Bio-Rad closed 2025 with results within revised guidance, as Clinical Diagnostics returned to growth (Q4 up 8.4% reported on quality control and blood typing strength) and ddPCR instrument sales accelerated on the QX700 launch. However, Q4 gross margin missed at 52.5% non-GAAP, pressured by execution-related supply chain costs tied to the U.S. government shutdown, and a $173 million impairment from R&D portfolio rationalization drove a GAAP operating loss. The company guided FY2026 operating margin to 12%-12.5%, flagged a 50 bps process chromatography headwind from changed vaccine-customer demand, and signaled active M&A interest backed by strong full-year free cash flow of $375 million.
Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us. Today, we will review the fourth quarter and full year 2025 financial results and provide an update on key business trends for Bio-Rad. With me on the call today are Norman Schwartz, our Chief Executive Officer, Jon DiVincenzo, President and Chief Operating Officer, and Roop Lakkaraju, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin our review, I would like to remind everyone that we will be making forward-looking statements about management's goals, plans, and expectations, our future financial performance, and other matters. These statements are based on assumptions and expectations of future events that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Our actual results may differ materially from these plans, goals, and expectations.
You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, and I encourage you to review our filings with the SEC, where we discuss in detail the risk factors in our business. The company does not intend to update any forward-looking statements made during the call today. Finally, our remarks today will include references to non-GAAP financials, including net income and diluted earnings per share, which are financial measures that are not defined under generally accepted accounting principles. In addition to excluding certain atypical and non-recurring items, our non-GAAP financial measures exclude changes in the equity value of our stake in Sartorius AG in order to provide investors with a better understanding of Bio-Rad's underlying operational performance. Investors should review the reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to the comparable GAAP results contained in our earnings release.
We have also posted a supplemental earnings presentation in the investor relations section of our website for your reference. With that, I will now turn the call over to our Chief Operating Officer, Jon DiVincenzo.
Thanks, Ed. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. In 2025, we delivered results within our revised guidance for both revenue and operating margin. However, gross margin did not meet our expectations or, frankly, what Bio-Rad is capable of delivering. Throughout 2025, we made tangible progress in lowering our cost base through restructuring and tighter expense discipline while navigating global trade uncertainty and tariff headwinds. In the fourth quarter, gross margin was pressured by higher than anticipated supply chain costs. These pressures are execution related rather than structural. We have initiated actions to strengthen operational rigor, improve forecasting and planning, and drive greater consistency across manufacturing, procurement, and logistics. Turning to our segments, diagnostics returned to growth in the quarter.
Performance was driven by successful fulfillment of large customer orders in our quality control portfolio that were planned for the fourth quarter, as well as the annualization of the diabetes testing reimbursement change in China. While we're not currently seeing portfolio-specific reimbursement or VBP headwinds in China, we remain appropriately cautious and continue to closely monitor policy developments. In Life Science, we are particularly encouraged by the traction from our execution on the Stilla acquisition and the launch of the QX700 droplet digital PCR family and products. Customer response has been strong, and we saw meaningful acceleration in QX700 instrument sales during the fourth quarter. We're entering 2026 with an expanding order funnel for our ddPCR instruments, despite overall softness in our end markets. Importantly, adoption has been driven by both qPCR conversions and competitive wins.
These data points reinforce our belief that QX700 is, is enabling Bio-Rad to expand its served market and gain share in the entry-level digital PCR segment. More broadly, the early success of QX700 strengthens our conviction that digital PCR will remain a core growth pillar for Bio-Rad over the long term. With the broadest digital PCR instrument portfolio, the most comprehensive assay menu, and more than 12,000 peer-reviewed publications, we believe Bio-Rad is well positioned to sustain leadership in this market. Turning to our end markets, cautious spending persisted throughout the fourth quarter, continues to weigh on instrument demand in academia and government. While the recent passage of the NIH budget may support improved sentiment over time, we believe academic institutions remain focused on maintaining staffing levels and sustaining ongoing research rather than purchasing capital equipment.
Within biopharma, funding conditions improved during the second half of 2025, though funding is skewed towards later-stage biotech companies. We are anticipating a modest recovery of our core life science portfolio from the biopharma end market in 2026. Our process chromatography business delivered over 20% growth in 2025. Our current niche position in the polishing step of bioprocessing contributes to revenue concentration from a select number of commercial therapeutics and vaccines. This can show up as lumpiness from quarter to quarter. As our portfolio broadens over time, we expect to see less volatility, more comparable to the broader bioprocessing peer group. Bio-Rad remains focused on disciplined innovation. It is core to our long-term growth strategy.
