Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc.

Please stand by. Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Bio-Rad fourth quarter and full year 2025 results conference call. At this time, I would like to hand things over to Mr. Edward Chung. Please go ahead, sir.

Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us. Today, we will review the fourth quarter and full year 2025 financial results and provide an update on key business trends for Bio-Rad. With me on the call today are Norman Schwartz, our Chief Executive Officer, John DiVincenzo, President and Chief Operating Officer, and Rup Lakharaju, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin our review, I would like to remind everyone that we will be making forward-looking statements about management's goals, plans and expectations, our future financial performance, and other matters. These statements are based on assumptions and expectations of future events that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Our actual results may differ materially from these plans, goals, and expectations. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, and I encourage you to review our filings for the SEC, where we discuss in detail the risk factors in our business. The company does not intend to update any forward-looking statements made during the call today. Finally, our remarks today will include references to non-GAAP financials, including net income and diluted earnings per share, which are financial measures that are not defined under generally accepted accounting principles. In addition to excluding certain atypical and non-recurring items, our non-GAAP financial measures exclude changes in the equity value of our stake in Sartorius AG in order to provide investors with a better understanding of BARAD's underlying operational performance. Investors should review the reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to the comparable GAAP results contained in our earnings release. We have also posted a supplemental earnings presentation in the investor relations section of our website for your reference. With that, I will now turn the call over to our Chief Operating Officer, John DiVincenzo.

Thanks, Ed. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. In 2025, we delivered results within our revised guidance for both revenue and operating margin. However, gross margin did not meet our expectations, or frankly, what Bio-Rad is capable of delivering. Throughout 2025, we made tangible progress in lowering our cost base through restructuring and tighter expense discipline while navigating global trade uncertainty and tariff headwinds. In the fourth quarter, gross margin was pressured by higher than anticipated supply chain costs. These pressures are execution related rather than structural. We have initiated actions to strengthen operational rigor, improve forecasting and planning, and drive greater consistency across manufacturing, procurement, and logistics. Turning to our segments, diagnostics returned to growth in the quarter. Performance was driven by successful fulfillment of large customer orders in our quality control portfolio that were planned for the fourth quarter, as well as the annualization of the diabetes testing reimbursement change in China. While we're not currently seeing portfolio-specific reimbursement or VBP headwinds in China, we remain appropriately cautious and continue to closely monitor policy developments. In life science, we are particularly encouraged by the traction from our execution on the still acquisition and the launch of the QX700 droplet digital PCR family of products. Customer response has been strong, and we saw a meaningful acceleration in QX700 instrument sales during the fourth quarter. We're entering 2026 with an expanding order funnel for our DD-PCR instruments, despite overall softness in our end markets. Importantly, adoption has been driven by both QPCR conversions and competitive wins. These data points reinforce our belief that QX700 is enabling Bio-Rad to expand its market and gain share in the entry-level digital PCR segment. More broadly, The early success of QX700 strengthens our conviction that digital PCR will remain a core growth pillar for Bio-Rad over the long term. With the broadest digital PCR instrument portfolio, the most comprehensive assay menu, and more than 12,000 peer-reviewed publications, we believe Bio-Rad is well positioned to sustain leadership in this market. Turning to our end markets. Cautious spending persisted throughout the fourth quarter continues to weigh on instrument demand in academia and government. While the recent passage of the NIH budget may support improved sentiment over time, we believe academic institutions remain focused on maintaining staffing levels and sustaining ongoing research rather than purchasing capital equipment. Within biopharma, funding conditions improved during the second half of 2025, though funding is skewed towards later stage biotech companies. We are anticipating a modest recovery of our core life science portfolio from the biopharma end market in 2026. Our process chromatography business delivered over 20% growth in 2025. Our current niche position in the polishing step of bioprocessing contributes to revenue concentration from a select number of commercial therapeutics and vaccines. This can show up as lumpiness from quarter to quarter. As our portfolio broadens over time, expect to see less volatility, more comparable to the broader bioprocessing peer group. BioRab remains focused on discipline innovation. It is core to our long-term growth strategy. In 2026, we plan to advance several product launches, including an IVD version of the QX600, additional high-value DDP-CR assays across oncology, and incorporate artificial intelligence into our future platforms. Our sharpened focus on R&D accelerates the innovation engine for Bio-Rad, prioritizing areas that reinforce our high-value segments and support our portfolio optimization. In closing, we are executing actions to improve operational performance, expand margins, and focus investments in our most attractive growth platforms. We are confident these actions will translate into improved financial results over time. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Rup, who will take you through our financial results in more detail.

