Tecan develops and manufactures laboratory automation and OEM instruments for biopharma, diagnostics, and research, through its Life Sciences Business and Partnering Business segments. The company employs more than 3,500 people and serves customers in 52 countries.
- A rough 2025, then a reset. Tecan left OMSP1 in January after a year of declining sales and a CHF 139.5 million impairment charge. The company had since launched "Rewired," a transformation program built around portfolio discipline, commercial excellence, and operational excellence.
- The turnaround is already visible. Order entry grew 3% in the first half of 2026, the book-to-bill ratio climbed above 1, and full-year guidance was confirmed toward the upper end of its range.
Pros
- The numbers are catching up to the story. A Growth Rank of 75 reflects the order growth, the 1.04 book-to-bill ratio, and management's confirmed 2026 guidance.
- A balance sheet built to fund the turnaround. A Safety Rank of 92, with Liquidity at 87 and Refinancing at 82, gives Tecan the room to keep investing in Rewired without financial strain.
- Betting on AI-driven labs. A new partnership with NVIDIA is building agentic AI capabilities into Tecan's laboratory platforms, while a new direct sales team in India, opened in May, extends its reach into a fast-growing market.
Cons
- The re-rating has been rapid. Shares have gained more than 50% since January, and the Price vs. Earnings (P/E) Rank has fallen to 23, the weakest of Tecan's detailed ranks, a sign the market has already priced in a good part of the recovery.
- Transformation has a near-term cost. First-half 2026 operating cash flow fell more than 70%, and reported earnings per share dropped nearly 30%, as restructuring and IT investment costs weigh on the bottom line.
Tecan develops and manufactures laboratory automation and OEM instruments used across biopharma, diagnostics, forensics, and academic research, serving customers through its Life Sciences Business and Partnering Business segments from its headquarters in Männedorf. It's a familiar name in our portfolio. We first added Tecan in April 2025, and its structural growth drivers, personalized medicine, biotech research, and lab automation, haven't changed. What changed is execution, and that's exactly the story behind this month's return.
We sold Tecan in January, right as the company confirmed a difficult 2025: sales down 1.6% in local currency and a CHF 139.5 million impairment from exiting activities which were not driving performance. CEO Monica Manotas was candid, telling investors the year's performance "does not reflect Tecan's potential." What followed was Rewired, a transformation program built on three pillars: terminating programs that weren't performing, selling what does more effectively, and running the business more efficiently. Within weeks, Tecan closed its Boston design site and began exiting parts of its genomics business. A new CFO, Camila Japur, joined at the end of March.
By the first half of 2026, the plan was producing results. Sales grew 3.4% in local currency to CHF 427.5 million, order entry rose 3% to CHF 444.3 million, and the book-to-bill ratio climbed to 1.04, a sign that demand is outpacing what the company can currently deliver. Management confirmed its full-year guidance and now expects to land toward the upper end of its margin range. On the innovation side, a new partnership with NVIDIA is building agentic AI capabilities into Tecan's laboratory platforms, positioning the company at the intersection of two durable trends: lab automation and AI infrastructure.
None of this came for free. Restructuring and IT investment costs pressured first-half cash flow and earnings, and the market has already priced in a good part of the recovery. But with Growth, Safety, and Sentiment ranks all pointing the same direction, and the Obermatt 360° View confirming it with a perfect score, Tecan earns its way back into the OMSP1 this month, replacing Emmi.
Invest in a professionally managed index of 36 stocks selected each month using the Obermatt method. Available for retail investors on the SIX Swiss Exchange (Ticker: OMSP1). Learn more