Volatility returned to the global equity markets in March due to the unresolved bailout for Greece and data indicating slowing economic growth in China and Europe. China lowered its 2012 growth outlook from 8.0% to 7.5%, and the EU reported that fourth-quarter 2011 GDP contracted 0.3%. However, equity prices rebounded as financing measures for Greece were finally approved and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke hinted of further quantitative easing. Investors were also focused on improved retail and unemployment data. For the month, the Dow, S&P 500 and NASDAQ increased 2.0%, 3.1% and 4.2%, respectively. For the first quarter, the Dow, S&P 500 and NASDAQ are up 8.1%, 12.0% and 18.7%, respectively.

Returns for the IBO Stock Indexes were mixed this month. The Process/Metrology/Motion Instrumentation, Diversified Instrumentation and Laboratory Instrumentation Stock Indexes expanded 5.0%, 4.0% and 1.5%, respectively. The Lab Consumables/Equipment Stock Index slipped 0.5%.

Laboratory Instrumentation Stock Index

In March, the Laboratory Instrumentation Index improved 1.5% to close at 644.38. Twelve companies increased in value, six declined and one was unchanged. Fluidigm gained the most, climbing 9%, while Pacific Biosciences fell 18%. For the quarter, the Index has advanced 14.0%, with 16 companies trading higher and three losing ground. Illumina maintains the highest return, having gained 73%, while Sequenom has contracted 9%.

Several companies in the Index reported positive quarterly earnings and outlooks. On March 6, Accelrys forecast 2012 EPS of $0.32–$0.34, which was ahead of analysts’ consensus of $0.31. Shares climbed 4.1% the next day. Transgenomic reported on March 7 breakeven EPS for the fourth quarter of 2011, compared with a loss of $0.02 a year ago. Shares traded modestly lower. The company projected first-quarter and full-year EPS of $0.08–$0.09 and $0.39–$0.42, respectively.

Conversely, on March 1, Harvard Biosciences reported fourth-quarter 2011 EPS of $0.02 (see page 12), compared with $0.08 a year ago due to higher operating expenses for the Regenerative Medicine Device business. The company projected adjusted full-year 2012 EPS of $0.26–$0.29. Shares traded slightly lower. On March 7, Sequenom also missed analysts’ EPS expectations due to increased expenses. However, the company reported receiving roughly 1,000 samples for MaterniT21 testing since the test’s launch in the fourth quarter of 2011 and projected a minimum billing of 25,000 tests in 2012. Shares soared 16.1% on March 8.

In other financial news, on March 29, Roche increased its bid for Illumina by 15% to $6.7 billion, or $51 a share (see page 2). Illumina climbed 5.1%. On March 6, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of Thermo Fisher Scientific and Waters, each with an “Overweight” rating, and of Illumina and PerkinElmer, each with an “Equal Weight” recommendation. On March 20, Maxim Group initiated PerkinElmer with a “Buy” recommendation. Coverage of Affymetrix was initiated by Morgan Stanley on March 6 with an “Underweight” rating and by Stifel Nicolaus on March 15 with a “Buy” recommendation. Feltl initiated coverage of Accelrys with a “Buy” rating on March 26. Macquarie initiated coverage of Bruker on March 28 with an “Outperform” rating.

Process/Metrology/Motion Instrumentation Stock Index

The Process/Metrology/Motion Instrumentation Stock Index grew 5.0% in March to 576.13. Five companies traded higher, and two declined. FEI led the Index, climbing 10%, while SDIX fell 8%. For the quarter, the Index has gained 17.7%, with all seven companies in positive territory. Veeco Instruments has the highest return, having gained 38%.

SDIX reported on March 22 a fourth-quarter 2011 EPS loss from continuing operations of $0.07 (see page 12), compared with a loss of $0.04 a year ago. Shares fell 12.4% the next day.

JPMorgan Chase initiated coverage of FEI on March 1 with an “Overweight” rating and a $56 price target. Veeco was upgraded by Avian on March 14 to “Neutral” from “Negative” and by Deutsche Bank on March 15 to “Buy” from “Hold.” However, Credit Agricole downgraded the company on March 20 to “Sell” from “Underperform.” On March 23, B. Riley initiated Veeco with a “Buy” rating.

Lab Consumables/Equipment Stock Index

The Laboratory Consumables/Equipment Stock Index declined 0.5% to 644.55 this month. Pall fell 6% this month but still leads all Index companies for the year. Overall, two companies were in negative territory, and five improved, led by Kewaunee Scientific, which gained 5%. Year to date, the Index has grown 13.1%, with all seven companies advancing. Life Technologies boasts the best return, having risen 25%.