Thank you, John, and good afternoon. I'd like to start with a review of the fourth quarter and full year 2025 results. Net sales for the fourth quarter of 2025 were approximately $693 million, which represents a 3.9% increase on a reported basis versus $668 million in Q4 of 24, On a currency neutral basis, this represents a 1.7% year-over-year increase and was driven by our clinical diagnostic segment. Sales of the life science segment in the fourth quarter of 25 were $268 million compared to $275 million in Q4 of 2024, a 2.6% decrease on a reported basis and a 4% decrease on a currency neutral basis, driven by the constrained academic research and biotech funding environment. Currency-neutral sales decreased in the Americas, partially offset by increased sales in EMEA and Asia Pacific. Our DDPCR portfolio posted mid-single-digit year-over-year growth in Q4, driven by the success of our QX700 platform, which met our revenue expectations. The still acquisition will be accretive by mid-2026, six to 12 months earlier than our initial view. Our process chromatography business, as expected, experienced quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year declines due to the timing of customers' orders. Excluding process chromatography sales, core life science segment revenue increased 0.7% year-over-year and decreased 0.7% on a currency-neutral basis. While overall core life science consumables revenue grew mid-single-digit in Q4, we note that consumables in the Americas were flat year-over-year, reflecting the protracted U.S. government shutdown. Sales of the clinical diagnostic segment in the fourth quarter of 2025 were approximately 425 million compared to 393 million in Q4 of 24, an increase of 8.4% on a reported basis and 5.6% on a currency neutral basis. The increase was primarily driven by higher sales of quality control and blood typing products. On a geographic basis, currency neutral sales increased in all three regions. Q4 reported GAAP gross margin was 49.8% as compared to 51.2% in the fourth quarter of 2024. On a non-GAAP basis, fourth quarter gross margin was 52.5% versus 53.9% in the year-ago period. Note that the Q4 2025 non-GAAP gross margin excluded $13 million in one-time inventory and other write-offs associated with product portfolio rationalization on top of restructuring and amortization of purchased intangible charges. Specifically, due to the extended US government shutdown, which shifted sales to later in the quarter, we effectively had to do 90 days of work in 30 days to support our customers. As a result, we incurred higher expenses for expedited freight and service costs, including overtime, resulting from compressed timelines for instrument delivery and installation. Moreover, we saw slower than expected progress on our procurement initiatives that were backloaded in our forecast. SG&A expense for the fourth quarter of 2025 was $221 million or 31.9% of sales compared to $204 million or 30.6% in Q4 of 2024. Fourth quarter non-GAAP SG&A spend was $215 million versus $200 million in the year ago period. The year-over-year increase in SG&A expense was primarily due to higher employee-related costs. Research and development expense in the fourth quarter of 2025 was $70 million, or 10.1% of sales, compared to $80 million, or 11.9% of sales, in Q4 of 24. Fourth quarter non-GAAP R&D spend was $66 million versus $68 million in the year-ago period. Q4 operating loss was approximately $119 million compared to operating income of approximately $58 million in Q4 of 24. In Q4 of 25, our GAAP operating loss included, in aggregate, $173 million of impairment charges for purchased intangibles and other items. These charges resulted from our decision to discontinue and reprioritize certain R&D programs as part of our ongoing portfolio rationalization. On a non-GAAP basis, fourth quarter operating margin was 12% compared to 13.8% in Q4 of 24, reflecting the impact from the lower gross margin. The change in fair market value of equity security holdings and loan receivable, primarily related to the ownership of Sartorius AG shares, contributed $800 million to our reported net income of $720 million, or $26.65 per diluted share. Non-GAAP net income, which excludes the impact of the change in equity value of the Sartoria shares, was $68 million or $2.51 diluted earnings per share for the fourth quarter of 25 versus $81 million or $2.90 diluted earnings per share for Q4 2024. Now for the full year results. Net sales for the full year of 2025 were $2,583,000,000, which represents a 0.7% increase on a reported basis versus $2,567,000,000 in 2024. On a currency neutral basis, sales were essentially flat compared to the same period in 2024. Sales of the life science segment for 2025 were approximately $1,021,000,000 compared to $1,028,000,000 in 2024. which is a decline of 0.7% on a reported basis and 1.3% on a currency neutral basis. Currency neutral sales decreased in the Americas, partially offset by increased sales in EMEA and Asia Pacific. Sales of the clinical diagnostic segment for 2025 were $1,562,000,000 compared to $1,538,000,000 in 2024 which represents a 1.6% increase on a reported basis and 0.8% growth on a currency neutral basis. Growth of clinical diagnostics was primarily driven by higher quality control and blood typing product sales, partially offset by lower reimbursement rates for diabetes testing in China. On a geographic basis, currency neutral sales increased in the Americas and EMEA, partially offset by decreased sales in Asia Pacific. Overall, full-year non-GAAP gross margin was 53.3% compared to 55% in 2024. Year-over-year margin decline was driven mainly by reduced fixed manufacturing absorption and higher material costs. Full-year non-GAAP SG&A expense was $809 million or 31.5% of sales compared to $799 million or 31.1% in 2024. The increase in dollars of SG&A expense is primarily due to higher employee-related costs. Full-year non-GAAP R&D was $257 million, or 9.9% of sales, versus $282 million, or 11% in 2024. The lower year-over-year R&D was primarily due to in-process R&D charges associated with an acquisition in 2024, which resulted in a $30 million IP R&D expense in 2024 and an $8 million charge in 2025. Full year non-GAAP operating margin was 12.1% compared to 12.9% in 24, which primarily reflects the impact of the gross margin headwinds. Non-GAAP net income was $271 million for $9.92 diluted earnings per share for full year 25 versus $291 million or $10.31 diluted earnings per share for 2024. Moving on to the balance sheet, Total cash and short-term investments at the end of Q4-25 were $1,541,000,000 compared to $1,665,000,000 at the end of 2024. Inventory at the end of Q4 was $741,000,000, down from $760,000,000 at the end of 2024. Moving on to cash flow, for the fourth quarter of 2025, net cash generated from operating activities was $165,000,000 compared to $124,000,000 for Q4-24, For the full year of 25, net cash generated from operations improved to $532 million versus $455 million in 2024 and was driven by the focused efforts in improving working capital efficiency. Net capital expenditures for the fourth quarter of 25 were approximately $46 million, and full-year net capital expenditures were $158 million. Depreciation and amortization for the fourth quarter was $36 million and $141 million for the full year. Free cash flow for the fourth quarter was $119 million, which compares to $81 million in Q4 of 24. For the full year of 25, free cash flow improved to approximately $375 million versus $290 million for 24 and represents a free cash flow to non-GAAP and income conversion ratio of 138% for 2025. During 2025, we retired 1.2 million shares for our buyback program at a total cost of approximately $296 billion, We did not repurchase any shares during the fourth quarter. Since Q1 2024, we have spent $494 million to repurchase 1.9 million shares at an average price per share of approximately $261, which represents a 6.6% reduction in our share count. Moving on to our non-GAAP guidance for 26. We are guiding currency neutral revenue growth for the full year to be between 0.5% and 1.5%. Q1 is expected to be down low single digit on a year-over-year basis and then sequentially improving each quarter. The life science segment year-over-year currency neutral revenue growth is expected to be between 0 and 0.5%. We are anticipating growth of nearly 4% for our core life science business, excluding process chromatography, with the DDPCR business expected to grow mid-single digit. Process chromatography is projected to decline approximately mid-teens and reflects recent changes to government regulations on certain therapeutics usage and vaccines, as well as our customers' improved production efficiencies. Long-term, we expect process chromatography to be a mid-single-digit growth area for us. For the diagnostic segment, we estimate currency-neutral revenue growth to be between 1 and 2%. We project mid-single-digit growth for a quality controls business, while the remaining diagnostics portfolio X quality controls is expected to be in the low single-digit growth range. Full-year non-GAAP gross margin is projected to be between 54% and 54.5%. On a quarterly basis, we expect Q1 2026's gross margin to step up a net 100 basis points from Q4 of 2025. as the elevated freight and service costs from Q4 do not recur, partially offset by the impact of lower revenues in the first quarter. Subsequent to Q1, we are targeting sequential improvement that reflects expected productivity and efficiency benefits from our operational initiatives. Full-year non-GAAP operating margin is projected to be between 12 and 12.5 percent. This reflects the improvements to gross margin partially offset by approximately a 50 basis point impact from the reduced process chromatography sales. Our 2025 restructuring was effectively completed and the savings are reflected in our 2026 outlook. We estimate the non-GAAP full-year tax rate to be approximately 23%. We anticipate full-year free cash flow approximately $375 million to $395 million for 2026. Regarding share repurchases, we will continue to be opportunistic and have approximately $285 million available for additional buybacks under the current board authorized program. Finally, we are deferring our investor day to a later time. We continue to make progress on our business transformation, including an assessment of our product portfolios to reinvigorate our top line growth rate and to define and improve cost structure. But more remains to be done. With that, I'll turn the call over to Norman.

