Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR) reported fourth-quarter 2025 revenue of $977.2 million, essentially flat year-over-year, as the company pointed to improving bookings momentum late in the year but continued pressure from academic funding, tariffs, and currency movements. Management said revenue in the quarter came in above its expectations, while margins were softer than anticipated due to mix and timing factors.
Fourth-quarter results: revenue outperformance, margin shortfall
CEO Frank Laukien said the company ended a “difficult year” with fourth-quarter revenue ahead of internal expectations and noted that Bruker Scientific Instruments (BSI) delivered a book-to-bill again “over 1.0x,” adding confidence that demand had moved past a trough seen in mid-2025. The company also generated strong free cash flow in the quarter.
Non-GAAP operating margin was 15.7%, down 240 basis points year-over-year. CFO Gerald Herman said the margin came in about 100 basis points below the company’s expectations, driven by roughly 50 basis points of unfavorable mix, 30 basis points from delayed tariff offsets, and about 20 basis points from stronger foreign-exchange headwinds than previously guided.
Non-GAAP diluted EPS was $0.59, down from $0.76 in the year-ago quarter. On a GAAP basis, diluted EPS was $0.10 versus $0.09. Herman also noted the weighted average diluted share count rose 13% year-over-year to 171.7 million shares, reflecting accounting for the mandatory convertible preferred stock offering completed in September 2025.
Cash flow and balance sheet: record operating cash flow in Q4
Herman said Bruker generated about $230 million of operating cash flow in the fourth quarter, which he described as the highest in company history. Improved working capital performance of more than $100 million and capital expenditures of $22.6 million contributed to free cash flow of $207.3 million, up about $54 million from the prior-year quarter.
Bruker ended the quarter with approximately $300 million in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments. The company repaid about $145 million of debt during the quarter and finished fiscal 2025 with a leverage ratio of approximately 3.1, according to management.
Full-year 2025: organic declines, acquisition contributions, and segment trends
For fiscal 2025, reported revenue increased 2.1% to $3.44 billion. Organic revenue declined 3.7% year-over-year, with a 3.5% organic decline in scientific instruments and a 5.4% organic decline at BEST, net of intercompany eliminations. Acquisitions added 3.5% to revenue growth, while currency provided a 2.3% tailwind.
Non-GAAP operating margin for 2025 was 12.6%, down 280 basis points year-over-year. Herman attributed the decline to headwinds that included approximately 65 basis points from M&A dilution, about 65 basis points from tariffs, roughly 70 basis points from foreign exchange, and about 80 basis points from lower estimated volume impact (including partial benefit from pricing and cost reductions).
Laukien highlighted that 2025 marked the first full year of ownership for ELITech, Chemspeed, and NanoString, acquired in the first half of 2024. He said ELITech and Chemspeed delivered “robust mid- to high-single-digit” organic growth year-over-year, while NanoString was approximately flat due to pressure on U.S. academic funding. He added that spatial biology, including NanoString orders, rose by a double-digit percentage organically in the fourth quarter.
Management also provided group-level commentary on 2025 performance:
- BioSpin: Revenue of $879 million, declining in the mid-single digits. Growth in Chemspeed lab automation was more than offset by declines in NMR instrumentation. Laukien said Bruker recognized revenue from two 1.2 gigahertz NMR systems in 2025 versus four in 2024, creating an estimated $25 million revenue headwind.
- CALID: Revenue of $1.2 billion with constant-exchange-rate growth in the high single digits, led by microbiology and infection diagnostics (including ELITech Molecular Diagnostics) and optics, partially offset by softness in mass spectrometry as recent product orders were expected to convert to revenue mostly in 2026.
- Bruker Nano: Revenue of $1.1 billion, declining in the low single digits as growth in spatial biology and biopharma was more than offset by declines in academia/government and industrial markets. Semiconductor metrology revenue was flat, with management citing a strong semi order book in Q4 expected to support stronger performance in 2026.
- BEST: Revenue declined in the mid-single digits due to soft superconducting demand for clinical MRI systems, though the company received more than $500 million in multi-year superconducting wire orders late in Q4 and early Q1 2026 and more than $40 million in orders tied to the Extreme Light Infrastructure, expected to enter revenue mostly late in 2026.
2026 outlook: modest organic growth, significant margin expansion targeted
Bruker initiated fiscal 2026 guidance for reported revenue of $3.57 billion to $3.60 billion, representing 4% to 5% reported growth. The company expects 1% to 2% organic revenue growth, roughly 1.5% contribution from acquisitions, and an estimated 1.5% currency tailwind.
Management guided to non-GAAP operating margin expansion of 250 to 300 basis points versus 2025, including an estimated 50 basis point currency headwind. Laukien said the company is targeting 300 to 350 basis points of “organic operating margin expansion,” driven by cost-saving initiatives that management now expects to exceed its previously stated $100 million to $120 million range. In the Q&A, Laukien said the company now expects annualized cost actions “closer to $140 million or even higher,” with additional cost reductions becoming fully effective by Q3.
Bruker guided to non-GAAP EPS of $2.10 to $2.15 in 2026, representing 15% to 17% growth versus 2025. Management expects an approximately 8% currency headwind to EPS (about $0.15), implying 23% to 25% constant-exchange-rate non-GAAP EPS growth.
For the first quarter of 2026, the company expects organic revenue to decline in the mid-single digits and said operating margin and EPS are expected to be down “meaningfully” compared to Q1 2025 due to a strong year-ago comparison and because Q1 2025 results were not yet impacted by U.S. import tariffs or academic/government funding disruptions. Management said it expects organic revenue growth to resume in Q2 and continue through the remainder of the year.
End-market assumptions and product milestones
On end markets embedded in the 2026 guidance, Herman said the company is not assuming a “significant snapback.” Management described expectations that include low-single-digit organic growth in biopharma and low-single-digit growth in the semiconductor-related business, with academic and government research expected to be flat or down low single digits due to continued softness early in the year.
Management also discussed diagnostics initiatives. Laukien said ELITech Molecular Diagnostics saw “very strong placements” in 2025, which the company expects to support 2026 revenue growth. He added that Bruker is entering the rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) market with its Wave platform and hopes to receive FDA clearance for a first claim in 2026, with additional claims in clinical trials. In molecular diagnostics, the company expects syndromic panels to begin progressing through regulatory approvals in Europe in late 2026 and into 2027.
Regarding geography, Bruker said China has declined as a share of company revenue to just under 14% from 16% to 17% previously, although management noted better China order growth in Q4. Herman said the company’s 2026 guide assumes China revenue performance is “largely flat.”
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.
