Quantum-Si (NASDAQ:QSI) reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results and outlined a “transition year” outlook for 2026, as management said it plans to prioritize development and commercial readiness for the Proteus platform ahead of an expected launch at the end of 2026.
2026 positioned as a transition year ahead of Proteus
President and CEO Jeff Hawkins said the company expects 2026 revenue to be “primarily driven by consumable utilization from our installed base and some new placements,” alongside “very modest new capital sales” of its first-generation Platinum Pro instrument. Hawkins said the company’s focus will be on Proteus development and market preparation “for a strong commercial ramp in 2027 and beyond.”
Commercial adoption: placement program expands customer access
Management highlighted its expanded instrument acquisition options launched in the second quarter of 2025, aimed at enabling customers to place instruments in their labs without upfront capital purchases while still buying consumables. Hawkins said the program has secured 17 new customers spanning academic labs, pharma, and biotech, and has helped the company access key opinion leaders it previously could not reach.
Hawkins also emphasized efforts to build a publication pipeline to demonstrate broader applications of the company’s technology. During 2025, Quantum-Si submitted five manuscripts and built additional studies for future publication. In the first two months of 2026, the company said three new manuscripts were released via publication or preprints.
Management cited examples of new applications:
- A paper from Dr. Lo of Stanford University describing potential use in clinical proteomics for complex conditions such as hemoglobinopathies.
- A manuscript from researchers at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory describing a modified workflow enabling biological sample-to-result in under 24 hours for rapid pathogen and toxin detection.
Hawkins said these emerging applications could move the company toward customers with higher consumable utilization rates and repeat ordering patterns. He added that the company continues to evaluate partnership opportunities, including sample preparation and enrichment, new applications, and artificial intelligence tools to extract deeper insights from protein sequencing data. He called novel enrichment technologies for very low abundance biomarker analysis a key area of interest.
Proteus: pricing announced and development updates
Quantum-Si said it pulled forward its Proteus list price announcement to support customer and channel partner budgeting. Hawkins said the company decided to disclose pricing earlier than previously planned after customer and partner feedback during pre-launch discussions. The company announced a Proteus list price of $425,000.
During Q&A, Hawkins said the company does not have secured orders to report at this time, and described the earlier pricing disclosure as a tool to support capital planning, grant submissions, and international tenders that require equipment pricing.
On acquisition models, Hawkins said Quantum-Si has only announced direct capital purchases for Proteus so far and has not committed to offering the same acquisition options used with Platinum Pro. “Right now our intent is to launch with only the ability to do a direct capital acquisition,” he said, adding the company will gather market feedback and decide later whether to add other models.
On development progress, Hawkins said the company’s prototype Proteus systems are performing well and are deployed internally for R&D. He said the company has received its first fully integrated Proteus instruments and is working with partners to manufacture and deliver additional instruments to support scaled internal development work.
Hawkins also provided updates tied to proteome coverage, including both amino acid detection and sequencing read length. He reiterated that at an investor and analyst event in November 2025 the company said it expected to launch Proteus with detection of 18 amino acids and demonstrate detection of all 20 in 2026. He said the company is “progressing ahead of expectations” on both goals and expects to provide a more quantitative update in the near future. Hawkins also said the company is continuing to observe longer sequencing read lengths on Proteus and has assigned team members to focus on maximizing read length.
On library preparation, Hawkins said the company launched its Version 3 library prep kit in the fourth quarter of 2025, enabling sequencing from as little as 1–2 nanograms of protein—more than a 100-fold reduction in input versus the prior kit. He said the R&D team has identified avenues for further reductions and has a small team working on feasibility, with additional updates expected on the next earnings call.
Financial results and 2026 outlook
Chief Financial Officer Jeff Keyes reported fourth-quarter 2025 revenue of $451,000, consisting of Platinum line instruments, consumable kits, and related services. Gross profit was $122,000 for a gross margin of 27%. Keyes said fourth-quarter gross margin was impacted primarily by revenue mix—“a higher proportion of consumable revenue to hardware”—and certain inventory adjustments.
For full-year 2025, revenue was $2.4 million, gross profit was $1.2 million, and gross margin was 47%. Keyes said full-year margin benefited from a higher mix of instrument sales and a lower overall impact from inventory adjustments relative to the fourth quarter.
Keyes attributed 2025 sales pressure to capital spending headwinds, including NIH funding delays and uncertainty around the NIH budget and indirect reimbursement rates, as well as tariff-related uncertainty that put customer capital budgets “in limbo.”
On expenses, GAAP total operating expenses were $21.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2025, down from $31.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. Adjusted operating expenses were $18.3 million, compared with $26.7 million in the prior-year quarter. For full-year 2025, GAAP total operating expenses were $117.3 million versus $110.2 million in 2024, while adjusted operating expenses were $86.3 million, down from $99 million.
Keyes said full-year GAAP operating expenses included approximately $18.7 million in charges tied primarily to an accounting adjustment for a net termination payment and asset write-off from a leased facility in New Haven, Connecticut, as well as settlement and preliminary settlement of certain legacy litigation matters.
Dividend and interest income totaled $2.2 million in the fourth quarter and $9.7 million for the full year. Quantum-Si ended 2025 with $215.8 million in cash, equivalents, and investments in marketable securities.
For 2026, the company guided to:
- Approximately $1 million in total revenue
- $98 million or less in adjusted operating expenses
- $93 million or less in total cash usage
Keyes said the guidance reflects intentional trade-offs to prioritize Proteus over near-term instrument revenue, including embedding upgrade paths into Platinum Pro units and potential impacts from customers delaying purchases while planning for Proteus. He also said expected cash usage includes modest inventory build and commercial readiness efforts ahead of launch. Based on year-end cash and investments, Keyes said the company believes it can support operations into the second quarter of 2028.
During Q&A, management said 2026 revenue assumptions include a more than 25% increase in the number of consumable kits run by customers, alongside very modest capital equipment sales. Management also noted that offering credits toward future Proteus purchases could affect short-term revenue recognition and reported margins. Keyes also clarified that the 2026 operating expense guidance is on an adjusted basis and excludes stock-based compensation.
About Quantum-Si (NASDAQ:QSI)
Quantum-Si Inc is a life sciences instrumentation company headquartered in Guilford, Connecticut, developing next-generation proteomics solutions based on semiconductor sequencing technology. The company’s core offering centers on a proprietary single-molecule protein sequencing platform that uses a silicon-based sensor chip to convert protein data into digital signals. This approach is designed to deliver high sensitivity, single-amino-acid resolution and deep proteome coverage while potentially reducing cost and complexity compared to traditional mass spectrometry methods.
Quantum-Si’s product roadmap includes the development and commercialization of an integrated system comprising instruments, consumable reagents and proprietary data analysis software.