Okay. Thanks, Rup. So I just thought I'd take a few minutes to close today's call with a few thoughts. Maybe to start out, you know, I think as we enter 2026, you know, we are seeing early signs of stabilization across several of our core markets with NIH and related funding set. and steady improvements in biopharma funding. Also on the diagnostic side, there's a return to growth, and in particular, we are seeing stronger demand for our quality control reagents. So if we take all that together, I think we believe these early trends set an encouraging tone for 2026. We do remain highly focused on driving long-term value and are already seeing the impact of an intentional performance-related approach. Kind of against the dynamic backdrop of last year, Bio-Rad delivered results that reflect both the challenges of the environment, but also I think the resilience of our business. The team, I think, successfully mitigated much of the impact on our supply chain from what we saw as shifting trade policies and tariffs. And we delivered, as a result, really strong free cash flow of $375 million for the year, as Ruth mentioned. So kind of building on our strong foundation, You know, we're continuing to invest in innovation across our portfolio. You know, not only DDPCR and quality controls, but other products areas, all in an effort to maximize overall growth opportunities. And I would say supported by a strong balance sheet. You know, we're also looking for additional assets to help accelerate the top line and certainly margin expansion. uh just as uh you know one example i think our research success with the uh with the still acquisition this concept of measured scale it's an example of our renewed focus here overall i guess top of mind is is driving continuous revenue growth and margin expansion through improved sustainable operating performance and cost structure management. I think by committing to these kind of strategic priorities, Bio-Rad can and will achieve enduring success, deliver value to stakeholders, and maintain a strong competitive position in the marketplace. I think you should see continued actions from this team around the operational rigor, simplification, and prioritization that we've initiated. We are moving quickly, but I would say we're also moving thoughtfully to ensure that these changes at the end of the day are durable. So that concludes our prepared remarks. Operator, we're now open to take questions.

