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908 Devices - Earnings Call - Q4 2024

March 4, 2025

Executive Summary

  • Q4 2024 revenue was $18.8M, up 31% year over year and +12% sequential; adjusted EBITDA loss improved to $(6.25)M from $(6.92)M in Q3, while GAAP gross margin declined to 48% on mix (more service and international handheld).
  • Company announced a strategic transformation: divested the desktop bioprocessing portfolio to Repligen for $70M (~6x multiple), eliminating ~$20M annual operating losses and reducing headcount ~33%, sharpening focus on higher-growth handheld markets.
  • 2025 guidance (continuing ops): revenue $53–55M (reported $54–56M incl. ~$1M desktop in Q1), adjusted gross margin mid-to-high 50s, adjusted EBITDA positive by Q4 2025, ending 2025 cash >$110M; acceleration to >20% revenue growth expected in 2026 on equipment modernization, MX908 next-gen, and AVCAD full-rate production.
  • International demand and recurring revenue were strong: 39% of Q4 revenue was recurring; notable orders included 90 FTIR devices for Finland and 27 MX908 devices for Romania, supporting the handheld-led growth narrative.

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well

  • Double-digit top-line momentum: Q4 revenue +31% YoY to $18.8M; full-year 2024 revenue +19% to $59.6M, with handhelds +22% YoY and recurring revenue +42% YoY (39% of FY revenue).
  • Strategic portfolio focus: $70M sale of desktop assets to Repligen, eliminating ~$20M in annual operating losses and aligning resources to handheld markets; management expects adjusted EBITDA positive by Q4 2025 and cash flow positive in 2026.
  • Strong demand indicators: Q4 placements rose to 219 handhelds and 32 desktops; installed base reached 3,504; management highlighted Finland (90 FTIR devices) and Romania (27 MX908 devices) orders as proof points.

What Went Wrong

  • Margin compression: GAAP gross margin fell to 48% in Q4 (from 51% YoY and 53% in Q2) due to higher service mix and international handheld sales; operating expenses surged on a non-cash goodwill impairment.
  • Profitability still negative: Q4 net loss widened to $(19.4)M vs $(7.4)M YoY; adjusted EBITDA was a $(6.25)M loss (albeit improved vs Q3).
  • 2024 guidance reset earlier: full-year revenue guidance was reduced at Q3 (to $56–58M) from Q2 (to $63–65M) due to delayed federal budgets, international contract timing, and bioprocessing softness; final FY revenue came in at $59.6M.
View the full earnings report

Transcript

Speaker 0

Thank you for your patience as we work on preparations for the 908 Devices fourth quarter 2024 financial results. We appreciate your attendance today. As we await the start, we encourage you to consider any questions you might have. During the Q&A segment, you can press star followed by one on your keypad to ask your question. We'll be starting shortly. Hello and welcome to the 908 Devices fourth quarter 2024 financial results. My name is Becky and I'll be your operator today. During the presentation, you can register a question by pressing star followed by one on your keypad. If you change your mind, please press star followed by two. I will now hand over to your host, Kelly Gura, Investor Relations, to begin. Please go ahead.

Speaker 2

Thank you. This morning, 908 Devices released financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2024. If you've not received this news release or if you'd like to be added to the company's distribution list, please send an email to [email protected]. Joining me today from 908 is Kevin Knopp, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, and Joe Griffith, Chief Financial Officer. Today's call includes a slide presentation, which is suitable to those joining via webcast. The slides will also be available after the call ends at IR.908devices.com under the menu header Events and Presentations. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that management will make statements during this call that are forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. These statements involve material risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to materially differ from those anticipated.

Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties appears in this section entitled Forward-Looking Statements in the Press Release 908 Devices issued today. For a more complete list and description, please see the risk factors section of the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and in its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, 908 Devices disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any financial projections or forward-looking statements whether because of new information, future events, or otherwise. This conference call contains time-sensitive information and is accurate only as of the live broadcast March 4, 2025. With that, I would like to turn the call over to Kevin.

