Quanterix NASDAQ: QTRX reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of $36.4 million, up 20% year-over-year, as leadership outlined operational and commercial changes aimed at improving execution in a challenging end-market backdrop. The company also highlighted stepped-up investment in its Alzheimer’s diagnostics efforts, including a newly announced partnership with Tempus AI and plans to pursue IVD readiness for its Simoa HD-X platform in 2027.
CEO outlines shift from integration to growth investments
President and CEO Everett Cunningham, speaking after his first 100 days in the role, said he believes Quanterix has “a clear path towards profitability for our research tools business” and a balance sheet to support diagnostics ambitions, citing “approximately $100 million in cash and no debt.” He emphasized the company’s position in ultrasensitive protein biomarker quantification and spatial proteomics, noting an installed base of over 2,300 instruments.
Cunningham said management is moving the company “from a mode of integrating and realizing synergies to a mode of investing and growing our business for long-term growth,” while still targeting annual operating goals. He pointed to the completion of “$85 million of cost synergies from the Akoya acquisition” as a foundation for the next phase of execution.
Q1 results: consumables in line, instrument timing affected revenue
Chief Financial Officer Vandana Sriram said first-quarter results reflected stable consumables performance but slightly weaker instrumentation results, with “a handful of instrument transactions getting pushed into the second quarter.” She added that organic revenue declined 21% year-over-year.
By segment, Sriram reported Simoa revenue of $24.0 million and spatial revenue of $12.4 million. She said spatial revenue was down 26% year-over-year.
- Instrument revenue: $4.0 million (including $2.3 million from Simoa and $1.7 million from spatial), with 16 Simoa and 11 spatial instruments placed
- Consumables revenue: $21.4 million (including $14.5 million in Simoa and $6.9 million in spatial)
- Accelerator lab services: $4.3 million (including $3.5 million in Simoa and $0.8 million in spatial)
Revenue from diagnostics partners was $2.9 million, up from $1.6 million in the first quarter of 2025, which Sriram attributed to increased volume for a single biomarker test from diagnostics enablement partners.
Customer mix skewed to academia; management targets pharma reacceleration
Sriram said the quarter’s customer mix was “meaningfully skewed to academia,” representing about 65% of revenue. On a pro forma basis (assuming Quanterix and Akoya were combined for the full year), she said academic revenue declined approximately 16% in the quarter. Pharma revenue declined 33% year-over-year, which she attributed “primarily due to fewer large accelerator projects and spatial instruments placed.”
Cunningham said Quanterix is making several investments intended to improve commercial effectiveness, including elevating pharma partnerships and the accelerator business under an experienced senior leader. “This important business has slipped in recent quarters, and we are changing that now,” he said, adding that he expects “frequent and candid dialogues” with pharma clients.
Additional commercial initiatives discussed on the call included expanding lead generation representatives, adding market development leaders to support sales training and positioning, and leveraging Thermo Fisher’s distribution capabilities to improve online access and reduce manual quote work.
Margins, expenses, and cash: synergy benefits and one-time items
For the quarter, Sriram reported gross profit of $15.6 million and GAAP gross margin of 42.7%. Non-GAAP gross profit was $18.5 million and non-GAAP gross margin was 50.9%. She said the Akoya synergies were “apparent” in margin performance, noting that the company maintained non-GAAP gross margin above 50% despite reduced pro forma revenue.
Operating expenses were $56.9 million, including approximately $22 million related to acquisition, integration, restructuring, and purchase accounting. Sriram highlighted a “$19 million one-time write-off from an intangible asset related to the termination of an Akoya Biosciences development agreement,” offset by $22 million of liabilities written off in other income, resulting in net non-cash income of $2.3 million from the termination.
Non-GAAP operating expenses were $34.7 million, down about $2.3 million sequentially due to synergies. Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $9.8 million, a sequential improvement of $1.5 million.
Quanterix ended the quarter with $102.6 million of cash equivalents, marketable securities, and restricted cash. Cash used in the quarter was $19.0 million, including $4.2 million tied to one-time integration and employee-related costs, for adjusted cash usage of $14.7 million. Sriram said the first quarter is typically the highest cash-usage quarter due to annual payments such as insurance renewals and bonuses.
Diagnostics focus: Tempus AI partnership, LucentAD investments, and IVD plans
Cunningham said Quanterix is increasing investment in its Alzheimer’s diagnostics business, centered on its LucentAD Complete test, and is preparing for anticipated FDA clearance in the second half of 2026. He said the company is hiring a diagnostics leader who will report directly to him, describing the incoming executive as having “25 plus years in diagnostics” and experience across sales, payer and reimbursement interactions, and blood-based biomarker testing. Cunningham said the name would be shared “in a couple of weeks.”
Among key initiatives, Cunningham said Quanterix is upgrading its next-generation Simoa HD-X platform and expects to file for IVD status with the FDA in 2027. In response to analyst questions, he said prioritizing HD-X reflects customer feedback and the platform’s role as the company’s “workhorse” with the largest installed base, adding that IVD readiness is intended to “solidify our research-only business,” support diagnostics readiness, and provide “optionality to have a distributed plan for our lab partners, both domestically and internationally.”
Cunningham also announced a partnership with Tempus AI. Under the agreement, LucentAD Complete will be integrated into EHR systems at select Tempus Partner Health system locations as part of the Tempus Next program. He said eligible patients will be flagged using a proprietary algorithm, with testing available for order at a clinician’s discretion.
On the financial contribution of Alzheimer’s-related partner activity, Sriram said Quanterix did almost $10 million of revenue from partners in 2025 and expects “about the same level in 2026,” with “less instrument sales, but an increase in consumable sales as our partners start to do more tests.” She added, “We’re not counting on revenues from direct testing in 2026,” while noting that earlier uptake would be beneficial.
2026 outlook maintained; second-half ramp tied to internal actions
Quanterix maintained full-year 2026 guidance of approximately $169 million to $174 million in revenue. The company expects GAAP gross margin of 41% to 45% and non-GAAP gross margin of 49% to 53%. Sriram also noted an accounting policy change to classify shipping and handling costs for product sales within gross margin (previously in SG&A), which was reflected in GAAP margin guidance but did not change the underlying non-GAAP margin expectation.
The company reiterated expectations to achieve cash flow breakeven in the second half of 2026 and to end the year with cash in a range of $100 million with no debt. For quarterly cadence, Sriram said second-quarter revenue is expected to be roughly in line to slightly ahead of Q1, with commercial initiatives intended to drive increased revenue in the second half.
On whether guidance assumes a macro improvement, Sriram said the company is “not assuming markets change materially” and expects growth to come “from our actions,” including product and commercial initiatives. Cunningham echoed that the company is “not waiting for markets to improve.”
About Quanterix NASDAQ: QTRX
Quanterix Corporation is a life sciences and diagnostics company specializing in ultra-sensitive digital immunoassay platforms. Its proprietary Single Molecule Array (Simoa) technology enables researchers to detect and quantify proteins, peptides and nucleic acids at femtomolar concentrations, offering sensitivity that surpasses traditional immunoassay methods. By translating single-molecule detection into routine laboratory workflows, Quanterix aims to accelerate biomarker discovery and the development of novel diagnostics and therapeutics.
The company's core product portfolio includes the Simoa HD-1 and HD-X Analyzers, which automate high-throughput digital immunoassays for quantifying low-abundance biomarkers.
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