Q3 2025 Cytek Biosciences Inc Earnings Call
Speaker #1: Good day everyone , and thank you for standing by . My name is Auggie and I will be your conference operator today . At this time , I would like to welcome everyone to the Cytek Biosciences, Inc. third Quarter 2020 Earnings Conference call .
Speaker #1: All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise . After the speakers remarks , there will be a question and answer session .
Speaker #1: If you would like to ask a question during this time , simply press star , followed by the number one on your telephone keypad .
Speaker #1: If you would like to withdraw your question , press star one again . Thank you . I would now like to turn the call over to Paul Goodson , head of Investor Relations .
Speaker #1: Please go ahead .
Speaker #2: Thank you . Operator . Earlier today , Cytek Biosciences, Inc. released financial results for the third quarter ended September 30th , 2025 . If you haven't received this news release or if you'd like to be added to the company's distribution list , please send an email to investors at biocom .
Speaker #2: A copy of this news release is also available on the Investor Relations section of Citex website at investors Biocom . Joining me today from cytec are Wenbin Jiang CEO and Bill Macom , CFO .
Speaker #2: Please note that we will be referencing a slide presentation during the call today that has been posted to the investor section of our corporate website .
Speaker #2: As a reminder , we will make statements during this call that are forward looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws , including statements regarding Citex business plans , strategies , opportunities and financial projections .
Speaker #2: These statements are based on the company's current expectations and inherently involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to materially differ from those anticipated in these statements .
Speaker #2: Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties appears in our slide presentation in the section entitled Forward looking Statements in this press release . Issued today and in Citex filings with the SEC .
Speaker #2: This call will also include a discussion of certain financial measures that are not calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles . Additional information regarding our use of non-GAAP financial measures , including reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures , may be found in our slide presentation and in today's press release .
Speaker #2: While the company believes these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information for investors , the presentation of this information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information presented in accordance with GAAP , except as required by law .
Speaker #2: Cytec disclaims any duty to update any forward looking statements , whether because of new information , future events or changes in its expectations .
Speaker #2: This conference call contains time sensitive information and is accurate only as of the live broadcast November 5th , 2025 . I want to thank those of you who attended our user group meeting on October 22nd in New York City .
Speaker #2: Our next and last user group meeting for 2025 will be just two days from now . On November 7th in Montreal . Cytec also participates in a variety of industry conferences worldwide , often hosting a booth where attendees can see our products and learn about them from our knowledgeable team members .
Speaker #2: As always , these events are primarily geared to the scientific community , but they may offer an opportunity to investors and analysts to interact with our users of technologies and to learn why Scitex instruments are so highly valued by our customers .
Speaker #2: We have a limited number of spaces to accommodate members of the financial community , so if you are interested in attending any of these events , please contact me in January when we will have a list of 2026 events .
Speaker #2: With that , I will turn the call over to when Ben .
Speaker #3: Thanks , Paul . Welcome everyone and thank you for your interest in Cytec . On today's call , I would like to start with a discussion of our performance in the third quarter .
Speaker #3: Next, I will give you some highlights of our progress during the third quarter on our strategic priorities. Before turning the call over to Bill for a more detailed look at our financials and our outlook.
Speaker #3: Turning to slide three . In the third quarter of 2025 , total revenue reached $52.3 million , representing a year over year increase of 2% compared to the same period in 2020 .
Speaker #3: For this , growth was primarily driven by strong double digit gains in the Asia Pacific region and the continued momentum in our recurring revenue businesses .
Speaker #3: Specifically service and reagents . Turning to slide four . Geographically , APAC , including China , led our performance with robust revenue growth across all categories , including instruments .
Speaker #3: Agents , and service . In the US , we saw double digit positive year over year overall revenue growth , driven by continued momentum in service revenue .
Speaker #3: In contrast , here experienced a double digit year over year revenue decline , largely due to significantly reduced instrument sales to academic and government customers and a modest decline in instrument sales to farmers , biotech and customers .
Speaker #3: In our rest of World Region , which includes Canada and Latin America . We achieved double digit overall revenue growth compared to the third quarter of last year .