On March 7, Pall reaffirmed its midpoint pro-forma EPS estimate of $3.20 for fiscal year 2012. Shares were slightly higher the next day. Enzo Biochem reported on March 12 a fourth-quarter 2011 EPS loss of $0.11 (see page 12), compared with loss of $0.15 a year ago. Shares increased modestly the next day.

In other news, on March 6, Moody’s Investors Service raised its credit rating for Life Technologies to “Baa3” from “Ba1” and improved its outlook for the company to “Positive” from “Stable.” Shares were slightly higher the next day. QIAGEN rose 3.4% on March 15 as the company expects to benefit from new guidelines set forth by the US Preventive Services Task Force, which will recommend HPV testing as part of cervical cancer screening.

Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of Life Technologies on March 6 with an “Equal Weight” recommendation. On March 9, Pall was downgraded by Wedbush from “Outperform” to “Neutral” and by JPMorgan Chase from “Neutral” to “Underweight.”

Diversified Instrumentation Stock Index

The Diversified Instrumentation Stock Index improved 4.0% and 21.2% for the month and year, respectively, to 153.58. All seven Index companies advanced for the month and year, led by Roper Industries, which gained 8% for the month, and Agilent Technologies, which is up 27% for the year. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of Agilent on March 6 with an “Overweight” rating and a $54 price target.

International

For the month and year, all six Pacific Region companies are in positive territory. Precision System Science has the highest monthly return, having increased 12%, and JEOL has gained 26% year to date. Precision System Science reached an agreement with Abbott on March 26 to develop an automated sample preparation instrument, leading shares up 15.4% the next day.

Seven European companies in the IBO stock table improved in March, five declined and one was unchanged. Sartorius had the largest return, advancing 14%, while Tecan fell 10%. For the year, 10 companies have recorded gains, and three have declined. Exiqon has added the most value, having climbed 43%, while Datacolor is down 8%.

Abcam reported on March 5 half-year fiscal 2012 adjusted EPS growth of 18.6% to £0.07 ($0.11) and currency-neutral revenue growth of 13.8% to £44.7 million ($71.0 million). The company also announced a 16.6% dividend increase to £0.02 ($0.03) for the six months. Shares climbed 8.7%. Based on continuing operations, Tecan reported on March 8 an EPS decline of 7.0% for the year to CHF 4.12 ($4.63) due to currency and increased expenditures. Despite restrained EPS growth in 2012 due to higher R&D costs, the company proposed a 25% annual dividend increase to CHF 1.25 ($1.40). Shares fell 11.9%.

 Line Graph: IBO Instrument Industry Stock Index

            Lab Instrument Stock Index      S&P 500

 Mar-10            585.87                   280.38

 Apr-10            596.47                   284.51

 May-10            557.61                   261.19

 Jun-10            531.11                   247.12

 Jul-10            513.20                   264.12

 Aug-10            499.94                   251.58

 Sep-10            556.95                   273.61

 Oct-10            579.40                   283.69

 Nov-10            589.00                   283.04

 Dec-10            565.27                   301.52

 Jan-11            657.02                   308.36

 Feb-11            661.02                   317.14

 Mar-11            661.90                   317.88

 Apr-11            703.32                   326.93

 May-11            721.22                   322.52

 Jun-11            712.55                   316.63

 Jul-11            676.63                   309.83

 Aug-11            635.47                   292.24

 Sep-11            577.75                   271.27

 Oct-11            602.13                   300.49

 Nov-11            569.85                   298.97

 Dec-11            565.27                   301.52

 Jan-12            628.98                   314.66

 Feb-12            634.89                   327.43

 Mar-12            644.38                   337.69

 2011                                         2010

 Cos.            Date Rept.    FQ     Adj. EPS    Consensus      Vs. Est.    Grw.  Adj. EPS

 Laboratory Instrumentation   

 ACCL             6-Mar        4Q       $0.08       $0.07         $0.01       0%     $0.08 

 SQNM             7-Mar        4Q      ($0.22)    ($0.19)        -$0.03     -16%    ($0.19)

 XRIT            13-Mar        4Q       $0.10       $0.08         $0.02     100%     $0.05 

 Process/Metrology/Motion Instrumentation 

 PLL              7-Mar        2Q       $0.76       $0.74         $0.02      12%     $0.68

 Market Value   52 Week     Price      Change   Change        EPS         EPS    LTD/    FY      R&D/

 Company:Exchange    (US $000s)    Low    High  3/30/2012  1 Month    YTD    P/E  12 Month    FY    Equity   ROE    Sales

 Laboratory Instrumentation               

 Accelrys: o           $446,345    5.68   8.45    $7.98      1%      19%    NM   -0.44     -0.44    16%     1%      24%

