CompetitorsNarrow moat

Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) — moat facet

Thermo Fisher has no rival across its whole range, but in each segment it faces a specialist, and in China a government that prefers someone else.

Thermo Fisher's 10-K names no competitors. It says only that "The company encounters aggressive and able competition in virtually all of the markets we serve"1, and that "Our competitors include a broad range of manufacturers, third-party distributors and service providers"2. The rivals have to be found in other people's documents.

Who names the competitionCompetitors named in the Thermo Fisher 10-K0Larger competitors named by IQVIA4, PPD among themLeading instrument makers named by MarketsandMarkets5 including Thermo FisherAnalytical Instruments organic growth, Q2 20267%Thermo Fisher FY2025 10-K, IQVIA FY2025 10-K, MarketsandMarkets, Q2 2026 call
The rivals appear only in other people's documents.

They fall into four kinds of relationship. Danaher is the mirror image, a broad life-science tools company that investors and peers set beside Thermo Fisher. IQVIA is a services rival whose own 10-K lists PPD, now part of Thermo Fisher, among its larger competitors3. Agilent, Waters and Shimadzu are instrument specialists that compete with one segment rather than the whole company; MarketsandMarkets names them with Thermo Fisher and Danaher as leading participants in life-science instrumentation4. And in China the rival is whichever local supplier the government prefers.

Thermo Fisher competes with each on a different front, and on none of them across the whole range at once. Its breadth is the advantage: a rival can match one catalogue page, not all of them.

Its weakest front is instruments, where the specialists sit. Analytical Instruments grew 7% organically in the second quarter of 20265, after a 2025 in which its margin fell from 26.2% to 23.0%6.

The field around Thermo Fisher is crowded with companies a fraction of its size. Among the related companies stockanalysis lists, Natera was worth $59.47 billion, IDEXX $40.91 billion, Illumina $40.77 billion and Mettler-Toledo $30.29 billion in September 20267. Each competes with one corner of Thermo Fisher's range. None of them competes with all of it, and that breadth is the most durable thing the company has against any of them.

The competitive verdict is narrow and stable. It would change if organic growth in Analytical Instruments fell back below the company's own rate, which would mean the specialists were winning the contested ground.

Moat trajectory: Holding steady

Analytical Instruments organic growth 7% in Q2 2026.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Analytical Instruments organic growth, latest quarter
7% (Q2 2026)

The most contested segment; organic growth below the company rate would mean the specialists are winning.

Source: Thermo Fisher Q2 2026 earnings call ↗
Dig deeper
DIG DEEPER 01
Danaher: The Mirror Image
Danaher is Thermo Fisher's mirror image, built the same way, which makes it a rival for the same customers and the same acquisitions.
DIG DEEPER 02
IQVIA: The Rival That Names PPD
IQVIA's own 10-K names PPD among its larger competitors, which tells you Thermo Fisher's trial business competes as one of a handful, not as a leader.
DIG DEEPER 03
Agilent, Waters and Shimadzu: The Instrument Specialists
Against instrument specialists Thermo Fisher fights with one segment, spending across the whole company what they can spend on one line.
DIG DEEPER 04
Local Suppliers in China: The Rival a Government Prefers
In China Thermo Fisher's rival is a procurement rule that favours local suppliers, and its share of revenue there has fallen from about 10% to about…
References
  1. ReportedIt says only that "The company encounters aggressive and able competition in virtually all of the markets we serve", and that "Our competitors include a broad range of manufacturers, third-party distributors and service providers".
    Thermo Fisher Scientific Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - Item 1A risk factors and competition. — FY2025 · publ. 26 February 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedIt says only that "The company encounters aggressive and able competition in virtually all of the markets we serve", and that "Our competitors include a broad range of manufacturers, third-party distributors and service providers".
    Thermo Fisher Scientific Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - Item 1A risk factors and competition. — FY2025 · publ. 26 February 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedIQVIA is a services rival whose own 10-K lists PPD, now part of Thermo Fisher, among its larger competitors.
    IQVIA Holdings Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - names ICON, Parexel, Pharmaceutical Product Development (part of Thermo Fisher Scientific) and Syneos Health among its larger competitors. — FY2025 · publ. February 2026 · source ↗
  4. Third-party estimateAgilent, Waters and Shimadzu are instrument specialists that compete with one segment rather than the whole company; MarketsandMarkets names them with Thermo Fisher and Danaher as leading participants in life-science instrumentation.
    MarketsandMarkets research insight on life-science instrumentation - leading participants and a market estimate of USD 63.4 billion in 2025 rising to USD 92.53 billion by 2031. — 2025 · publ. 2025 · source ↗
  5. ReportedAnalytical Instruments grew 7% organically in the second quarter of 2026, after a 2025 in which its margin fell from 26.2% to 23.0%.
    Thermo Fisher Scientific second-quarter 2026 earnings call transcript (Motley Fool) - organic growth by segment and market, China, the raised 2026 guidance, leverage, adjusted ROIC and the microbiology sale. Figures from the transcript body, not the summary block - 2026 guidance, capital deployment, leverage and adjusted ROIC. — Q2 2026 · publ. 23 July 2026 · source ↗
  6. ReportedAnalytical Instruments grew 7% organically in the second quarter of 2026, after a 2025 in which its margin fell from 26.2% to 23.0%.
    Thermo Fisher Scientific Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - revenue and cost by type: consumables, instruments and services. — FY2025 · publ. 26 February 2026 · source ↗
  7. ReportedAmong the related companies stockanalysis lists, Natera was worth $59.47 billion, IDEXX $40.91 billion, Illumina $40.77 billion and Mettler-Toledo $30.29 billion in September 2026.
    Thermo Fisher market capitalisation history - year-end values 2015-2025 ($56.61B in 2015, $217.70B in 2025), with related companies' market values (Danaher $157.81B, Agilent $48.71B, IQVIA $44.50B, Waters $42.59B). — 2015-2026 · publ. September 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 28, 2026