Speaker #3: Turning to slide five . Notably , I wanted to call out that excluding the performance in Amir by the double digit revenue growth in all worldwide regions in the third quarter .
Speaker #3: As you can see from this slide , focusing not on instruments , our instrument revenue to farmers and biotech customers grew 12% worldwide , including 10% in the US , driven in part by the launch of our Aurora Evo instrument .
Speaker #3: Instrument revenue in APAC , including China , grew 20% year over year and grew 32% year over year in rest of the world .
Speaker #3: This strong momentum is being driven by a positive funding environment for academic institutions in these regions . In the US . Overall revenue was flat compared to a year ago .
Speaker #3: US revenue was driven by improving demand from pharma, biotech, and CRO customers, which we believe stems from greater clarity around the industrial factors.
Speaker #3: However , these instruments revenue gains were offset by continued softness in the academic and government sectors where funding uncertainty persisted due to the evolving US policy landscape .
Speaker #3: In the quarter , we did begin to see some stabilization in these end market . However , academic and government demand remained under pressure , resulting in no net overall instrument revenue growth in the US .
Speaker #3: In the third quarter . In earlier incident revenue declined , particularly in the academic and government sectors , which we believe reflects a broader shift in public spending priorities .
Speaker #3: Looking at our recruiting sources . Service revenue continued to grow strongly , contributing meaningfully to our overall base of recurring revenue . APAC was particularly strong , broadly , including in service and reagents .
Speaker #3: Service revenue growth was driven by our expanding installed instrument base and strong utilization of our products . Raising revenue grew 21% globally year over year , supported by operational improvements including faster delivery times and enhanced customer service .
Speaker #3: I would now like to update you on the progress our team has made across our core strategic pillars , instruments , applications , bioinformatics and clinical .
Speaker #3: To further solidify scientists position as a market leader in Next-Gen Cell Analysis Solutions . Starting with our core instruments on slide six . In the third quarter , we expanded our global footprint by 161 instruments , bringing insight total installed base to 3456 units within our instrument portfolio .
Speaker #3: Our Aurora sales order was . The strongest contributor in Q3 , growing 35% year over year . We believe this strong growth is notable during a time when competing instruments have been recently introduced to the market .
Speaker #3: Late in second quarter , we introduced the Aurora Evo Analyzer and I'm pleased to report that it has had a strong reception . The Aurora Evo system is a demonstration of scitex commitment to maintain its position at the forefront of technology development in the flow cytometry industry .
Speaker #3: It offers a unique combination of high throughput , industry leading data quality , small particle detection , ease of use and automation , and harmonization features .
Speaker #3: We expect it will be the standard against which other systems are measured. We included these new features after listening to what our customers wanted, and by the strong reception during Q3, it's clear that they are deriving value from the new features we added to create the Aurora Evo.
Speaker #3: Finally , regarding instruments , I want to mention that our new Microanalyzer has gotten a very strong reception since it was first introduced .
Speaker #3: This past March . The micro offers advanced microcapillary fluidics , enhanced optics , better software and broader assay compatibility , all while maintaining affordability and complex design .
Speaker #3: It's an ideal choice for researchers and labs seeking cost effective flow cytometry systems . Turning to our next growth applications , which includes reagents .
Speaker #3: We remain focused on driving our product engine growth . And as part of this commitment , we recently announced the expansion of our European headquarters at our facility in Amsterdam .
Speaker #3: Life Science District . This slide increases our footprint in a by more than 40% , including a dedicated customer service and training center to further advance our reagent business .
Speaker #3: We additionally transitioned the reagent warehouse operations to this site to improve operational agility and efficiencies , reduce turnaround time , and provide reliable and consistent experiences for our customers .
Speaker #3: Over time , we expect our recurring revenue base to continue growing . Moving to bioinformatics . As we have mentioned before , our site across continues to provide important benefits to our users .
Speaker #3: Our software tools empower customers to streamline their experiment workflow , which drives adoption and utilization of our cell analysis solutions and growth in our region and service businesses .