In 2026, we plan to advance several product launches, including an IVD version of the QX600, additional high-value ddPCR assays across oncology, and incorporate artificial intelligence into our future platforms. Our sharpened focus on R&D accelerates the innovation engine for Bio-Rad, prioritizing areas that reinforce our high-value segments and support our portfolio optimization. In closing, we are executing actions to improve operational performance, expand margins, and focus investments in our most attractive growth platforms. We are confident these actions will translate into improved financial results over time. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Roop, who will take you through our financial results in more detail.
Thank you, Jon, and good afternoon. I'd like to start with a review of the fourth quarter and full year 2025 results. Net sales for the fourth quarter of 2025 were approximately $693 million, which represents a 3.9% increase on a reported basis versus $668 million in Q4 of 2024. On a currency neutral basis, this represents a 1.7% year-over-year increase and was driven by our clinical diagnostics segment. Sales of the life science segment in the fourth quarter of 2025 were $268 million, compared to $275 million in Q4 of 2024, a 2.6% decrease on a reported basis and a 4% decrease on a currency neutral basis, driven by the constrained academic research and biotech funding environment.
Currency Neutral sales decreased in the Americas, partially offset by increased sales in EMEA and Asia Pacific. Our ddPCR portfolio posted mid-single-digit year-over-year growth in Q4, driven by the success of our QX700 platform, which met our revenue expectations. The Stilla acquisition will be accretive by mid-2026, 6 to 12 months earlier than our initial view. Our Process Chromatography business, as expected, experienced quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year declines due to the timing of customers' orders. Excluding Process Chromatography sales, core life science segment revenue increased 0.7% year-over-year and decreased 0.7% on a currency neutral basis. While overall, core life science consumables revenue grew mid-single-digit in Q4, we note that consumables in the Americas were flat year-over-year, reflecting the protracted U.S. government shutdown.
Sales of the clinical diagnostics segment in the fourth quarter of 2025 were approximately $425 million, compared to $393 million in Q4 of 2024, an increase of 8.4% on a reported basis and 5.6% on a currency-neutral basis. The increase was primarily driven by higher sales of quality control and blood typing products. On a geographic basis, currency-neutral sales increased in all three regions. Q4 reported GAAP gross margin was 49.8%, as compared to 51.2% in the fourth quarter of 2024. On a non-GAAP basis, fourth quarter gross margin was 52.5% versus 53.9% in the year ago period.
Note that the Q4 2025 non-GAAP gross margin excluded $13 million in one-time inventory and other write-offs associated with product portfolio rationalization, on top of restructuring and amortization of purchased intangible charges. Specifically, due to the extended U.S. government shutdown, which shifted sales to later in the quarter, we effectively had to do 90 days of work in 30 days to support our customers. As a result, we incurred higher expenses for expedited freight and service costs, including overtime, resulting from compressed timelines for instrument delivery and installation. Moreover, we saw slower than expected progress on our procurement initiatives that were backloaded in our forecast. SG&A expense for the fourth quarter of 2025 was $221 million, or 31.9% of sales, compared to $204 million, or 30.6% in Q4 of 2024.
Fourth quarter non-GAAP SG&A spend was $215 million versus $200 million in the year ago period. The year-over-year increase in SG&A expense was primarily due to higher employee-related costs. Research and development expense in the fourth quarter of 2025 was $70 million or 10.1% of sales, compared to $80 million or 11.9% of sales in Q4 of 2024. Fourth quarter non-GAAP R&D spend was $66 million versus $68 million in the year ago period. Q4 operating loss was approximately $119 million, compared to operating income of approximately $58 million in Q4 of 2024. In Q4 of 2025, our GAAP operating loss included, in aggregate, $173 million of impairment charges for purchased intangibles and other items.
These charges resulted from our decision to discontinue and reprioritize certain R&D programs as part of our ongoing portfolio rationalization. On a non-GAAP basis, fourth quarter operating margin was 12%, compared to 13.8% in Q4 of 2024, reflecting the impact from the lower gross margin. The change in fair market value of equity security holdings and loan receivable, primarily related to the ownership of Sartorius AG shares, contributed $800 million to our reported net income of $720 million, or $26.65 per diluted share.
Non-GAAP net income, which excludes the impact of the change in equity value of the Sartorius shares, was $68 million, or $2.51 diluted earnings per share for the fourth quarter of 2025, versus $81 million or $2.90 diluted earnings per share for Q4 2024. Now for the full year results. Net sales for the full year of 2025 were $2.583 billion, which represents a 0.7% increase on a reported basis versus $2.567 billion in 2024.
