Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. Q4 FY2025 earnings call

Jason stated Q4 2025 was a breakout quarter for autonomous labs. In 2026, the focus is on investing in the autonomous labs category. They will divest the biosecurity business to focus investment on autonomous labs. Internally, they will demonstrate the capabilities of the large autonomous lab in Boston by decommissioning traditional lab setups and moving work to the autonomous lab. They aim to book sales of autonomous labs, including to national labs and biopharma. The biosecurity business helped open 5000 schools nationwide and monitors at airports. At the SLAS conference, they hosted tours of Nebula lab, worked with OpenAI on an AI scientist project, and announced a deal with the DOE for an autonomous lab

Cell engineering revenue in Q4 2025 was $26 million, down 26% year-over-year; for the full year 2025, cell engineering revenue was $133 million compared to $174 million in 2024. The biosecurity business generated $7 million in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2025 and $37 million for the full year 2025. Cell engineering R&D expense decreased 44% from $50 million in the fourth quarter of 2024 to $28 million in the fourth quarter of 2025, and 42% from $272 million in 2024 to $159 million in 2025. Cell engineering G&A expense decreased 40% from $20 million in the fourth quarter of 2024 to $12 million in the fourth quarter of 2025, and 51% from $115 million in 2024 to $56 million in 2025. Cell engineering segment operating loss was $17 million in the fourth quarter of 2025 compared to a loss of $38 million in the 2024 period, and $96 million for the full year 2025 compared to a loss of $219 million in 2024. The biosecurity segment operating loss improved 60% in the fourth quarter of 2025 compared to the 2024 period and 38% for the full year 2025 compared to 2024. Total adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter of 2025 was negative $36 million, down from negative $57 million in the fourth quarter of 2024; total adjusted EBITDA for the full year 2025 was negative $167 million, down from negative $293 million in 2024. Cash burn in the fourth quarter of 2025 was $47 million, down 15% from $55 million in the fourth quarter of 2024; cash burn for the full year 2025 was $171 million, down 55% from $383 million in 2024

For 2026, the focus is on being cost efficient while investing in AI robotics and software for autonomous labs. They will close the transaction for the biosecurity business. They will not provide revenue guidance but will guide on cash burn, with an expected range of $125 to $150 million for 2026 cash burn

Q: With the planned expansion of RAC's capacity from roughly 50 to 100 units at the Boston facility, could you help us understand how this increased capacity is expected to translate into 2026 revenue? Specifically, what portion of that contribution do you anticipate will be recurring in nature?

A: The rack expansion is to move lab work onto the Nebula system. Services include data point, cloud lab, and solution service. Solutions deals are multi-year, data point is becoming more repeatable, cloud lab is new. Selling systems has initial CapEx but ongoing service and software license fees.

Q: How should we think about U.S. onshoring of manufacturing as potential tailwind to RAC's revenue growth? And what do you think Ginkgo will need to do to maximize its share of this trend over the next couple of years?

A: There is interest in manufacturing QC, and the systems can integrate lab benchtop equipment in manufacturing plants. Ginkgo needs to plan to invest in larger partners for scaling up production.

Q: How is Ginkgo's data points offering being received among customers? Are there any material tailwinds that you expect for this part of the business over the next 12 months?

A: Well received, providing big data sets for pharma ML teams. There is tailwind as bio AI models require proprietary data.

Q: The question is about basically not just the utilization of RACs, but the manufacturing and deployment of RACs. Similar to how Tesla used the GigaPress to dramatically improve manufacturing efficiency, is Ginkgo exploring any specific strategies, technologies, or methods to significantly enhance the production efficiency and scalability of RACs?

A: They made design changes for manufacturability, do final assembly in partners and Emeryville, and plan to invest in larger partners for scaling