How Will Agilent Technologies Stock React To Its Upcoming Earnings?
Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) is set to report its earnings on Wednesday, August 26, 2026. The company has $43 billion in current market capitalization. Revenue over the last twelve months was $7.2 billion, and it was operationally profitable with $1.6 billion in operating profits and net income of $1.4 billion. While the post-earnings stock reaction will depend on how the results and outlook stack up against investor expectations, a detailed look at historical results can aid you if you are an event-driven trader.
Here is how: either understand the historical odds and position yourself prior to the earnings announcement, or look at the correlation between immediate and medium-term returns post earnings and enter a trade one day after the announcement.
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Agilent Technologies’s Historical Odds Of Positive Post-Earnings Return
Some observations on one-day (1D) post-earnings returns:
- There are 19 earnings data points recorded over the last five years, with 9 positive and 10 negative one-day (1D) returns observed. In summary, positive 1D returns were seen about 47% of the time.
- Notably, this percentage increases to 64% if we consider data for the last 3 years instead of 5.
- Median of the 9 positive returns = 5.3%, and median of the 10 negative returns = -3.4%
Additional data for observed 5-Day (5D) and 21-Day (21D) returns post earnings are summarized along with the statistics in the table below.
| Forward Returns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Earnings Date | 1D | 5D | 21D |
| 5/27/2026 | 16.9% | 18.6% | 17.4% |
| 2/25/2026 | -3.0% | -3.4% | -9.0% |
| 11/24/2025 | 2.3% | -2.8% | -10.2% |
| 8/27/2025 | 5.3% | 8.2% | 4.0% |
| 5/28/2025 | 2.2% | 3.7% | 7.5% |
| 2/26/2025 | -5.5% | -5.9% | -11.5% |
| 11/25/2024 | -0.1% | 3.6% | 1.0% |
| 8/21/2024 | 0.2% | 0.8% | 0.1% |
| 5/29/2024 | -9.7% | -8.2% | -10.9% |
| 2/27/2024 | 3.4% | 8.9% | 11.2% |
| 11/20/2023 | 8.7% | 9.4% | 21.2% |
| 8/15/2023 | -3.4% | -6.4% | -8.6% |
| 5/23/2023 | -5.9% | -10.1% | -7.2% |
| 2/28/2023 | -3.1% | -1.2% | -5.7% |
| 11/21/2022 | 8.1% | 4.0% | 3.4% |
| 8/16/2022 | 7.2% | -0.1% | 0.3% |
| 5/24/2022 | -3.2% | -1.1% | -2.5% |
| 2/22/2022 | -3.4% | 1.1% | 2.8% |
| 11/22/2021 | -4.9% | -7.3% | -3.7% |
| SUMMARY STATS | |||
| # Positive | 9 | 9 | 10 |
| # Negative | 10 | 10 | 9 |
| Median Positive | 5.3% | 4.0% | 3.7% |
| Median Negative | -3.4% | -4.6% | -8.6% |
| Max Positive | 16.9% | 18.6% | 21.2% |
| Max Negative | -9.7% | -10.1% | -11.5% |
Correlation Between 1D, 5D and 21D Historical Returns
A relatively less risky strategy (though not useful if the correlation is low) is to understand the correlation between short-term and medium-term returns post earnings, find a pair that has the highest correlation, and execute the appropriate trade. For example, 5D_21D shows the strongest correlation here: if the 5D post-earnings return is positive, a trader can position themselves in the same direction over the following 21D window. Here is some correlation data based on a 5-year and a 3-year (more recent) history. Note that these correlations are between subsequent windows, not the cumulative columns above: 1D_5D is the correlation between the 1D post-earnings return and the subsequent return from day 1 through day 5, 1D_21D is between the 1D return and the subsequent return from day 1 through day 21, and 5D_21D is between the 5D return and the subsequent return from day 5 through day 21.
| History | 1D_5D | 1D_21D | 5D_21D |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5Y History | 5.9% | 11.0% | 25.7% |
| 3Y History | 26.4% | 38.4% | 41.4% |
Is There Any Correlation With Peer Earnings?
Sometimes, peer performance can have an influence on post-earnings stock reaction. Some of that pricing-in may even begin before the earnings are announced. Here is some historical data on the past post-earnings performance of Agilent Technologies stock compared with the stock performance of peers that reported earnings just before Agilent Technologies. For fair comparison, peer stock returns also represent post-earnings one-day (1D) returns.
| 1D Return | Peer Post-Earnings 1D Return | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Earnings Dates | A | WAT | MTD | ILMN |
| 5/27/2026 | 16.9% | 13.5% | -14.8% | 7.1% |
| 2/25/2026 | -3.0% | -13.9% | -0.7% | N/A* |
| 11/24/2025 | 2.3% | 6.3% | -0.0% | 24.8% |
| 8/27/2025 | 5.3% | -1.6% | 2.9% | -7.8% |
| 5/28/2025 | 2.2% | -2.7% | 4.1% | -4.8% |
| 2/26/2025 | -5.5% | -5.8% | N/A* | N/A* |
| 11/25/2024 | -0.1% | 19.8% | -7.2% | 1.0% |
| 8/21/2024 | 0.2% | 2.6% | -4.9% | 4.1% |
| 5/29/2024 | -9.7% | 1.9% | 17.0% | -4.9% |
| 2/27/2024 | 3.4% | 1.7% | N/A* | N/A* |
| 11/20/2023 | 8.7% | 3.4% | 1.9% | -8.0% |
| 8/15/2023 | -3.4% | 6.3% | -1.2% | 0.3% |
| 5/23/2023 | -5.9% | -6.7% | -3.4% | -3.5% |
| 2/28/2023 | -3.1% | -0.7% | -1.4% | N/A* |
| 11/21/2022 | 8.1% | 2.8% | 4.8% | 5.9% |
| 8/16/2022 | 7.2% | -6.8% | 3.9% | -8.4% |
| 5/24/2022 | -3.2% | 8.1% | 0.3% | -14.6% |
| 2/22/2022 | -3.4% | 1.1% | -6.0% | N/A* |
| 11/22/2021 | -4.9% | -4.3% | 2.3% | -3.2% |
| CORRELATION | 31.8% | -37.5% | 22.2% | |
* N/A indicates no comparable post-earnings session for that peer in that quarter
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