Speaker #3: As of September 30th , 2025 , we had more than 22,600 site cloud users . The presenting remarkable growth of over 40% since the beginning of 2025 .
Speaker #3: This represents an average of almost eight users per install site . FFP instruments . We believe this growth reflects the loyalty our users have to our product portfolio and the halo effect of the site .
Speaker #3: Cloud driving the utilization of our technology platform, including our recurring revenue offerings in reagents and services. As a reminder, our site cloud is transforming how research is designed and conducted in complex cytometry experiments.
Speaker #3: At its core is our proprietary AI powered panel builder , which saves weeks or months of time by automating critical steps like Fluorochrome selection and multiple matching .
Speaker #3: Scientists can then conduct virtual experiments before committing to real lab studies , reducing trial and error and improving data quality . From the start .
Speaker #3: Moving to clinical , we continue to believe the clinical market represents an attractive business opportunity for cytec . In the third quarter , Cytec took center stage to showcase our complete cell analysis solutions at several industry conferences .
Speaker #3: One notable event was the Asco meeting in Montpellier , France , in September . The event featured presentations by independent researchers discussing the importance of special flow cytometry in performing in vitro diagnostic procedures and acknowledging that city's like clsi system is the only special analyzer approved for clinical use in the EU .
Speaker #3: With that , I will now turn the call over to Bill for more details about our financials .
Speaker #4: Thanks , Wendy . Turning to slide seven and our third quarter financial results . Total revenue for Q3 was $52.3 million , a 2% increase versus Q3 of 2020 .
Speaker #4: For this reflects strong growth in service and reagents worldwide in instruments in Asia Pacific and stabilization in US instrument revenues . These were offset by continued weakness in EMEA instrument revenues .
Speaker #4: We saw 14% growth in total revenues from biopharma customers globally versus the year ago quarter , offset by a similar decline in revenues from government and academic customers .
Speaker #4: Product revenue , which is comprised of instruments and reagents , decreased 4% versus Q3 of 2020 . For driven by a 26% decline in EMEA , offset by 19% growth in APAC .
Speaker #4: US product revenue was up 20% versus Q2 , but flat versus Q3 of 2020 . Four , which was the strongest quarter of product revenue in 2024 .
Speaker #4: Our performance in the US was attributable to a 10% increase in instrument revenue from pharma and biotech customers , driven by the launch of our new Aurora Evo instrument and an improved industry environment .
Speaker #4: This was offset by a 13% decline in instrument sales to academic and government customers , as funding pressures continued in EMEA . The decline in product revenue was primarily driven by significant percentage decline in revenue from academic and government customers , which we believe is a result of a shift in government spending priorities and a single digit decline from pharma , biotech and CRO accounts .
Speaker #4: While our reagent revenue is still a single digit percentage of our total revenue , it achieved its highest ever quarterly revenue in Q3 , representing 21% growth over the prior year quarter .
Speaker #4: As Wendy mentioned , this was largely due to a concerted effort by our reagents team to shorten delivery times and to improve customer service .
Speaker #4: Service continued to deliver strong revenue growth , with 19% growth in Q3 versus the prior year quarter . This was driven by growth in the installed base and active usage of our systems .
Speaker #4: Turning to geographic market performance , US revenue grew 12% in Q3 versus prior year , driven by service revenue growth in Mia declined 28% due to lower instrument revenue .
Speaker #4: APAC , including China , increased 25% in Q3 , driven by growth in instruments , service and reagents . GAAP gross profit was $27.6 million , a 5% decrease versus Q3 of 2024 .
Speaker #4: GAAP gross profit margin was 53% versus 56% in the prior year quarter . This was due to both a lower service gross margin resulting from an increase in headcount and travel costs , and a lower product gross margin .
Speaker #4: As a result of lower product revenues , higher materials , and tariff costs , and higher overhead . GAAP gross margin improved sequentially from 52% in Q2 due to higher product gross margins on higher product revenues , and improved overhead absorption .
Speaker #4: Adjusted gross profit margin , which excludes stock based compensation and amortization of acquisition related intangibles , was 55% in Q3 , down from 60% in the prior year quarter and down from 56% in Q2 .