Speaker 1

Thanks, Kelly. Good morning and thank you for joining our fourth quarter and full year 2024 earnings call. We have a lot of exciting updates to share today, so let's kick things off with a look at our agenda. Today, we are taking a decisive step forward to focus our efforts and dramatically improve our financial profile with the announcement of the divestiture of our desktop file processing portfolio to Repligen. I would like to take some time to walk through a set of slides that clearly outlines the strategic transformation of 908 Devices through this divestiture and the immense value creation we feel it catalyzes. I will then hand the call over to Joe to walk through our Q4 and 2024 results, as well as the compelling financial profile of our continuing operation.

Finally, I'll close the call with a review of why we believe our actions and new trajectory have fortified the thesis for our investors. Before we dive in, I want to say that I am so proud of the 908 Devices team for continuing to execute, staying focused on our customers, and delivering a solid close to the year. This includes the successful commercial integration of RedWave. Revenue from acquired RedWave products came in slightly ahead of our initial post-acquisition target of $11 million and was an important contributor to our Q4 and full year performance. In so many ways, that was the first step of the transformation we are talking about today. The strategic transformation we're unveiling today is a bold leap forward, sharpening our focus, strengthening our financial position, and accelerating profitability.

We are doubling down on our higher growth handheld markets, aligning with key industry tailwinds in opioid crisis response, defense, and border security. At the same time, we're making decisive moves. Divesting our biopharma desktop portfolio to Repligen for $70 million nearly doubles our cash reserves and eliminates any financing or NIH healthcare-related overhang. This paves the way for positive adjusted EBITDA by Q4 2025 and cash flow positivity in 2026, driven by stronger margins and a more streamlined, agile operation. Importantly, as we have a platform technology, we retain flexibility to operate in broader life science markets, ensuring long-term growth opportunities beyond the divested bioprocessing PAT segment. Let me walk you through each of these four areas in more detail.

908 Devices is receiving $70 million in cash from Repligen for the asset purchase of four desktop PAT products, Maven, Maverick, Rebel, and ZipChip, having a combined installed base of over 450 units. These products generated $11.9 million in revenue in 2024, with the sale reflecting a strong 6X multiple, underscoring the differentiation of this innovative technology. The deal includes Repligen assuming lease obligations for our Morrisville, North Carolina, and Brunswick, Germany sites. Most PAT dedicated team members, including Chief Product Officer Chris Brown, will transition to Repligen, reducing our total headcount by about one-third from 246 to approximately 165. In the coming weeks, we'll collaborate closely with Repligen to ensure a seamless transition. We're excited to continue as a key supplier of mass spec components and to see our cutting-edge desktop portfolio thrive under a global bioprocessing leader.

This divestment of the desktop portfolio catalyzes value creation as it sharpens our focus on our highest growth handheld markets, where revenue growth has outpaced our desktop devices by approximately 2X since our 2020 IPO. There are three important points here that I'd like to make. First, there's unprecedented opportunity ahead for our handheld devices with secular tailwinds aligning in our favor, unlike anything I've seen in more than 20 years in this industry. The market is attractive, growing as estimated to reach $2.5 billion by 2027. Second, with the RedWave acquisition last year, we now have a comprehensive set of handheld products to fully address the opportunity ahead. We expanded our handheld device offering, growing from one device to a portfolio of four, with more on the near horizon.

The proceeds from the divestiture secure our balance sheet, giving us flexibility to pursue new growth opportunities for our broad platform, including through partnerships. Today, we have a solid foundation of OEM and funded partnerships, including an industrial QAQC and pharma. Our Repligen relationship now adds to this. Our focus enables a step change in our projected financials and positions us to accelerate top-line growth. For 2025, we expect revenue from continuing operations to be in the range of $53-$55 million, growing 11%-15% compared to the prior year. We expect this growth to be a baseline that accelerates above 20% in 2026. I'll share more about the catalysts we expect to drive this acceleration in a few minutes.

