Illumina, Inc. (ILMN)

How it makes money

The business follows a razor-and-blade model: instruments are a one-time, low-margin sale that puts an Illumina sequencer into a lab, while the consumable reagent kits a lab must keep buying to run each sample carry far higher margins and repeat every time. Because reagents are chemically matched to Illumina's own machines, a lab that has already bought the instrument keeps buying Illumina's consumables for as long as it keeps using it.

Revenue by segment

A lab that has installed an Illumina sequencer, validated its clinical or research protocols around it and trained staff on its software keeps buying Illumina's proprietary reagents rather than re-qualifying an entire workflow on a rival machine. That lock-in is weakening: newer entrants such as MGI, Element Biosciences and Ultima Genomics now offer sequencing at competitive cost, giving labs a real alternative when they next replace equipment.

Consumables revenue is fairly steady, since labs keep running existing sequencers regardless of the economic cycle, but instrument sales depend on research budgets, venture funding for biotech and hospital capital spending, all of which slow in a downturn. Demand also depends on regulatory and government funding decisions in specific countries, which can swing sharply and are outside Illumina's control.

Key risks

• Competitive erosion of its installed base — Newer sequencing technologies from competitors such as MGI, Element Biosciences and Ultima Genomics now offer lower-cost alternatives, and a lab that switches instrument no longer needs Illumina's consumables.
• Dependence on research funding and biotech capital — A meaningful share of demand comes from academic, government and biotech research budgets; cuts to public science funding or a slowdown in biotech venture funding reduce instrument and consumable purchases.
• Government and geographic policy risk — Trade restrictions, tariffs and country-specific regulatory or reimbursement decisions have already affected sales in some markets, including China, and can change with little warning.
• Pricing pressure on consumables — As competing sequencing platforms mature, Illumina has had to defend its consumables pricing, and a sustained price war would erode the margin the razor-and-blade model depends on.