Speaker #4: Operating expenses were $36.7 million in Q3 , up $3.5 million , or 10% , versus Q3 2020 . For this was driven by higher general and administrative expenses , partially offset by lower R&D and sales and marketing expenses .
Speaker #4: Research and development expenses were $9 million , down 9% versus the year ago quarter , primarily due to lower headcount and compensation expenses , partially offset by higher engineering expenses .
Speaker #4: Sales and marketing expenses were $11.7 million , down 6% versus the year ago quarter due to lower headcount and compensation expenses and lower outside services expenses .
Speaker #4: General and administrative expenses were $16.1 million , up 5.2 million , or 47% , from the year ago quarter . The increase was primarily attributable to legal expenses related to a patent litigation case and to a lesser extent , a 0.7 million non-recurring non-cash write off of deferred offering costs for an at the market equity financing facility entered into in 2022 , which expired in the current quarter .
Speaker #4: Loss from operations was 9.2 million for Q3 , versus 4.2 million in the year ago quarter , driven by 1.5 million lower GAAP gross profit and 3.5 million higher operating expenses .
Speaker #4: Net loss was 5.5 million in Q3 versus net income of 0.9 million in the prior year quarter . This was driven by three factors .
Speaker #4: First , higher loss from operations of 5 million . As mentioned above . Secondly , net other income decreased by 3 million to 1.4 million from 4.4 million in the prior year quarter .
Speaker #4: This was primarily driven by 0.9 million of FX losses in the current quarter , versus 1.1 million of FX gains in the prior year quarter , and lower interest income of 0.9 million .
Speaker #4: The higher loss from operations and lower net other income, totaling $8 million, were offset by an increased tax benefit of $2.3 million in the current quarter.
Speaker #4: As a result of a higher effective tax rate versus a tax benefit of 0.8 million in the prior year quarter . Adjusted EBITDA , which excludes stock based compensation , foreign exchange impacts and non-recurring charge of 0.7 million for the right half of deferred offering costs , declined to 2.5 million from 7.6 million in the year ago quarter .
Speaker #4: This was due to lower gross profits of 1.5 million and higher operating expenses of 3.5 million , due to the fact , as I described above , free cash flow was slightly negative at -0.3 million in the quarter .
Speaker #4: Modestly decreasing our total cash and marketable securities to 261.7 million . Lastly , turning to our full year guidance on slide eight . We are reaffirming our full year 2025 revenue outlook for a range of 196 million to 205 million , assuming no change in currency exchange rates .
Speaker #4: This is based on our year to date results . Our pipeline of instrument sale opportunities for Q4 and the good momentum we see in our service and reagent businesses .
Speaker #4: Our performance this quarter showed continued strong growth in instruments in APAC , stabilization in US instruments , and solid growth in our recurring revenue businesses .
Speaker #4: We expect these trends to continue , and our outlook remains consistent with our views in previous quarters that we would see slowly improving trends as the year progresses .
Speaker #4: We have noted this in the US market , whereas in remains challenged . Importantly , we continue to believe our performance in Q3 and in 2025 year to date reflects a strong market leadership position in what has been a difficult environment .
Speaker #4: Our core business is showing positive growth in all regions except EMEA and our recurring revenue continues to grow . Notwithstanding some temporarily elevated operating expenses .
Speaker #4: We delivered positive adjusted EBITDA , which we anticipate will continue in Q4 . We believe we will perform well relative to the overall flow cytometry market , which has also beginning to show signs of stabilization .
Speaker #4: Finally , our strong balance sheet also gives us the ability to continue investing for growth . With that , I will turn it back over to Wenbin Jiang .
Speaker #3: Thanks , Gill . Turning to slide nine , I want to close by first . Banking our site team for their continued commitment to advance our mission amid a challenging and evolving market environment .
Speaker #3: We believe our third quarter results are encouraging and demonstrate our established brand and strong technology and underscore our market leadership position . Our team continues to execute with discipline , expanding our global installed base , growing our recurring revenue streams , and sharpening our focus on profitability and cash generation .