On a currency neutral basis, sales were essentially flat compared to the same period in 2024. The life science segment for 2025 were approximately $1,021 million, compared to $1,028 million in 2024, which is a decline of 0.7% on a reported basis and 1.3% on a currency neutral basis. Currency neutral sales decreased in the Americas, partially offset by increased sales in EMEA and Asia Pacific. Sales of the clinical diagnostics segment for 2025 were $1,562 million, compared to $1,538 million in 2024, which represents a 1.6% increase on a reported basis and 0.8% growth on a currency neutral basis.
Growth of clinical diagnostics was primarily driven by higher quality control and blood typing product sales, partially offset by lower reimbursement rates for diabetes testing in China. On a geographic basis, currency neutral sales increased in the Americas and EMEA, partially offset by decreased sales in Asia Pacific. Overall, full-year non-GAAP gross margin was 53.3%, compared to 55% in 2024. Year-over-year margin decline was driven mainly by reduced fixed manufacturing absorption and higher material costs. Full-year non-GAAP SG&A expense was $809 million, or 31.5% of sales, compared to $799 million, or 31.1% in 2024. The increase in dollars of SG&A expense was primarily due to higher employee-related costs.
Full year non-GAAP R&D was $257 million, or 9.9% of sales, versus $282 million or 11% in 2024. The lower year-over-year R&D was primarily due to in-process R&D charges associated with an acquisition in 2024, which resulted in a $30 million IP R&D expense in 2024 and an $8 million charge in 2025. Full year non-GAAP operating margin was 12.1% compared to 12.9% in 2024, which primarily reflects the impact of the gross margin headwinds. Non-GAAP net income was $271 million, or $9.92 diluted earnings per share for full year 2025 versus two hundred and ninety-one million, or $10.31 diluted earnings per share for 2024. Moving on to the balance sheet.
Total cash and short-term investments at the end of Q4 2025 were $1,541 million, compared to $1,665 million at the end of 2024. Inventory at the end of Q4 was $741 million, down from $760 million at the end of 2024. Moving on to cash flow. For the fourth quarter of 2025, net cash generated from operating activities was $165 million, compared to $124 million for Q4 of 2024. For the full year of 2025, net cash generated from operations improved to $532 million versus $455 million in 2024, and was driven by the focused efforts in improving working capital efficiency.
Net capital expenditures for the fourth quarter of 2025 were approximately $46 million, and full year net capital expenditures were $158 million. Depreciation and amortization for the fourth quarter was $36 million and $141 million for the full year. Free cash flow for the fourth quarter was $119 million, which compares to $81 million in Q4 of 2024. For the full year of 2025, free cash flow improved to approximately $375 million versus $290 million for 2024, and represents a free cash flow to non-GAAP net income conversion ratio of 138% for 2025. During 2025, we retired 1.2 million shares through our buyback program at a total cost of approximately $296 million.
Okay, thanks, Roop. So I just thought I'd take a few minutes to close today's call with a few thoughts. Maybe to start out, you know, I think as we enter 2026, you know, we are seeing early signs of stabilization across several of our core markets with NIH and related funding set and steady improvements in biopharma funding. Also on the diagnostic side, there's a return to growth, and in particular, we are seeing stronger demand for our quality control reagents. So if we take all that together, I think we believe these early trends set an encouraging tone for 2026. We do remain highly focused on driving long-term value and are already seeing the impact of an intentional performance-related approach.
Kind of against the dynamic backdrop of last year, you know, Bio-Rad delivered results that reflect both the challenges of the environment, but also, I think, the resilience of our business. The team, I think, successfully mitigated much of the impact on our supply chain from what we saw as shifting trade policies and tariffs, and we delivered, as a result, really strong free cash flow of $375 million for the year, as Ru mentioned. So kind of building on our strong foundation, you know, we're continuing to invest in innovation across our portfolio. You know, not only DDPCR and quality controls, but other products areas, all in an effort to maximize overall growth opportunities.
I would say, supported by a strong balance sheet, you know, we're also looking for additional assets to help accelerate the top line and certainly margin expansion. Just as, you know, one example, I think our success with the Stilla acquisition, this concept of measured scale, it's an example of our renewed focus here. Overall, I guess, top of mind is driving continuous revenue growth and margin expansion through improved sustainable operating performance and cost structure management. You know, I think by committing to these kind of strategic priorities, you know, Bio-Rad can and will achieve enduring success, deliver value to stakeholders and maintain a strong competitive position in the marketplace. I think you should see continued actions from this team around the operational rigor, simplification, and prioritization that we've initiated.
You know, we are moving quickly, but I would say we're also moving thoughtfully to ensure that these changes, at the end of the day, are durable. So that concludes our prepared remarks. Operator, we're now open to take questions.