 Affymetrix: o         $298,426    3.68   8.16    $4.27      2%      4%     NM   -0.40     -0.40    39%     NM      24% 

 Becton,Dickinson&comp:$16,899,280 69.59  89.75   $77.65     2%      4%     14    5.44      5.59    107%    26%     6%     

 Bio-Rad Laboratories:n$2,951,225 84.02  126.98  $103.69     2%      8%     17    6.26      6.26    51%     10%     9%

 Bruker: o             $2,552,177 11.48  21.65   $15.31     -4%      23%    28    0.55      0.55    53%     15%     11%

 Cepheid: o            $2,681,847 28.33  45.00   $41.83      4%      22%   1046   0.04      0.04     2%      1%     21%

 Fluidigm: o           $318,910   11.64 20.20    $15.73      9%      20%    NM    -1.81     -1.81   -1%      NM     33%

 Harvard Bioscience: o $116,393   3.65   6.18    $3.92      -6%      1%     30     0.13     0.13    23%      4%     5%

 Illumina: o           $6,570,358 25.57  79.40   $52.61      3%      73%    85     0.62     0.62    82%      8%     19%

 Luminex: o            $960,923   18.33  24.70   $23.35      4%      10%    69     0.34     0.34    4%       6%     18%

 MOCON: o              $92,048    12.20  20.40   $16.26     -5%      2%     17     0.98     0.98    1%       16%    6%

 Pacific Biosciences: o$187,624   2.25   14.41   $3.42      -18%     22%    NM    -2.03    -2.03    3%       NM     225%

 PerkinElmer: n        $3,117,476 17.45  28.75   $27.66      2%      38%    461    0.06     0.06    76%      0%     6%

 Pressure BioSciences:o$4,629     0.50   1.25    $0.69       7%      15%    NM    -0.77    -0.77    -2%      NM     98%   

 Sequenom: o           $404,253  3.57    8.71    $4.07      -6%      -9%    NM    -0.75    -0.75    17%      NM     96%

 Thermo Fisher Scient.n$21,193,242 43.06  65.86  $56.38      0%      25%    16     3.46     3.46    58%      9%     3%     

 Transgenomic: o       $59,429   0.66    1.85    $1.20       0%      -7%    NM     -0.04    -0.04   56%      NM     7%

 Waters: n             $8,391,846 70.88  100.00  $92.66      3%      25%    20     4.69     4.69    73%      35%    5%

 X-Rite: o             $399,698   3.26    5.08   $4.54       0%      -2%    114    0.04     0.04    58%      19%    10%

 Process/Metrology/Motion Instrumentation            

 FEI Company: o        $2,027,899  26.61  49.75    $49.11    10%     20%    20     2.51     2.51    2%       15%    9%

 MKS Instruments: o    $1,568,191  20.01  34.99    $29.53    -1%     6%     12     2.45     2.45    3%       13%    7%

 MTS Systems: o        $840,521   28.00   54.82    $53.09     8%     30%    16     3.36     3.24    9%       24%    3%

 Nanometrics: o        $427,100   13.49   21.56    $18.51     5%     0%     15     1.22     1.22    8%       14%    10%

 SDIX: o               $38,693    1.51    2.78     $1.87     -8%     2%     NM     -0.01    -0.01   NM        NM    15%

 Veeco Instruments:o$1,108,851  20.35     57.67    $28.60     6%     38%    9      3.11     3.11    1%       17%    10%

 Zygo: o               $354,174   9.40    20.26    $19.57     2%     11%    15     1.28     1.05    2%       15%    10%

 Lab Consumables/Equipment            

 Enzo Biochem: n       $103,877   1.98    4.88     $2.69       4%    20%    NM     -0.39   -0.34   0%       NM      8%

 Kewaunee Scientific:o$22,437   7.90      11.55    $8.70       5%     7%    870     0.01    0.72   29%      6%      NM

 Life Technologies: o  $9,009,438 35.30   56.71    $48.82      3%     25%   25      1.99    1.99   67%      8%      10%

 Pall: n               $7,031,212 39.81   64.55    $59.63     -6%     4%    22      2.73    2.67   57%      21%     3%

 QIAGEN: o             $3,684,936 12.47   22.20    $15.57      2%     13%   39      0.40    0.40   28%      4%      11%

 Sigma-Aldrich: o      $8,913,320 56.18   76.16    $73.06      2%     17%   20      3.72    3.72   25%      21%     3%

 Techne: o             $2,595,663 62.04   86.43    $70.10     -2%     3%    23      3.04    3.02   2%       19%     9%

 Diversified Instrumentation            

 Agilent Technologies:n$15,667,520 28.67  55.33     $44.51     2%     27%   15      2.96    2.85   64%      23%     10%