Speaker #3: At the same time , we are committed to making targeted investments that will reinforce our competitive position and accelerate our growth . While we remain mindful of broader market conditions .
Speaker #3: We believe . Fintech is well positioned to deliver long term value through our differentiated technology portfolio . Durable growth drivers , strong balance sheet and global reach .
Speaker #3: I want to thank everyone for joining today's call , and we will now open it up for questions . Operator .
Speaker #1: At this time , I would like to remind everyone , in order to ask a question , press star . Then the number one on your telephone keypad .
Speaker #1: We will pause for just a moment to compile the Q&A roster . Your first question comes from the line of David Westerberg of Piper Sandler .
Speaker #1: Please go ahead .
Speaker #5: Hi . I wanted to actually maybe just start with the product launch the Aurora Evo . Can you talk about the differences in this product versus the other products in the market and how we should think about growth contribution from new products in the in the next couple of years ?
Speaker #5: Thank you .
Speaker #6: I think this new product , basically what we have done is we listened to our customers specifically from pharma , biotech customers and in terms of the features we have included , like higher throughput and small particle detection , automation and harmonization , all of those really suited for those pharma customers .
Speaker #5: Oh got it . Thank you . Just maybe speaking of pharma customers , and actually I was going to say , is there anything to take away from the double digit growth in Cros ?
Speaker #5: Meaning are there are they potentially leading indicators that biopharma might want to own their own instruments . ?
Speaker #2: Well .
Speaker #4: When we when we talk about biopharma and Cros , we're talking about one category . So when when talks about biopharma customers , we're grouping all of those together .
Speaker #4: And as we noted in the in the remarks , our instrument revenue to the to that group grew 12% worldwide and 10% in the US .
Speaker #4: So we've received a very favorable response .
Speaker #5: Yeah , maybe I'll ask another way in the press release . It mentions Cros . I think it said it grew at 14% .
Speaker #5: Now, normally when I think about cross in their usage, yeah.
Speaker #4: No , that it it what it what .
Speaker #7: It what we referred to was the aggregate group of customers which are comprised of pharmaceutical companies , biotech companies and distributors . That's one one group of companies .
Speaker #7: And so .
Speaker #5: That one group .
Speaker #7: Yeah . What the press release said was that total revenues to those that aggregate group rose 14% in the quarter . And what I just mentioned is to that same group , instrument revenue rose 12% .
Speaker #7: And , you know , the big pharma companies are probably the largest component subcomponent of that group . So that's that's the way to think about it .
Speaker #5: Got it . Thank you very much . Now , just maybe on the on the double digit revenue growth in the US , can you remind us of how much of that might be ?
Speaker #5: You know , sorry to say , but you know , easier comps versus just , you know , good execution I mean , are we now , in your opinion , kind of the late innings of or of a maybe , let's early .
Speaker #5: And
Speaker #5: late innings of a of a of stagnation . Thank you . And I'll take it offline from here .
Speaker #7: I think no , it's it's not the , the third quarter of last year was , was pretty strong . So it's a the the performance in the US is a function of strong service and reagent growth .
Speaker #7: And the fact that our instrument in the US were were flat , but you know , as I mentioned in my remarks , that the , the US instruments that Q3 of last year was the highest quarter of 2020 for for us instruments .
Speaker #7: So the benchmark was actually pretty high . And so to be flat against that is quite a good achievement . On the I'm talking about , it's quite a good achievement on the instrument side .
Speaker #7: And then in addition to that we had strong growth in services and reagents . Does that answer your question ?
Speaker #1: Your next question comes from the line of Brendan Smith of TD Cowen . Please go ahead .
Speaker #8: Great . Thanks , guys , for taking the questions . I appreciate all the color . I wanted to ask just a little bit more , actually about the quality of the conversations you're having with customers in recent weeks .
Speaker #8: And if there's any additional color you can maybe provide about their appetite to spend more on some of these instruments next year , as they're starting to put their 2026 budgets .
Speaker #8: And I guess if so , do you have any sense which of your offerings you think they'd maybe reach for first ? Once some of those dollars start to become maybe more readily available into next year ?
