Dive Brief:
- Agilent Technologies CFO Bob McMahon will step down July 31 and relocate to the East Coast for family reasons while preparing for the next chapter of his career. The CFO told the company on July 11 of his intent to resign.
- Rodney Gonsalves, corporate controller and principal accounting officer, was appointed to the additional role of interim CFO until a successor is named, the maker of laboratory instruments said Tuesday. The company will conduct a global search for its next CFO.
- McMahon’s departure is not related to any disagreement about accounting practices, financial statements, internal controls or operations, Agilent said in a securities filing. The Santa Clara, California-based firm expects third-quarter financial results to be within the range previously provided and remains confident in its long-term plans.
Dive Insight:
McMahon joined Agilent in 2018 from Hologic, where he was CFO, and before that held a series of financial leadership positions during 20 years with Johnson & Johnson.
The CFO is liked by the investment community, and his resignation comes as a surprise, said Leerink Partners analyst Puneet Souda. McMahon “continued the strength of financial discipline at Agilent,” Souda told clients in a Tuesday note.
The company’s reaffirmed financial guidance, however, “should provide some comfort to investors,” Souda wrote.
Evercore ISI analyst Vijay Kumar said the reiterated third-quarter forecast “should allay any concerns around the business performance.”
Meanwhile, TD Cowen analyst Dan Brennan noted Agilent did not reiterate full-year guidance, “which we would have preferred, but our sense is confidence in [the third quarter] suggests things are on track for [2025] too … and they also expressed confidence in their long term plans.”
Gonsalves has held a variety of senior management roles in business and corporate finance at Agilent and most recently was vice president and operational CFO of the company's life sciences and applied markets group.
Agilent plans to report third-quarter results on Aug. 27.
