Oxford Nanopore Technologies (LON:ONT) used its FY 2025 results call to outline a leadership transition, review a year of growth and cost control, and provide guidance for 2026 alongside commentary on strategic focus and product portfolio changes.
Leadership transition and company positioning
The company marked the departure of co-founder Gordon Sanghera as chief executive officer after more than two decades leading the business. Board representatives said Sanghera will remain with Oxford Nanopore in an advisory capacity through early 2027 to support a transition. The board also confirmed Francis Van Parys’ first day as CEO, noting he was meeting the Oxford-based team and did not participate in the call.
FY 2025 revenue growth and end-market mix shift
Management reported FY 2025 constant-currency revenue growth of 24.2%, described as marginally ahead of prior guidance of 20% to 23%. CFO Nick Keher said growth exceeded 20% across all regions on a constant-currency basis and included a return to growth across the MinION range, consistent with earlier commentary.
On end markets, Sanghera and Keher emphasized an accelerating shift toward applied segments. Life science research tools represented 66% of revenue and grew 15% in 2025, which the company characterized as an outperformance versus competitors amid a difficult market backdrop. Applied end markets grew faster, led by clinical growth of 59%, with biopharma up 30% and applied industrial up 27%. Management said the applied mix increased to roughly 34% from about 30% year over year, which they said aligned broadly with expectations set at a prior capital markets update.
The company also reiterated elements of its differentiated value proposition, including direct sequencing of native DNA and RNA, real-time data generation, and avoiding batching requirements. Sanghera argued these attributes support faster insights, including in more distributed settings, and management tied them to both ongoing adoption in research and expansion into applied markets.
Margins, restructuring, and progress toward profitability
Oxford Nanopore said reported gross margin for FY 2025 was 58.6%, broadly in line with guidance. Keher described a “see-through” gross margin closer to 61%, and said underlying improvements were driven by the new “CapEx-first” pricing model and yield improvements, particularly on the PromethION flow cell. He added that one-off items related to obsolete inventory (150 basis points) were not expected to repeat.
Keher said gross margin was also affected by FX (70 basis points) and product and customer mix (130 basis points). Within reported gross margin, the company recorded a restructuring-related charge largely tied to the Elise product line of GBP 1.8 million (80 basis points). Keher said absent that charge, reported gross margin would have been 59.4%, and absent the earlier one-off items it would have been 60.9%, which he suggested investors should consider entering 2026.
On operating costs, the company reported adjusted OpEx growth of 1% year over year, which management attributed to “strong cost control” and two restructuring events. The first, in January, was described as enabling capital reallocation to higher-growth opportunities. A second restructuring in November followed a strategic realignment exercise to align the business to priority end markets.
Management said the company improved its adjusted EBITDA loss by GBP 31.2 million, or 26%, in 2025, and stated it has delivered an adjusted EBITDA improvement each half since the beginning of FY 2024. Keher reiterated the company’s medium-term targets of adjusted EBITDA breakeven in 2027 and cash flow breakeven in 2028, noting the company expects to maintain minimum cash of at least GBP 100 million as it passes through breakeven.
Cash, working capital, and business model changes
Oxford Nanopore ended FY 2025 with GBP 302.8 million of cash and no debt. Keher said cash conversion improved as the company refined its business model and focused on working capital, including an inventory reduction that contributed to a working capital inflow of GBP 13.4 million. He said total inventory levels declined by GBP 18 million during the year and suggested further reductions of “tens of millions” could be possible over time.
Keher also discussed “assets at customers,” which were GBP 10.1 million, down GBP 10.5 million from the prior year, attributing the change to adoption of the new pricing model. He noted a second-half increase related primarily to devices for the UK Biobank contract and a small number of evaluation devices.
CapEx and capitalized development costs totaled GBP 45.5 million, including GBP 41.5 million of capitalized development and GBP 4 million of CapEx. Keher said the low CapEx level largely reflected investment timing and completion of major projects, and indicated it was unlikely to be repeated in 2026.
Strategic realignment and product portfolio decisions
Management said a strategic review in 2025 prioritized market segments where Oxford Nanopore has the “clearest right to win” and can scale with discipline. Keher said the company identified roughly $13 billion to $14 billion in higher-priority segments, and categorized segments by differentiation, ease of access, and scalability rather than size alone. He said the prioritization is shaping resource allocation, product roadmap decisions, capital deployment, and organizational focus.
As part of that shift, the company outlined several portfolio actions taken in 2025:
- Discontinued sales of P2 Solo from June and increased internal focus on the P2i.
- Paused further internal development of the Elise platform and discontinued direct commercial efforts on the product.
- Increased focus on integrated systems such as P2i and P24, as well as advancing Q-Line product lines across GridION and PromethION.
- GridION Q-Line version 2 is planned for launch in the second half of 2026.
- PromethION Q-Line timeline was reevaluated, with an updated launch date targeted for late 2027.
During the Q&A, management also discussed product and market segmentation, including the company’s view that not all customers require maximum whole-genome throughput and that deployments will be tailored by application and customer segment.
On proteomics, management said the company can map peptides today and described pure protein sequencing as a “medium term” opportunity (3–5 years). They said peptide mapping could offer revenue opportunities sooner, but added the commercial opportunity is still being defined through an early access program and customer interest, including from biopharma.
2026 guidance: growth above peers, margin expansion, and cost discipline
For FY 2026, Oxford Nanopore guided to constant-currency revenue growth of 21% to 25%. Keher said the range reflects expectations for continued subdued research conditions in the U.S., market dynamics in China, and risk related to discontinuation of the P2 Solo if customer conversion to the P2i takes longer than expected. He said the company sees potential upside if it converts more customers to the P2i.
Regionally, management said growth is expected to be strongest in the Americas, driven by applied markets, noting that over 50% of Americas revenue now comes from applied segments. In EMEA, management pointed to the roll-off of certain large research contracts and timing of new contract ramps. In APAC, management noted headwinds including the end of the Precise2 contract and “specific factors in China,” including export control restrictions and increased local nanopore competitors, while also calling APAC a potential upside “wildcard” depending on conversion and timing.
The company guided to 62% gross margin in 2026, citing continued benefits from the CapEx-first pricing model and improving PromethION flow cell recycling rates. Keher also guided to adjusted OpEx growth of 0% to 5%, reflecting benefits from the November realignment and continued efficiency initiatives. On cadence, Keher said the company expects revenue to be broadly 45/55 weighted between the first and second halves of 2026 and suggested gross margin could be “broadly consistent half on half.”
Management also reiterated that guidance did not incorporate potential impacts from recent events in the Middle East, noting the region represents around 3% of group revenue but also serves as a central point in the global supply chain, making the full impact uncertain at the time of the call.
In closing remarks, Sanghera said he was “excited about Francis coming in and taking the baton,” adding he would not be retiring and would remain involved in an advisory role.
About Oxford Nanopore Technologies (LON:ONT)
Oxford Nanopore Technologies’ goal is to bring the widest benefits to society through enabling the analysis of anything, by anyone, anywhere. The Group has developed a new generation of nanopore-based sensing technology that is currently used for real-time, high-performance, accessible, and scalable analysis of DNA and RNA. The technology is used in more than 125 countries, to understand the biology of humans, plants, animals, bacteria, viruses and environments as well as to understand diseases such as cancer.
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