Speaker #8: And then I guess just if you have if you're noticing maybe any geographic differences in your answer to that question . Thanks .
Speaker #7: Yeah , I think you know what the trends that we currently see in the business are that . That Asia-pac is strong , is growing strongly in the the Asia-pac instrument business is growing strongly .
Speaker #7: Service momentum continues to be strong , as does reagent . We as we noted , EMEA is continues to be challenged . And the US is following the path that we expected from that we talked about in earlier quarters of gradual improvement .
Speaker #7: As the year progressed and and we've seen that . And so we've we've , you know , we've seen a stabilization in the US in the , in the US instrument business where it's it's been , you know , basically flat versus last year for two quarters in a row .
Speaker #7: Now . And and look we don't you know , we don't have a crystal ball about next year . But based on assuming there are no exogenous shocks , you know , we expect those trends to continue within the US .
Speaker #7: The biopharma sector , as we noted , has been within us instruments . The biopharma sector has been has been strong academic and government has been weak .
Speaker #7: But the two have have have offset each other . So , you know , it's a bit early for us to be talking about 2026 .
Speaker #7: You know , the only comment we would make is , you know , we generally expect the , the , the areas of the business that are growing to continue to grow , you know , absent exogenous factors .
Speaker #7: And I think at some point that , you know , Europe has to hit bottom . It was down quite significantly this year .
Speaker #7: And , you know , you'll see it's down almost 30% this year on an on an aggregate revenue basis . And you know , one would think that that rate of decline has to has to slow .
Speaker #1: Your next question comes from the line of Mason Carrico of Stephens . Please go ahead .
Speaker #9: Hey , this is Harrison on for Mason . Good afternoon and thanks for taking the questions here . Can you walk us through your key assumptions behind the 2025 outlook ?
Speaker #9: Are you assuming the typical for Q step up in instrument placements or something more muted given the given the macro environment ?
Speaker #7: We would . We think that . We don't have any reason not we . Let me let me back up . You know , we typically see a budget flush of from the biopharma customers in Q4 .
Speaker #7: We don't have any reason to doubt that that will or to expect that that will not happen this year . So we would expect some typical seasonal improvement in Q4 .
Speaker #7: Again , I'd go back to what I just said about the outlook that service and reagent momentum is strong . Asia-pac is strong , US is is is stable , and we think EMEA , you know , will continue to be under pressure versus versus last year .
Speaker #9: Understood . And then just wanted to ask on ask a little bit more about the US . How is the US academic and government demand trended since last August .
Speaker #9: And you know are you seeing any signs of stabilization as we head into into next year ?
Speaker #7: You know , it continues to be down versus last year . And , you know , obviously the the funding pressures or the funding reductions are hasn't been much change to that picture .
Speaker #7: But on look , on the flip side , the momentum in biopharma has been quite good , quite strong . As we noted .
Speaker #7: So we don't see the academic and us academic and government . We don't have a reason to expect it will get particularly better or worse .
Speaker #7: We just think it will remain under pressure versus last year's levels.
Speaker #9: Okay . And then I know reagents are growing and you you've cited , you know , over 150 million annual opportunity with less than 10% captured today .
Speaker #9: What specific initiatives are you implementing to increase that capture rate ? And have you begun to see those initiatives bear fruit . ?
Speaker #6: And as you can see , and we have really improved our operational efficiency and our logistics functions and we significantly shorten the delivery time .
Speaker #6: As you know , reagent is a recurring business , and you have to address all of those logistics side of the issues , which is what we have been focusing on doing during the last few quarters .
Speaker #6: And clearly it has benefited . We have benefited from those kind of improvements we have made and recently we also expanded our European facilities in Amsterdam and moved the warehouse , reagent warehouse in-house and clearly , and we continue to see the kind of benefits we have or done so far .
Speaker #6: Yeah .
Speaker #7: We also focused on what we mentioned in the past through our we call our design in activities , where we design a panel for a customer and , you know , use that as a way to , to sell more of our reagents .
Speaker #7: So that's a that's another initiative .