We are also targeting adjusted gross margins in the mid to high 50% range for 2025, improving over last year, with further expansion in 2026 following our planned manufacturing consolidation in Connecticut. We now expect to be kind of adjusted EBITDA positive by Q4 of this year and to become cash flow positive for the full year of 2026, supported by our facility consolidation and reduction in headcount. Finally, this divestiture greatly strengthens our balance sheet, providing a healthy margin of safety as we expect to end the year with more than $110 million in cash as we drive towards full year cash flow breakeven in 2026. Taken together, we think our financial trajectory is now pretty compelling. Now, I'd like to shift gears and reintroduce you to our handheld devices and give a big picture perspective of the overall opportunity.

Since our founding, 908 Devices has taken on hard challenges developing innovative platform instrument technologies with broad use cases. We are an analytical instrumentation company. We create next-generation tools designed specifically for point-of-need use in vital health and safety contexts. Our products serve a multitude of critical-to-life use cases, including the fentanyl and opioid crisis, with users spanning from frontline workers to law enforcement and including informing life safety, with their use to detect and identify toxic industrial materials and volatile organic compounds to help prevent acute exposure of emergency personnel to these carcinogens. Being a platform technology, we continue to see opportunity across broader life science applications, some of which we are addressing today through OEM and other funded partnerships. At our core is our MX908 device.

It introduced a completely new product class that moved mass spectrometry out of the confines of the lab and to the point of need, bringing true lab-grade results to the field for the first time. Following its full year of introduction in 2018 through 2024, it has delivered a revenue figure of 21%. We now have over 2,800 devices fielded, but in so many ways, I feel like we're just getting started. Our portfolio has expanded significantly over the past 10 months from this one device to four handheld devices today, and there's unprecedented macro drivers aligning the global needs in our favor. We are facing global threats to public health and safety on a scale that we've not seen before. To start, the opioid crisis is evolving, now encompassing other illicit drugs and synthetic substances. Emerging threats like nicotines, xylazine, and pink cocaine are spreading globally.

Undetectable precursor chemicals designed to bypass regulations and screening are fueling the rise of synthetic opioids. In 2023, overdose deaths exceeded 100,000, making it the leading cause of injury-related fatalities, surpassing auto accidents. This figure is likely underestimated as the crisis extends beyond fentanyl. These preventable poisonings have led to the renewal of the nationwide public health emergency this past June. Addressing this challenge requires adaptable detection and identification technology, and we believe our MX908 is well-suited for the task. Beyond the opioid crisis, the prevalence of toxic industrial materials is exploding. In California alone, the proliferation of these cancer-causing materials in consumer products is causing more than 5,000 tons of hazardous VOCs to be released annually. The recent California wildfires burned synthetic materials from furniture, clothing, and building materials, along with lithium-ion batteries from vehicles and consumer electronics.

In such environments or in everyday house fires, emergency professionals can receive acute exposures to carcinogens. Cancer is the leading cause of work-related deaths in the EU and accounts for 72% of firefighter line-of-duty deaths in the U.S. Detecting and mitigating acute carcinogen exposure is critical. It requires broad and sensitive gas detection, which we believe our Explorer IR device and its underlying FTIR technology uniquely addresses. Now, each of these on their own is a large-scale concern, but if you consider the access and availability of such materials and the rising of global tensions, you can see the global security concern. With evolving technologies for AI-driven chemical synthesis and novel delivery methods like drones, it's becoming an imperative to modernize detection equipment to address this evolving threat scape. To support this, funding is needed. Aggregate public safety spending has shown to be robust both in the U.S. and globally.

