Cytek Ends 2025 on High Note with Accelerated Q4 Revenue Growth

FREMONT, CA – January 12, 2026 – Cell analysis solutions company Cytek Biosciences (Nasdaq: CTKB) today announced preliminary revenue results that signal a powerful finish to 2025, beating analyst expectations and showcasing significant growth acceleration in the fourth quarter. The company reported expected full-year 2025 revenue of approximately $201 million, a figure that surpasses the consensus analyst estimate of $196.71 million.

More notably, the preliminary fourth-quarter revenue of approximately $62 million marks a substantial turnaround. This represents an 8% increase compared to the fourth quarter of 2024 and a striking 19% sequential jump from the third quarter of 2025. The strong performance provides the company with significant momentum ahead of its presentation at the prestigious 44th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference this week.

“Our fourth quarter revenue growth over the prior year represents a meaningful acceleration of growth compared to the prior quarters in 2025 and reflects a continuation of positive trends we saw emerging in the third quarter,” said Dr. Wenbin Jiang, CEO of Cytek Biosciences, in the company's official statement.

A Year of Two Halves

The strong Q4 results cap a year that began on uncertain footing for the life sciences toolmaker. The first half of 2025 was challenging, with the company reporting a 7.6% year-over-year revenue decline in the first quarter and a 2% dip in the second. These figures prompted Cytek to revise its initial full-year guidance downward in May, from a range of $204-$212 million to $196-$210 million, a forecast it later narrowed to $196-$205 million.

A turnaround began to materialize in the third quarter, which posted a modest 2% year-over-year revenue increase. However, the preliminary fourth-quarter results indicate that the recovery has not only solidified but gained considerable speed. The 8% year-over-year growth in Q4 is a sharp reversal from the 1.3% decline seen in the same quarter of the prior year (Q4 2024), suggesting a return to a more robust growth trajectory.

The final preliminary full-year revenue of $201 million lands comfortably within the company's revised guidance range and represents a slight increase over 2024's full-year revenue of $200.5 million, underscoring a successful navigation through a difficult first half.

Drivers of Growth and Regional Recovery

According to Dr. Jiang, the fourth-quarter surge was broad-based, fueled by several key areas of the business. The company saw a “continuation of strong growth in Services, Reagents and Asia Pacific instrument revenue.” This points to the success of Cytek's business model, which relies on expanding its installed base of instruments to generate high-margin, recurring revenue from service contracts and the sale of proprietary reagents.

The company’s installed base stood at 3,295 instruments as of mid-2025, and the consistent growth in its services and reagents segments—which saw year-over-year increases of 19% and 21% respectively in Q3 2025—indicates that these instruments are being actively used in research labs globally.

Geographically, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region continues to be a major engine of growth. This market is experiencing a boom in life science R&D investment, particularly in China and India, creating strong demand for advanced analytical tools. Cytek's performance suggests it is successfully capturing a share of this expanding market.

Perhaps the most encouraging sign for investors was the reported improvement in instrument sales in the US and, critically, in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). “We were particularly pleased to see a return to positive growth in our instrument sales in EMEA in the fourth quarter,” Dr. Jiang stated. This marks a significant recovery for a region that had shown pronounced weakness earlier in the year, including a 26% decline in Q3 2025 instrument revenue.

Underpinning this commercial success is Cytek’s patented Full Spectrum Profiling™ (FSP®) technology. This innovative approach to flow cytometry allows researchers to gather more data from a single cell sample with greater sensitivity, a key advantage in complex fields like immunology and oncology. The company continues to innovate on this platform, having launched its new, automation-friendly Cytek Aurora™ Evo system in May 2025 to further accelerate adoption.

Setting the Stage for J.P. Morgan and 2026

The timing of this positive announcement is strategic. Cytek is scheduled to present at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, January 14. This event is the industry's premier investor symposium, where companies outline their strategic vision and financial outlook. Arriving with strong preliminary results and a narrative of accelerating growth positions Cytek favorably to capture investor attention.

While the company will not provide its official 2026 financial guidance until its full earnings call in late February, these results set a positive tone. Prior to this announcement, analyst consensus for Cytek was a “Hold,” with forecasts for modest single-digit revenue growth in 2026. The robust finish to 2025 could lead to revised estimates and a more optimistic outlook from the investment community.

Cytek operates in the highly competitive but growing flow cytometry market, which is projected to reach over $7 billion by 2030. It vies for market share against established giants like BD Biosciences, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Danaher. Its success hinges on its ability to continue differentiating itself through its FSP technology and converting researchers from traditional methods. With strong execution and a promising recovery in key markets, all eyes will be on Cytek's upcoming presentation for further details on how it plans to sustain this momentum through 2026.