- Company name
- Mettler-Toledo
- Sector
- Life science and laboratory instruments
- About
- Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (Mettler-Toledo) is a global maker of precision instruments, based in Columbus, Ohio, and Greifensee, Switzerland. It makes weighing instruments for laboratories, industry, packaging, logistics and food retail. It also makes analytical instruments, automated chemistry systems for drug discovery, metal detection and inspection systems for production lines, and process analytics. Its sales mix is laboratory 55%, industrial 40% and retail 5%. It earns about one quarter of its sales from service: service sales were $817.2 million of $3,068.7 million for nine months of 2026. Its main factories are in China, Germany, Mexico, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Patrick Kaltenbach is President and Chief Executive Officer. The shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange in US dollars.
- Thesis
- The price of Mettler-Toledo depends on whether it can keep adjusted EPS growth in the low teens from sales growth of about 5%. In Q3 2026, sales rose 6% to $1.094 billion, and adjusted EPS rose 13% to $12.57. Adjusted operating profit was 30.5% of sales. Share buybacks add to EPS growth: Mettler-Toledo spent $638.7 million for nine months to buy 490,368 shares at an average price of $1,302.57. Demand in Asia and the rest of the world is strong, with sales up 16% in Q3 2026, while European sales were flat. For the price to hold or rise, three things must be true. Demand for laboratory and industrial instruments must keep recovering, as the company says it does. Tariff rules must not hurt margins again. Management must reach its 2027 plan of local currency sales growth of about 5% and adjusted EPS of $52.50 to $53.50. The next tests are the Q4 2026 report in early February 2027 and its full guidance for 2027.
- Risks
- Demand for instruments can fall if customers cut spending. Laboratory products are 55% of sales and industrial products 40%. The company says that market conditions are uncertain and could change quickly.
Trade rules can change costs and prices. The company got $52 million of IEEPA tariff refunds in 2026 and gave customers $28 million. New tariffs and trade disputes can raise costs for its factories in China, Mexico and Europe.
Currency changes affect results. Sales and costs are in many currencies, and $983.6 million of its $2,023.7 million of debt is in euros, Swiss francs and other currencies.
Buybacks use cash and debt. Total debt was $2,023.7 million at September 30, 2026, and cash was $52.2 million. The company spent $638.7 million on buybacks in nine months, and it has $3.0 billion of authority left.
The US pension plan can cost cash or profit. If the company ends the plan, it expects a one-time non-cash charge of about $28 million, and it does not expect a large cash payment.
- Balance sheet
- At September 30, 2026, Mettler-Toledo had cash and cash equivalents of $52.2 million and total debt of $2,023.7 million, which is net debt of about $1.97 billion. Debt was $1,248.2 million of senior notes, $703.9 million under its $1.35 billion credit agreement and $71.6 million of other local arrangements. $60.2 million falls due within 12 months. The senior notes mature from 2029 to 2037. The company could still borrow $641.6 million under the credit agreement. At December 31, 2025, cash was $66.9 million and debt was $2,152.2 million. Cash from operations was $758.8 million for nine months, and adjusted free cash flow was $651.9 million. The company spent $638.7 million on share buybacks in the same period.
As of Sep 30, 2026.
- Checkpoints
- Feb 4, 2027 (estimate): Q4 2026 results and 2027 guidance. Pending. Watch: Adjusted EPS lands in the Q4 range of $14.84 to $15.04 and the 2027 plan of $52.50 to $53.50 holds, and this passes; a lower range for 2027 fails.
May 2027 (estimate): Q1 2027 results: sales growth in laboratory and industrial. Pending. Watch: Local currency sales grow by about 5% with improving demand in Europe, and this passes; flat sales in Europe and the Americas fail.
- Recent events
- Nov 6, 2026: In its Q3 2026 10-Q, Mettler-Toledo said that in October 2026 it agreed a buy-in with an insurer for substantially all assets of its US defined benefit pension plan. It expects, but is not obliged, to end the plan in 2027. It would then record a one-time non-cash charge for the deferred actuarial loss, which was about $28 million at September 30, 2026.
Nov 5, 2026: Mettler-Toledo reported Q3 2026 results. Sales rose 6% to $1.094 billion, and EPS was $12.29, against $10.57 a year earlier. Adjusted EPS was $12.57, up 13%. Adjusted operating profit was $333.5 million. Reported sales rose 3% in the Americas, were flat in Europe and rose 16% in Asia and the rest of the world.
Nov 5, 2026: Mettler-Toledo raised its guidance for 2026 adjusted EPS to $47.70 to $47.90, from $47.15 to $47.50. It guided Q4 2026 adjusted EPS to $14.84 to $15.04, with local currency sales up about 5%. It also said that, for 2027, it expects local currency sales growth of about 5% and adjusted EPS of $52.50 to $53.50.
Aug 3, 2026: Mettler-Toledo appointed Natalia Shuman as an independent director, and raised the board from nine to ten directors.
Jul 30, 2026: Mettler-Toledo reported Q2 2026 results. Its results include a one-time $52 million benefit from refunds of IEEPA tariffs, which the US Supreme Court invalidated in February 2026, and a $28 million refund of tariff costs to customers. The company excludes both from its adjusted figures. It raised its 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $47.15 to $47.50.