Speaker #6: Cyclecloud is another area we have leveraged to help drive our business .
Speaker #7: And finally , we continue to invest in R&D and bringing in expanding our portfolio of reagents . We do custom reagents for certain customers and we may then move those into the catalog .
Speaker #7: So that that's another way of expanding reagent business . Another initiative . So there multiple things where we're doing on on lots of different fronts .
Speaker #9: Great . Thanks again for taking the questions .
Speaker #1: Again , is a reminder if you would like to ask question , press star one on your telephone keypad . Your next question comes from the line of Andrew Cooper of Raymond James .
Speaker #1: Please go ahead .
Speaker #10: Hey everyone , this is known for Andrew . First question . You know , going off of the other one around the four Q guide and outlook for the year .
Speaker #10: You know , we expected a bit of a step up just seasonally . But , you know , you mentioned some budget flush .
Speaker #10: How reliant is the for Q guide . And the rest of the year on a step up or a budget flush versus pure seasonality .
Speaker #10: So just trying to get a feel for the mix between in terms of the step up .
Speaker #7: When we use those terms , we're basically referring to the same thing . Our our seasonality that we see is caused by customers , you know , spending the , the remaining available budget for .
Speaker #7: Flushing it , if you will , so that that really those two terms refer to the same phenomenon . And as we mentioned , we we don't have see that pretty typically every year we saw that last year .
Speaker #7: And we've seen that in , in regularly in previous years . And we as we say , we don't have any information to suggest that that that , you know , would not occur to some extent .
Speaker #7: This year . And .
Speaker #10: Okay . Oh , yeah .
Speaker #7: So , so the outlook is based on , as we mentioned , obviously our year to date results , the momentum in our recurring revenue businesses .
Speaker #7: So the growth drivers there: the reagent business, we talked about the install base for services. And then we look at our pipeline of opportunities in the instrument business.
Speaker #7: And you know , we factor all those in and and based on that , we we are reiterating our range .
Speaker #10: Okay . Got it . Yeah I just wanted to clarify whether when you meant budget flush that there was a significant improvement in the market .
Speaker #10: But I understand the seasonality . Yeah . No , in terms of just yeah .
Speaker #7: As particularly biopharma companies budget on a calendar year basis . So as they get into Q4 , they have some incentive to spend what the remaining amount that hasn't been spent in order to , you know , to make sure they spend the whole budget .
Speaker #10: And it and maybe lastly , oh . Okay . Yeah . Sorry . Yeah . I was gonna say my last one was just on capital deployment .
Speaker #10: You know , you talked about pretty strong balance sheet and you expect to be cash flow free cash flow positive . So you know , any appetite for more share buybacks .
Speaker #10: Maybe what you're seeing in the acquisition pipeline if there's any interest there .
Speaker #7: Yeah . So with short answer is we aim to our objective is to do both share repurchase and and M&A to to size our share repurchase .
Speaker #7: What we have done in the past is sized our share repurchase to be approximately equal to free cash flow year to date . We've actually spent more than our free cash flow on share repurchase .
Speaker #7: So , you know , as a result of that , we because we were in excess of free cash flow , we we didn't buy any shares in the third quarter .
Speaker #7: But , you know , generally our objective is to to to buy , you know , our approach to , to share repurchase is to be opportunistic and to buy , you know , when we we think it's particularly favorable .
Speaker #7: But , you know , to size those purchases at , you know , somewhere broadly in the range of our free cash flow .
Speaker #7: So we are not making any changes to that general approach . And , you know , we'll we'll execute as we see opportunities going forward .
Speaker #7: And then with respect to M&A , we continue to review , you know , a number of different opportunities . But as you know , M&A opportunities are episodic .
Speaker #7: And you know they they come and go , you know sort of in irregular pattern that we are seeing things . We are reviewing things .
Speaker #7: And and it's our objective to to grow through both organic and inorganic means .
Speaker #10: Awesome . Thank you .
Speaker #1: Is that ends or can a session . And we appreciate your participation ladies and gentlemen . That concludes today's call . Thank you all for joining .