Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) executives used a conference presentation and Q&A session to outline what they described as an “incremental evolutionary” update for 2026, following a challenging 2025. Management emphasized a shift toward profitability and recurring revenue while continuing to invest in post-genomic discovery tools and expanding its “Project Accelerate” program into a third iteration.
Focus shifts to margin and EPS expansion after a rough 2025
Chief Executive Officer Frank Laukien said the company’s priority over the next three to five years is to improve profitability after a roughly 70% revenue increase from 2020 to 2024, while acknowledging that 2025 was “a rough year.” He said Bruker is aiming to lift margins from the “mid-teens to the low to mid-20s” over that multi-year period and deliver double-digit earnings per share growth.
Chief Financial Officer Gerald Herman highlighted cost reductions as a central driver of anticipated margin expansion. He said Bruker is targeting about $120 million of cost savings, spanning both cost of goods sold and operating expenses, and described it as the company’s largest cost-saving initiative “in likely a decade.” Herman also pointed to expected improvements in product mix and said the company believes it has “neutralized” the tariff headwinds experienced in 2025, while noting that currency stability could also help.
Preliminary fourth-quarter results and 2026 “color”
Management said Bruker filed an 8-K in connection with the presentation and provided preliminary fourth-quarter revenue subject to audit. Laukien said preliminary Q4 2025 revenue was between $965 million and $970 million. For full-year 2025, he cited preliminary reported revenue of about $3.43 billion, up roughly 2% year over year, with constant exchange rate revenue described as flat to slightly higher.
He also said Bruker’s book-to-bill ratio for its BSI segment—described as 93% of the company—was “just above 1.0” in Q4, similar to Q3, which management characterized as encouraging.
For 2026, Laukien stressed that the company was not issuing formal guidance in the session, saying guidance would come with fourth-quarter earnings in February. Still, he provided what he called preliminary outlook “color,” including:
- Non-GAAP, constant exchange rate organic revenue growth expected to be flat to low single digits
- Organic operating profit margin expansion targeted at roughly 250 to 300 basis points
- Double-digit non-GAAP EPS growth
In the Q&A, Laukien said U.S. academic spending remained challenged but noted biopharma customers spent “quite significantly” late in the year, including on high-end tools that typically see later adoption.
Innovation and post-genomic tools highlighted as growth drivers
Laukien said Bruker continued investing in what it views as leadership in post-genomic discovery tools spanning proteomics, metabolomics, spatial biology, and other “multi-omics” applications. He argued that product introductions in 2025 gained traction even if broader market weakness limited near-term visibility.
In spatial biology, management highlighted the CosMx platform and said consumables growth was “very high double-digit,” while the overall spatial biology business grew in the “low double digits” during 2025. Mark, a Bruker executive participating in the discussion, pointed to the launch of a Whole Transcriptome Panel and CosMx 2.0 enhancements as drivers, adding that Bruker’s spatial biology instrument sales were flat to up in contrast to broader instrument softness.
In mass spectrometry, Laukien highlighted new systems introduced at ASMS, focusing on TIMS Omni and TIMS Metabo. He described TIMS Omni as enabling “top-down proteomics” at scale and noted early orders, including from biopharma customers, with shipments expected to begin contributing to revenue in 2026. Management characterized TIMS Metabo as differentiated in “4D metabolomics,” despite a crowded market, and said it was seeing orders at the high end.
Separately, Laukien said semiconductor metrology has become a meaningful portion of Bruker’s business—about 8% of revenue—with margins described as above the corporate profile.
Project Accelerate 3.0: diagnostics, lab automation, and “sticky” revenue
A central theme of the presentation was the expansion of Project Accelerate into “3.0,” with management emphasizing more recurring and aftermarket revenue streams. Laukien said Project Accelerate already represents around 60% of revenue and is expected to expand.
Newer elements highlighted under Project Accelerate 3.0 included:
- Clinical microbiology and infectious disease molecular diagnostics, including efforts to expand syndromic testing and enter the U.S. market over time
- Automated, digitized “AI-ready” laboratory tools, combining detectors with Chemspeed automation and SciY scientific software, described as a roughly $100 million annual revenue opportunity that management expects to grow quickly
- Defense detection, including airport and air cargo security screening, which Laukien said has grown from about $30 million historically to $50 million–$60 million and could reach $100 million over time
Clinical microbiology and molecular diagnostics: syndromic panels and rapid AST
Laukien described clinical microbiology and infectious disease molecular diagnostics as a major strategic focus, emphasizing recurring revenue and margins. He said Bruker’s MALDI Biotyper microbiology franchise has nearly 8,000 systems installed and has performed roughly 200 million identifications.
He also discussed Bruker’s molecular diagnostics business following the ELITechGroup acquisition in early 2024, stating the installed base includes about 1,600 “Genius” sample-to-answer systems. He said more than 200 systems were installed in 2025, above an initial plan of 140 to 150. Laukien estimated the infectious disease molecular diagnostics and microbiology business at around $500 million in revenue, with 65% aftermarket moving toward 70%–75% over time, and margins above the corporate average.
Looking ahead, management discussed plans to develop more affordable syndromic panels using Bruker’s LiquidArray high-plex quantitative PCR technology and Genius systems, targeting a syndromic market Laukien sized at about $2 billion. He said Bruker expects to launch a number of next-generation panels over the next two to three years and begin U.S. clinical trials in 2026 for specific applications including Candida auris.
Finally, Laukien highlighted the addition of the Wave Rapid AST platform via an asset deal, describing it as a promising rapid antibiotic susceptibility testing system. He said Bruker hopes to launch it in the U.S. in 2026 if it receives FDA clearance that year, with an addressable market he estimated at roughly $400 million.
About Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR)
Bruker Corporation, founded in 1960 by physicist Günther Laukien and headquartered in Billerica, Massachusetts, is a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance scientific instruments and analytical solutions. The company designs systems that enable molecular and materials research across academic, governmental, and industrial laboratories.
Bruker’s product portfolio encompasses nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometers for molecular structure and dynamics studies, mass spectrometry platforms for proteomics and metabolomics, X-ray diffraction and scattering instruments for crystallography and materials characterization, atomic force and scanning probe microscopes for nanoscale surface analysis, as well as preclinical imaging systems such as micro-CT and MRI scanners.
In addition to hardware, Bruker provides software suites, applications support, training services, and long-term maintenance agreements to ensure optimal instrument performance.
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