Danaher finally turns the corner. CNBC’s Jim Cramer sees it that way. So is Wall Street. After years of “nightmarish” performance, life sciences stocks are “poised to go wild,” Cramer said Friday at the December monthly meeting for investment club members. Danaher, which makes tools and technology used by pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies, has faced tough years since COVID-19. The company’s business was also weighed down by policy changes in China aimed at cutting healthcare costs in the world’s second-largest economy. But that is changing. Wells Fargo analysts were the most recent to acknowledge Danaher’s recovery, raising their price target to $240 per share from $230, suggesting a 6% upside from Friday’s closing price of $226. Wells Fargo maintained an equal weight rating equivalent to Hold. For 2026, analysts expect organic growth in the life science tools industry to accelerate slightly due to improved biopharmaceutical spending. They also noted stabilization of academic and government demand, particularly in the United States. Analysts at Bank of America also raised their price target on Danaher to $265 from $250. They said the industry’s “headwinds are expected to subside and the market normalize after a myriad of persistent challenges.” Goldman Sachs began covering Life Science Tools Group last week, rated Dachner stock a “buy” and set a price target of $265. Analysts expect organic revenue growth to be 9.2% in 2026, compared to the consensus estimate of around 6.1%. Two weeks ago, Morgan Stanley started Danaher with a buy-equivalent rating and named it a top stock. Earlier this month, Cramer used Agilent Technologies as an example to explain the resurgence in life sciences. On Friday, Cramer didn’t hide his past disappointment that Danaher stock was still modestly lower heading into 2025 in a year when the S&P 500 index rose about 16%. But there’s no denying that Danaher stock has rebounded strongly since its late September lows. The stock price rose nearly 25% during this period. “I think after spending time in the wilderness at the $180 level, a lot of people feel lucky to have gotten out alive,” Kramer said. “That’s not true.” With the stock currently trading in the $220 range, Cramer told Friday Club members, it’s actually “a good time to buy Danaher, and an even better time if the stock price goes down.” Danaher was one of seven out-of-favor stocks that Kramer identified as buys at the club’s December meeting.