We believe the unprecedented macro needs will drive an even further increase in funding. Last year, 23 NATO allies met the minimum target of investing more than 2% of their GDP in defense, compared to only three allies in 2014. 20% of this defense funding is targeted for equipment modernization. This increase is in part attributed to U.S. foreign policy. Importantly, indications are that the new Trump administration will prioritize spending on the border, customs, military law, and drug enforcement, which will likely spur similar spending globally. We now have a comprehensive portfolio of devices to capture the massive opportunity ahead. Our modern tools can be used in concert to provide exceptional coverage: hundreds of trace analytes, thousands of toxic gases, tens of thousands of bulk compounds. They provide a broad analytes panel and offer detection to ID, from air and aerosols to surfaces, piles, and puddles.

Together, our devices form a fast and comprehensive toolkit to support our customers' full workflow. Importantly, we are doing more with the data and analytics our devices provide to support our customers and enable them to identify trends and better manage their fleet of devices. I'm really excited for the roadmap we have in this area, and over time, we expect this to be sticky and a driver of increased pull-through. These products fit into a landscape of detection and chemical awareness tools used by our customers that can be split into two broad categories. The first is low-tech sensor-based products that provide a minimally selective response with no ID capabilities and are valid for a few analytes, think test strips and smoke alarm tests. The second is advanced chemical detection. The major participants in this portion of the market are life science tools and analytical instrument companies.

We are competitively positioned with modern products spanning advanced detection applications, offering customers a single source for hardware and support. Our competitive positioning is a result of our culture of innovation. With our new broader portfolio of handheld devices and continued innovation, we are setting up for accelerated growth supported by three clearly defined catalysts. First is equipment modernization. With the macro drivers supporting demand across all our handheld devices and an estimated 15,000 outdated FTIR products in need of upgrades, we see a significant near-term opportunity. As of year-end, FTIR products are now fully integrated into our commercial operation and are already contributing positively to our pilot and enterprise opportunity pipeline. Across all handhelds, we now have 18 accounts engaged in pilot programs, representing a potential of 700 units, a seven-fold increase since the end of 2023.

In enterprise accounts, we've expanded to 34 accounts with over 1,100 units in active opportunities, up from 22 accounts and 1,000 units at year-end 2023. Second is the planned launch of our next-generation handheld mass spec in 2026. This next-generation product will provide a step change in performance and simplicity. We are targeting a near 50% reduction in size and weight, a lower cost of goods, and a higher pull-through opportunity through consumables and connected services. With more than 2,800 MX908 devices fielded, we plan to spawn an upgrade cycle with this product launch. Third is the next phase of AvCat. For over a decade, we have partnered with Smith's Detection to develop a next-generation chemical detector for the U.S. Department of Defense AvCat program. Over the last 18 months, we have delivered more than 100 component sets to Smith's in support of the initial low-rate production phase.

This year, we expect to receive notice to proceed to full-rate production and begin to ramp deliveries. At full production, we have the potential to reach more than $10 million of annual revenue from this program. We believe these three defined catalysts, coupled with our alignment to powerful secular trends, including the fentanyl and opioid crisis, the global rise in defense budgets, and the U.S. border crisis, will propel our growth near and long term. Collectively, our technologies comprise a broad analytical instrumentation platform. With our announcement today, we are focusing on our core handheld applications. That said, we do recognize that there is a sizable additional opportunity in pharma and other applied markets that can be efficiently unlocked through partnerships. Beyond government programs and integrations, we see future tangential areas of opportunity for our handhelds in GMP QAQC, industrial hygiene and environmental monitoring, and other applied markets.

We have a presence through existing OEM supplier relationships in the industrial QAQC and pharma space, and now we are a supplier and partner to Repligen as well. Post our divestiture of our desktops, OEM and funded partnerships will make up nearly 5% of 2025 continuing operations revenues, but importantly, they represent a foothold for future growth and market expansion. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Joe to review our Q4 and full year 2024 results and our outlook for 2025. Thanks, Kevin. Starting with our fourth quarter results, revenue for the fourth quarter 2024 was $18.8 million, up 31% from $14.4 million in the prior year period, primarily driven by an increase in handheld device revenue. This included approximately $4.9 million of revenue from our acquired FTIR products. Notably, during the fourth quarter, we received significant international orders for our handheld devices.

