MaxCyte (NASDAQ:MXCT) executives told investors the company made “meaningful progress” in 2025 despite a difficult operating environment, highlighting continued strategic platform license (SPL) activity, integration of the SeQure Dx acquisition, cost restructuring, and the February launch of a new research-focused electroporation system. Management also provided 2026 revenue guidance that reflects ongoing headwinds in the first half of the year tied largely to customer-specific dynamics rather than a broad deterioration in demand, according to leadership.
2025 results show revenue declines, install base growth
For the full year ended Dec. 31, 2025, MaxCyte reported total revenue of $33.0 million, down from $38.6 million in 2024, a 15% decline. Fourth-quarter total revenue was $7.3 million versus $8.7 million a year earlier, down 16%.
Chief Financial Officer Douglas Swirsky broke down core revenue performance as follows:
- Q4 2025 core revenue components: instrument revenue $1.8 million (vs. $1.6 million in Q4 2024), license revenue $2.0 million (vs. $2.6 million), and processing assembly (PA) revenue $2.3 million (vs. $4.2 million).
- Full-year 2025 core revenue components: instrument revenue $6.8 million (vs. $7.1 million in 2024), license revenue $8.9 million (vs. $10.3 million), and PA revenue $11.9 million (vs. $14.0 million).
Those declines were partially offset by contributions from SeQure Dx, which generated $1.1 million in 2025 revenue (assay services and licenses), including $0.8 million of assay service revenue. Management also noted the company’s instrument install base grew to 857 at year-end 2025 from 760 at the end of 2024.
SPL revenue mix shifts amid customer program rationalization
Swirsky said 47% of MaxCyte’s core business revenue was derived from SPL customers in 2025, compared with 55% in 2024, attributing the decrease to “program exits and reduced purchasing activity from our large commercial stage partner.”
SPL program-related revenue was $3.4 million in 2025, down from $6.1 million in 2024. In the fourth quarter, SPL program-related revenue was $0.5 million versus $0.1 million a year earlier. For 2025, the company said $2.3 million of SPL program-related revenue came from milestone payments and $1.2 million from royalties.
Chief Executive Officer Maher Masoud said customer consolidation and rationalization affected results, including a 15% decline in purchases and leases from the company’s largest customer, alongside manufacturing reorganization and inventory management. He added that on a net basis MaxCyte lost six SPL clinical programs during 2025, which management said is consistent with an expectation that some biotech programs will discontinue.
New ExPERT DTx platform targets earlier-stage discovery work
Masoud emphasized the February launch of the ExPERT DTx, describing it as a modular 96-well electroporation platform designed for research and drug discovery. He said the system can transfect up to 96 samples in a single three-minute run, uses detachable 8-well strips to allow different parameters in parallel, and includes software intended to let users design experiments remotely and upload workflows.
Management positioned the DTx as strategically important because it is designed to be compatible with the broader ExPERT platform, allowing a process optimized in discovery to be transferred to larger instruments for scale-up into cGMP-compliant manufacturing without re-optimization. Executives said the product is already in the hands of multiple beta users and that early orders have occurred in the first quarter, with a more meaningful revenue contribution expected in the second half of 2026 and further growth into 2027.
In response to analyst questions, Masoud said the product is expected to drive both new and existing customer demand, noting early placements include at least one new customer and that the platform can also support early discovery work relevant to in vivo applications.
2026 guidance reflects near-term headwinds; royalties and milestones highlighted
For 2026, MaxCyte guided total revenue of $30 million to $32 million, including core revenue of $25 million to $27 million and SPL program-layer revenue of $5 million. Management said the first quarter is expected to be the lightest quarter for core revenue, with a back-half-weighted year.
Masoud said guidance includes the impact of a recent notice from an SPL customer terminating its license for reasons management said were unrelated to platform performance, as well as an approximately $4 million core revenue headwind from select SPL customers that began affecting revenue in the second half of 2025. He said the $4 million headwind is split roughly evenly between processing assemblies and leases.
Executives attributed much of the dynamic to the largest customer’s supply chain and inventory actions, as well as program rationalization among other SPL partners. Following discussions with the largest customer, management said it expects PA and lease activity to stabilize during the first half of 2026, and that broader headwinds related to capital conservation and program rationalization in ex vivo cell therapy could stabilize in the second half of 2026.
On SPL program-related revenue, Masoud said the company received a seven-figure milestone payment in the first quarter tied to a clinical customer beginning to dose patients in a pivotal study. He said the remainder of the 2026 SPL program-related revenue guidance includes approximately $2 million of expected royalty revenue from MaxCyte’s commercial-stage customer as the therapy ramps during the year. In the Q&A, management said it expects the $2 million in commercial royalties to build over the course of 2026 and that the company plans to continue guiding separately for milestones and royalties going forward.
Pipeline update, Casgevy commentary, and cost structure changes
Masoud said MaxCyte supports one commercial therapy, Casgevy, and pointed to remarks from Vertex and CRISPR Therapeutics about the product’s multi-billion-dollar potential. Citing Vertex’s recent earnings call, he said Vertex reported $116 million in Casgevy revenue for 2025, including $54 million in the fourth quarter, and noted reported patient activity during the year. Masoud said MaxCyte expects a continued ramp in 2026, while acknowledging potential quarter-to-quarter variability as the therapy scales.
Looking ahead, management said it is encouraged by the potential for five clinical programs to enter pivotal studies over the next 18 months, with the possibility of commercial approvals in 2027 or 2028. Masoud identified programs including CRISPR Therapeutics’ CTX112, Wugen’s WU-CART-007, Imugene’s azer-cel, and two programs from undisclosed SPL partners. He also said there are seven additional active clinical programs in earlier stages pursuing potential FDA approval beyond 2028 and stated that the total milestone opportunity across programs exceeds $110 million, with more than $30 million in total milestone payments received to date.
On spending, Masoud said restructuring and cost efficiency actions in 2025 reduced annual cash burn by more than $16 million and that the company does not expect to “meaningfully grow” operating expenses from current levels. Swirsky said MaxCyte ended 2025 with $155.6 million in combined cash, cash equivalents and investments and no debt, and he anticipated at least $136 million in cash equivalents and investments at the end of 2026.
MaxCyte also announced a CFO transition: Parmeet Ahuja will join as CFO effective March 30, succeeding Swirsky.
About MaxCyte (NASDAQ:MXCT)
MaxCyte, Inc (NASDAQ: MXCT) is a clinical‐stage cell therapy platform company that develops and commercializes proprietary flow electroporation technology for the delivery of macromolecules into living cells. The company’s instruments and consumables are designed to support research, preclinical development and clinical‐scale manufacturing of cell therapies across a variety of modalities, including engineered T cells, natural killer (NK) cells and induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) therapies.
