What 10x Genomics (TXG) Said on Its Q3 Earnings Call

Key Points

• 10x Genomics raised its 2026 revenue outlook to $625 million–$635 million, from $610 million–$630 million, after third-quarter revenue grew 1% to $150.7 million.
• The company increased its year-end Atera shipment target to about 50 instruments from 40. Management said rollout capacity—not demand—is the main constraint, with production, installation and training expected to limit placements.
• Consumables revenue rose 5%, offsetting a 43% drop in instrument revenue as customers awaited Atera. Gross margin was 75% in Q3, but management expects it to fall to the low- to mid-60% range in Q4 as Atera shipments ramp.

10x Genomics NASDAQ: TXG raised its full-year revenue outlook after reporting modest third-quarter growth and increased its shipment target for its new Atera spatial biology platform.

The company reported revenue of $150.7 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2026, up 1% from a year earlier. Consumables growth helped offset a sharp decline in instrument revenue as customers anticipated Atera, commercial shipments of which began in late September.

Chief Financial Officer Adam Taich said 10x Genomics now expects 2026 revenue of $625 million to $635 million, up from its prior forecast of $610 million to $630 million. Excluding nonrecurring revenue from patent litigation settlements in both 2026 and 2025, the revised range represents growth of 4% to 6% over 2025.

Atera shipment target rises

The company expects to ship approximately 50 Atera instruments by year-end, up from its previous target of about 40. Taich said two Atera units were included in third-quarter revenue.

CEO and Co-founder Serge Saxonov said demand was not the limiting factor for Atera. Instead, production, installation and customer training capacity are expected to constrain the rollout into next year. He said roughly 50 instruments per quarter was an appropriate way to think about the pace as the company enters 2027.

10x Genomics did not disclose its Atera backlog or order numbers. Saxonov said nearly all of the world's top 20 biopharma companies had purchased Atera systems or services through Catalyst Research Services, the company's internal lab for running customer samples. He did not provide a breakdown between system buyers and service users. More than 100 customers booked Catalyst projects in its first five months, he said.

Saxonov also said early interest in Atera's whole-transcriptome capability had exceeded expectations and was the dominant way customers were using the platform so far. He attributed some of that demand to researchers seeking extensive biological data for artificial intelligence models.

Consumables grow as instrument sales decline

Total consumables revenue increased 5% year over year. Single-cell consumables rose 1%, supported by double-digit growth in reaction volumes and demand for Flex Apex. Spatial consumables increased 16%, driven primarily by Xenium consumables.

Instrument revenue fell 43%, including a 23% decline for Chromium instruments and a 57% drop for spatial instruments. Taich attributed both declines primarily to fewer units sold, with spatial customers moderating purchases of Visium and Xenium ahead of Atera.

Saxonov said adoption of Flex Apex was moving toward a majority of Chromium reactions, particularly as biopharma customers scale up their use. He noted that Apex is priced lower per reaction, creating revenue pressure during the transition even as volumes grow.

Taich said third-quarter spatial consumables performance was modestly better than expected and that the company's guidance assumes double-digit growth for the category in the fourth quarter. Atera consumables shipments began in the fourth quarter, he said, while Xenium usage remained strong.

Margins expected to fall during rollout

Gross margin rose to 75% from 67% a year earlier, primarily because of lower inventory write-downs and changes in product mix. Operating expenses fell to $129 million from $132.5 million, as lower personnel and lab equipment expenses were partly offset by higher litigation expenses.

Taich expects gross margin to decline to the low- to mid-60% range in the fourth quarter as Atera instrument shipments increase. Although he said Atera instruments and consumables have higher gross-margin profiles than their Xenium counterparts, he expects overall margins in 2027 to be lower than current levels because the year will likely be weighted toward instrument placements before consumables ramp.

The company ended the quarter with $576 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, up $94 million from a year earlier and $24 million from the preceding quarter.

Software and clinical initiatives

During the quarter, 10x Genomics announced Sentira, a cloud analysis platform intended to help researchers process and analyze biological data. Saxonov said its immediate purpose is to ease a data-analysis bottleneck and support use of the company's other products, although it could also create software revenue over time.

The company also announced a collaboration with Fred Hutch as part of its clinical strategy. Saxonov said 10x Genomics is working to establish an internal CLIA lab, with a goal of launching it next year, and is focused on generating evidence for the clinical utility of its technologies in oncology and autoimmunity.

About 10x Genomics (NASDAQ:TXG)

10x Genomics, Inc is a life sciences technology company that develops tools for analyzing biological systems at the single-cell and spatial levels. Its technologies are designed to help researchers study gene expression, cellular interactions, tissue organization and other biological processes in greater detail than conventional laboratory methods.

The company's product portfolio includes the Chromium platform for single-cell analysis, the Visium platform for spatial transcriptomics, and the Xenium platform for high-resolution in situ analysis of tissue samples.

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