Thank you, sir. And everyone, if you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. Once again, if you have a question that is star one, we'll go first to Jack Meehan from Nefron.

Thank you. And good afternoon, everyone. I wanted to start by asking about the DVPCR business. So if my math is right, always got to be careful with that. But it looks like this was the strongest quarterly growth and

least a couple years so i was wondering if you could unpack the still a contribution versus the legacy portfolio and why is mid single digits kind of the right race continue in the next year yeah hey jack it's john um appreciate the call you know first of all we have a large install base which means the ongoing reagents sa business is the largest part of our portfolio so we certainly saw very strong uh success in the sales of QX 700 platform right on target where we're hoping for in the fourth quarter and planning for. It was also indicative of the fact that we're able to convert some QPCR applications to DBPCR and continue to move along kind of our legacy QX 200 and 600. It was dominated by the QX 700. There are three instruments in that platform. We had We moved kind of what we were historically seeing revenues about 80-something percent coming from assays and 20 percent from instruments during the last kind of soft quarters to last year. It actually moved up to about, I guess, two-thirds assays and about a third coming from instruments, so I can kind of show you the growth there. And because of that large database, it's exactly why we're guiding towards mid-single-digit, because we think that overall the consumables will continue to march along at kind of maybe mid-single-digit growth, which dominates the overall growth of that platform, with some optimism that maybe we can move up those numbers as the year progresses and as the kind of marketplace stabilizes.

Got it. That makes sense. And then, John, on Process Chrome, I forget if it was John or Rick, You mentioned there were some recent changes in terms of guidelines around vaccine and production efficiencies embedded in the process program forecast. Could you just elaborate on what that is and the impact?

Yeah, I mean, we can't share, obviously, the customer that we're supporting, but there's a family of vaccines which the expectation of who was going to be vaccinated by certain geographies has changed and And as our customers demand change, they also obviously demand the manufacturing strategy that they have has changed as well. So we were notified towards the very end of last year as we were getting ready for a 2026 plan that they were changing some of their strategies due to that shortfall in demand. And that's what the impact is in our business.

Okay. And then maybe the last one for I was trying to do like a bridge from 2025 to 2026 on margins. So you ended the year at 12.1%. You have the in-process R&D should go away. That was 30 bps. I think you called out the fourth quarter GM issue. I was thinking that could be like 40 bps for the full year. So it just feels like the EBIT range you provided of 12 to 12.5% seems pretty conservative. Maybe there's some headwinds from process from in there, but what else am I missing? Can you just help us with that?

Yeah, Jack, I think you netted it out pretty well. I think we're trying to be very realistic. The process chrome impact is 50 basis points to the op margin. And so, as we said that some of the Q4 costs that we incurred, we don't expect to recur. And we are seeing improved operational improvements as we go through. There's some mixed improvements, but that process chrome is 50 basis points, which is a headwind that, you know, breaks it down just a bit in terms of that range. But with that said, as we talked about and John mentioned, as we think about the DDPCR platforms, especially the QX700, opportunities for further growth there, that gives us, you know, possible margin enhancement because those are strong margin products.

