Major ClientsNarrow moat

Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) — moat facet

Thermo Fisher stopped saying that no customer exceeds 5% of revenue the year before it bought a trial business sold to a few large drug companies.

Thermo Fisher does not say who its largest customers are, and it used to. Its 10-Ks through fiscal 2019 stated: "No customer accounted for more than 5% of our total revenues in any of the past three years"1. From the FY2020 10-K onward the sentence is gone, and nothing replaced it.

Backlog expected within twelve months (% of total)63%201974%202059%202153%202353%202452%202552%Jun 2026Thermo Fisher Forms 10-K FY2019-FY2025 and Form 10-Q Q2 2026
Half the backlog now runs beyond a year.

The likeliest reading is that no customer is large; the company served more than 400,000 customers in 20152. But the sentence disappeared from the filing for 2020, the pandemic year, and a year later the company bought PPD, whose trials are sold to a smaller set of large drug companies; it has not confirmed the old figure since.

Revenue concentration and backlog concentration need separate answers. On revenue, management puts pharmaceutical and biotech customers at about 60%3. On backlog, remaining performance obligations were $29.70 billion at 27 June 20264, about 52% due within twelve months5, and the company discloses no customer breakdown of it at all.

The four groups that matter are the pharmaceutical customers, the academic and government labs, the unnamed customers behind the backlog, and the thousands of laboratories that buy through the channel.

The company says little about credit risk from these customers, and what it says is reassuring. "Receivables from academic and government customers as well as large, well-capitalized commercial customers have historically experienced less collectability risk"6, the 10-K notes. Customers of that kind rarely fail to pay; they are more likely to spend less, which is the risk the pages on academic funding and on the drug industry describe.

The client verdict is narrow and stable. It would change if the company disclosed a customer above 5% of revenue, or if the backlog, $29.70 billion in June, fell while revenue grew, which would mean a few large contracts had been carrying it.

Moat trajectory: Holding steady

RPO $29.70bn in June 2026, 52% due within a year.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Remaining performance obligations, latest quarter
$29.70bn (27 June 2026)

The contracted backlog; a fall while revenue grows would mean a few large contracts had been carrying it.

Source: Thermo Fisher Form 10-Q, Q2 2026 ↗
Dig deeper
DIG DEEPER 01
No Customer Above 5%, Then Silence
Thermo Fisher used to say no customer exceeded 5% of revenue; since 2020 it has said nothing, which is probably still true and no longer confirmed.
DIG DEEPER 02
Pharma and Biotech: About 60% of Revenue
Drug companies are about 60% of Thermo Fisher's revenue and buy from almost every part of it, which binds them tighter and exposes the company to…
DIG DEEPER 03
Academic and Government: Waiting on Washington
Thermo Fisher's academic and government customers buy on budgets set in Washington and Beijing, and in 2025 both held them back.
DIG DEEPER 04
$29.7 Billion Owed, by Customers Nobody Names
Thermo Fisher's $29.7 billion backlog is mostly trials and manufacturing contracts with large drug companies, and it discloses nothing about who owes…
References
  1. ReportedIts 10-Ks through fiscal 2019 stated: "No customer accounted for more than 5% of our total revenues in any of the past three years".
    Thermo Fisher Scientific Form 10-K for fiscal 2019 - segment income for 2017-2019, geography including China, backlog by segment and the statement that no customer accounted for more than 5% of revenue. — FY2019 · publ. February 2020 · source ↗
  2. ReportedThe likeliest reading is that no customer is large; the company served more than 400,000 customers in 2015.
    Thermo Fisher Scientific Form 10-K for fiscal 2015 - approximately 52,000 employees and more than 400,000 customers. — FY2015 · publ. February 2016 · source ↗
  3. ReportedOn revenue, management puts pharmaceutical and biotech customers at about 60%.
    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 - organic growth by segment, end market and region, and the microbiology sale. — Q2 2026 · publ. 23 July 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedOn backlog, remaining performance obligations were $29.70 billion at 27 June 2026, about 52% due within twelve months, and the company discloses no customer breakdown of it at all.
    Thermo Fisher Scientific Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 27 June 2026 - revenue by business and by type, the Clario purchase price, the microbiology sale, share repurchases, dividends and the balance sheet. — Q2 2026 · publ. 31 July 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedOn backlog, remaining performance obligations were $29.70 billion at 27 June 2026, about 52% due within twelve months, and the company discloses no customer breakdown of it at all.
    Thermo Fisher Scientific Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 27 June 2026 - revenue by business and by type, the Clario purchase price, the microbiology sale, share repurchases, dividends and the balance sheet. — Q2 2026 · publ. 31 July 2026 · source ↗
  6. Reported"Receivables from academic and government customers as well as large, well-capitalized commercial customers have historically experienced less collectability risk", the 10-K notes.
    Thermo Fisher Scientific Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 - Item 1A risk factors and competition. — FY2025 · publ. 26 February 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 28, 2026