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Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc.: Q4 FY2025 earnings call

What management said about Q4 FY2025, from the documents filed with the SEC on 26 February 2026: press release. Guidance figures: 1 new. The quarter’s numbers.

Key takeaways

  • Full-year revenue down 25%: Full-year 2025 total revenue was $170 million, against $227 million in 2024, a decrease of 25%. Source
  • Full-year Adjusted EBITDA improved: Full-year Adjusted EBITDA was $(167) million, against $(293) million in the prior year. Source
  • Cash and securities $423 million: Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities were $423 million at December 31, 2025, made up of $167 million in cash and $255 million in marketable securities. Source
  • 2026 is an investment year: Management said 2026 is a year of investment in the autonomous lab, which it described as the common platform for biotechnology research. Source
  • Biosecurity business sale agreed: Ginkgo agreed to sell its biosecurity business to a consortium of investors in exchange for a minority equity position alongside them. Source
  • PNNL contract for 97-instrument lab: Ginkgo said it dedicated an 18-instrument autonomous anaerobic system at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and won a $47M contract for a 97-instrument autonomous lab. Source
  • OpenAI study on experiment design: Results were released from a collaboration in which GPT-5 designed experiments run on Ginkgo's cloud lab, achieving a 40% improvement over the state of the art in Cell-Free Protein Synthesis. Source

“This year, we are going to focus on investing to win in the category of autonomous labs,”

Jason Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Ginkgo Bioworks

Guidance

AreaPeriodFigureAgainst last quarter
Total cash burn Sourcefull year 2026$(150)-$(125) millionNew
Autonomous lab RACs, Boston frontier lab Sourceby the end of the yearover 50 RACs now, with 50 more expected

What changed from last quarter

  • New guidance: A 2026 total cash burn range of $(150) million to $(125) million was given. The November 2025 release had no cash burn range. Source
  • New: Agreed to sell the biosecurity business to a consortium of investors in exchange for a minority equity position; the business becomes a standalone private entity. Source
  • New: Plan to decommission most lab benches, walk-up automation and workcells, and to move three R&D services businesses onto one large autonomous lab. No date was given. Source
  • New: Won a $47M contract for a 97-instrument autonomous lab at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, after dedicating an 18-instrument system there. Source

Results and growth drivers

  • Full-year revenue down 25%: Full-year 2025 total revenue was $170 million, against $227 million in 2024, a decrease of 25%. Source
  • Fourth-quarter revenue down 24%: Fourth-quarter total revenue was $33 million against $44 million, with Cell Engineering at $26 million and Biosecurity at $7 million. Source
  • Full-year Adjusted EBITDA improved: Full-year Adjusted EBITDA was $(167) million, against $(293) million in the prior year. Source
  • Net loss narrowed: Full-year GAAP net loss was $313 million against $547 million. Net loss per share was $(5.64) against $(10.54). Source

Segments and revenue

  • Cell Engineering revenue down 24%: Full-year Cell Engineering revenue was $133 million, down from $174 million. Excluding non-cash deferred revenue releases, it was $125 million against $129 million, down 3%. Source
  • Biosecurity revenue down 30%: Full-year Biosecurity revenue was $37 million, down from $53 million, with a full-year Biosecurity gross profit margin of 23%. Source
  • Segment operating losses narrowed: Cell Engineering operating loss was $95.5 million against $218.6 million. Biosecurity operating loss was $18.9 million against $30.6 million. Source

“There is rising interest in defense tech in private capital markets and spinning off our biosecurity business into a private entity with new investors allows it to grow faster with more investment than it would inside Ginkgo.”

Jason Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Ginkgo Bioworks

Products and customers

  • Revenue decline tied to customer mix: Management attributed the full-year revenue decline to a shift from early-stage customers to large and enterprise customers, along with commercial changes tied to the restructuring. Source
  • Datapoints worked with ten top pharma customers: Datapoints, described as defining the Bio-AI Data Provider category, worked with 10 top pharma customers in its first full year. Source
  • Autonomous labs sold two ways: Autonomous lab offerings go to market through cloud lab services and through systems built for customers. After a pilot, customized systems are installed at customer sites. Source

Costs, margins and restructuring

  • Operating expenses declined year on year: Total operating expenses were $485 million against $787 million. Research and development was $244 million, and general and administrative was $183 million. Source
  • Restructuring charges declined: Restructuring charges were $11.4 million against $24.2 million. They cover employee termination costs from the reduction in force begun in June 2024 and a right-of-use asset impairment. Source
  • Excess space carrying cost rose: Carrying cost of excess space, net of sublease income, was $53.7 million against $26.0 million, for facilities the company is not occupying. Source

“our work with the Department of Energy and OpenAI this year shows that Ginkgo is in the best position to bring robotics to an extraordinarily high value area: laboratory research.”

Jason Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Ginkgo Bioworks

Cash, capital and balance sheet

  • Cash and securities $423 million: Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities were $423 million at December 31, 2025, made up of $167 million in cash and $255 million in marketable securities. Source
  • Operating cash outflow narrowed: Net cash used in operating activities was $171 million against $320 million. Purchases of property and equipment were $8 million against $63 million. Source
  • ATM offering proceeds of $19.5 million: Proceeds from the ATM offering were $19.5 million, with $1.3 million of issuance costs paid. Source
  • Debt securities purchased and matured: Purchases of marketable debt securities were $419 million in 2025, and maturities were $159 million. Source

Strategy and Biosecurity sale

  • 2026 is an investment year: Management said 2026 is a year of investment in the autonomous lab, which it described as the common platform for biotechnology research. Source
  • Biosecurity business sale agreed: Ginkgo agreed to sell its biosecurity business to a consortium of investors in exchange for a minority equity position alongside them. Source
  • Sale rationale tied to autonomous labs: Kelly said the separation lets the biosecurity business raise outside capital for faster growth, and focuses Ginkgo's cash investment on the autonomous labs business. Source

Demand and deal flow

  • PNNL contract for 97-instrument lab: Ginkgo said it dedicated an 18-instrument autonomous anaerobic system at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and won a $47M contract for a 97-instrument autonomous lab. Source
  • OpenAI study on experiment design: Results were released from a collaboration in which GPT-5 designed experiments run on Ginkgo's cloud lab, achieving a 40% improvement over the state of the art in Cell-Free Protein Synthesis. Source
  • Solutions partnerships announced in fourth quarter: In the fourth quarter, Solutions announced partnerships with ARPA-H, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Carnegie Mellon, Agricen, Deep Origin and others. Source
  • Deals across agriculture, pharma, government: Management said the company continues to win new deals across agriculture, pharma and the U.S. government. Source

Coming up, as management said on 26 February 2026

  • Biosecurity sale expected to close: Completion of the sale to the investor consortium is expected in the first half of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions. Source

Figures management reported

FigureReported
Research and development expense, full year 2025 Source$243.8 million, against $424.1 million in 2024
Cell Engineering research and development expense, full year 2025 Source$158.5 million, against $271.5 million in 2024

Risks management discussed

  • Demand: Cell Engineering revenue, excluding releases, decreased 3%, which management attributed to ongoing program rationalization in the restructuring. Source
  • Financial: Reported revenue in both years included non-cash revenue from deferred revenue released on terminated customer agreements. The release does not state whether such releases will recur. Source
  • Operational: Completion of the Biosecurity sale depends on customary closing conditions, and the transaction has not yet closed. Source

Other quarters

Summarised with AI from the documents the company filed with the SEC. Every point is checked against the filing before it is shown: management’s own words word for word, figures against the line or table row they come from. A point that fails the check is left out. Source opens the filing at that line.