Okay.

Thank you, guys. Thanks, Jack.

Operator, are you still there?

Sorry. Sorry, operator. We couldn't hear you clearly.

Hello.

Your next question comes from the line of Dan Leonard with UBS. Please go ahead.

Thank you very much. I wanted to circle back on the process chromatography comments. I appreciate that there are near-term issues there, but that long-term forecast of mid-single-digit growth, what would drive that view? Is there a mixed issue there, or why wouldn't you otherwise think that that product line for you could be faster-growing long-term?

Yeah, Dan, hey, appreciate the question. And I think there's a couple of different things here. One, with the changing conditions that we saw occur late in the fourth quarter from government regulations and some of the efficiencies that our customers are driving, I think, one, we're trying to be conservative about it. The second part of it, and we've talked about this before, when we look at the growth in our customers in the clinical phases, We do have strength there, and it's a growing pipeline of potential customers that can move to that commercial range. And so we kind of are looking at it with all of these conditions concurrently operating, if you will, and trying to set it towards a mid-single-digit longer term. I think there is the potential, depending upon how some of these customers move through clinical to commercial, that it could be a higher growth rate. But at this time, I think as we think about all the different moving pieces, we were trying to be set at reasonable growth rate there.

Understood. But, Rup, is it fair to assume that maybe your portfolio in aggregate is over-indexed to vaccines compared to the average of the bioprocess industry, and that's part of the pressure here in the midterm framing?

I think that's fair to say, although the projects which are still in clinical trials, I think, has a normal balance. But our commercial product, yeah, I think that's a Fair statement, Dan.

Okay. And then just a quick follow-up. Is it possible to frame when thinking about the outlook, growth outlook here, you know, what's the organic forecast in comparison to what the acquisition contribution would be before SILA is annualized at mid-year?

Yeah. I mean, if you think about, you know, as we said in the fourth quarter, you know, STILA would be mid-single-digit millions of revenue in the fourth quarter, and that was achieved. And outside of that, we had some negative growth rate in some of the other platforms. So when you think about ex-STILA overall, you're looking at just slightly under 1% negative on LSG, but that's driven by the process chromatography impact to that, if you will.

Okay, thank you very much. Thanks, Ben.

Your next question comes from the line of Tycho Peterson with Jefferies. Please go ahead.

Hey, thanks. I wanted to touch on clinical diagnostics. You know, guide of 1% to 2%, this was a 2% to 3% growth business pre-COVID. I'm just curious why, you know, it's not doing better, you know, especially as China headwinds are abating potentially. So maybe just talk a little bit about, you know, why the growth is, you know, muted relative to where you were, you know, pre-COVID.

Hi, Tycho. Thanks. This is John. Yeah, I think it's a mix of the portfolio overall. We see, you know, leading the way with our quality controls, largest part of our diagnostic business doing well. Others, you know, we have some platforms where the markets aren't as strong overall, and some of that relies on China. So I think it's a mix of our product mix and geographies.

Okay. I'm going to ask the process Chrome question a third way, because it is a big swing. And I think we're all going to get a lot of questions on this tomorrow, but you know, the kind of the guide for this year, obviously assumes no, no recovery, no, you know, recapture that business. But when you talk about mid single digit, longer term, how do we think about when you could get back there? Is that a 27 story or further out?

I think it's a possibility to get back to low single-digit growth rate in 27, and then it's maybe a year or two out from there, Tycho, to get towards that mid. But with that said, I mean, it could accelerate faster depending upon how folks are moving through the clinical phases and how that might evolve, right? So there's a number of moving pieces there, but 27 is probably low single, if we were to think about it that way, flat to low single. I think what we seek is beyond that to try and drive back towards that mid-single digits.

Okay. And then last one, how should we interpret the lack of a buyback this quarter? I know you did $300 million almost for the year, but you do have $1.5 billion of cash in balance sheet. Are you signaling anything here? I mean, you have talked about potentially doing M&A, so I'm just curious if there's anything to read there.

No, I don't think there's anything to read. I think we try and look at things opportunistically, Tycho. We are actively looking at assets, as Norman said, and we've said previously. But I wouldn't have that be a leading indicator of any particular thing happening.

Okay. Thank you.

Thanks, Tycho.

And that concludes our question and answer session. And that also concludes our call today. Thank you all for joining, and you may now disconnect.