 AMETEK: n            $7,835,141   30.87  49.71     $48.51     2%     15%   20      2.37    2.37   79%      19%     3%

 Danaher: n           $39,840,360  39.34  56.09     $56.00     6%     19%   18      3.11    3.11   52%      11%     6%

 Illinois Tool Works:n$27,633,159  39.12  59.27     $57.12     3%     22%   14      4.19    4.19   50%      21%     1%

 Mettler-Toledo Int'l:n$5,983,583  126.10 193.56    $184.75    2%     25%   23      8.21    8.21   104%     35%     5%

 Roper Industries: n  $9,783,324   64.90  101.06    $99.16     8%     14%   23      4.34    4.34   49%      13%     4%

 Teledyne Technologies:n$2,351,765 43.82  63.83     $63.05     6%     15%   9       6.84    6.84   52%      15%     5%

 Laboratory Instrumentation Stock Index             644.38   1.5%    14.0%  22                     64%      11%     7%

 Process/Metrology/Motion Instrumentation           576.13   5.0%    17.7%  14                      3%      15%     8%

 Lab Consumables/Equipment Stock Index              644.55  -0.5%    13.1%  23                     47%      12%     7%

 Diversified Instrumentation Stock Index            153.58   4.0%    21.2%  17                     55%      16%     5%

 Dow Jones Industrial Average                     13,212.04  2.0%     8.1%      

 S&P 500                                           1,408.47  3.1%    12.0%      

 NASDAQ Composite                                  3,091.57  4.2%    18.7%      

                                                    Price          

 Region             Market Value  Market  Value    3/30/2012   Change   Change        EPS       EPS    LTD/    FY     R&D/

 Company            (US $000s)     (Local 000s)     (Local)   1 Month    YTD   P/E  12 Month    FY    Equity   ROE   Sales

 Pacific Shares              

 Hitachi High-Tech.:t$3,316,254    ¥272,033,992     ¥1,975     5%       18%    15   ¥130.80    ¥129.07  11%    7%    3%

 HORIBA: t           $1,462,190    ¥119,944,179     ¥2,836     7%       22%    14   ¥204.41    ¥204.41  16%    8%    8%

 JEOL: t             $235,106      ¥19,285,841      ¥243       4%       26%    363  ¥0.67      ¥0.67    100%   0%    6%

 Precision System Science: os $39,383 ¥3,230,604    ¥35,400    12%      22%    NM  -¥3,324     -¥4,018  31%    NM    14%

 Shimadzu: t        $2,693,218     ¥220,925,997     ¥747       5%       15%    22   ¥33.81     ¥36.00   26%    6%    3%

 Techcomp: si       $81,906        SGD 102,873      SGD 0.43    8%       6%     12   $0.04      $0.04     7%    13%   1%

 European Shares             

 Abcam: I           $1,025,187     £640,090         £3.49      3%      -4%     25   £0.14      £0.13     1%    32%   4%

 Halma: l           $2,295,150     £1,433,009       £3.81     -3%      15%     20   £0.19      £0.19     46%   20%   5%

 Oxford Instruments:l$1,074,181   £670,680          £12.15     4%      28%     21   £0.58      £0.64     39%   34%   7%

 Renishaw:l         $1,550,518     £968,088         £13.30    -7%      32%     15   £0.87      £0.91     37%   30%   10%

 Scientific Digital Imaging:$2,702 £1,687           £0.10      0%      -5%     8    £0.01      £0.01     0%    NM    5%

 Spectris: l       $33,573        £2,096,168        £18.03     3%      40%     17   £1.07      £1.07     75%   21%   7%

 Alpha MOS: c      $11,996        € 8,982           € 2.30     -3%      2%     NM  -€ 0.05    -€ 0.14    16%   NM    13%

 Analytik Jena: g  $87,305        € 65,368          € 12.56    13%     17%     NM   € 0.00    -€ 0.03    53%   NM    15%

 Sartorius: g      $1,075,105     € 804,960         € 43.00    14%     42%     18   € 2.44     € 2.44    100%  11%   6%

 Tecan: s          $841,541      CHF 758,937       CHF 66.5   -10%     5%      15  CHF 4.36    CHF 4.36   5%   18%   12%

 Datacolor: s      $60,709       CHF 54,750        CHF 362.0   -2%     -8%     17  CHF 21.48   CHF 21.48  8%   0%    12% 

 Biotage: st       $854          SEK 5,654         SEK 7.1     5%      37%     15  SEK 0.46    SEK 0.46   6%   6%    8%

 Exiqon:  no       $84,095       DKK 468,450       DKK 13.7    4%      43%     NM  -DKK 0.71  -DKK 0.71   2%   NM   21%