This included an order from Finland for 90 FTIR devices as part of an EU strategic stockpile program, which was partially recognized in the fourth quarter. We also shipped 27 MX908 devices to the General Customs Directorate of Romania. As Kevin mentioned, we are seeing strong engagement in pilot programs, and it was exciting to see some of these opportunities transition into enterprise accounts in the fourth quarter. Handheld revenue was $13.6 million for the fourth quarter 2024, up 22% from $11.1 million for the fourth quarter 2023. This increase was driven primarily by revenue related to our recently acquired FTIR products, offset by a $1 million decrease in AvCat and a mix shift in MX908 shipments towards international opportunities, which have a lower ASP. We shipped 219 handheld devices in the fourth quarter, up from 116 devices in the fourth quarter of 2023, bringing our installed base to 3,015.

Revenue from our desktop products for the fourth quarter 2024 was $5 million, increasing 56% from $3.2 million in the prior year period, driven by OEM and partnership opportunities. In total, 32 desktop devices were placed in the fourth quarter. We ended the fourth quarter 2024 with a cumulative handheld and desktop installed base of 3,504 devices, up 23% from 2,853 at the end of the fourth quarter 2023. Recurring revenue, which consists of consumables, accessories, and service revenue, represented 39% of total revenues this quarter and was $7.4 million, a 56% or $2.7 million increase over the prior year period, largely driven by service. Recurring revenue in the fourth quarter consisted of $4.3 million related to handhelds and $3.1 million related to desktops. Gross profit was $9.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $7.3 million for the prior year period.

Gross margin was 48% for the fourth quarter 2024, compared to 51% for the prior year period. Adjusted gross profit was $10 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $7.5 million for the prior year period. Adjusted gross margin was 54%, as compared to 53% for the prior year period. The slight uptick in gross margin was primarily due to leverage on our fixed costs with higher overall revenues in the fourth quarter, offset by the impact of a higher mix of service revenue and international sales and handhelds, both contributing to a lower gross margin. Total operating expenses for the fourth quarter of 2024 were $29.4 million, compared to $17 million in the prior year period.

The increase in operating expenses was driven by a $10.1 million non-cash goodwill impairment charge, a $2.8 million increase in operating expenses primarily related to RedWave, and a $500,000 increase in stock-based compensation. This was offset in part by a $1.1 million credit for an adjustment to the valuation of our contingent consideration liability. Excluding the impact of the non-cash goodwill impairment charge and contingent consideration liability, total operating expenses for the fourth quarter of 2024 increased $3.3 million. Net loss for the fourth quarter of 2024 was $19.4 million, compared to $7.4 million in the prior year period. This increase was largely due to the $10.1 million non-cash charge for an impairment of goodwill. Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter was a loss of $6.2 million, compared to $7 million for the prior year period. Now moving on to our full year results.

Revenue for the full year 2024 was $59.6 million, increasing 19% from $50.2 million for the full year 2023. This was primarily driven by an increase in revenues from our FTIR products, which generated $11.2 million of RedWave revenue. Handheld revenue was $46.1 million for the full year 2024, up 22% from $37.9 million for the full year 2023. Revenue from our desktop products for the full year 2024 was $13.2 million, increasing 10% from $12 million for the full year 2023. Recurring revenue, which consists of consumables, accessories, and service revenue, represents 39% of total revenues this year and was $23.3 million, a 42% or $6.8 million increase over the prior year period, largely driven by service and OEM revenues. Recurring revenue in full year 2024 consisted of $14.4 million related to handhelds and $8.9 million related to desktops.

Gross profit was $29.9 million for the full year 2024, compared to $25.3 million for the full year 2023. Gross margin was 50% for the full year 2024, flat compared to the full year 2023. Adjusted gross profit was $32.8 million for the full year 2024, compared to $26.3 million for the full year 2023. Adjusted gross margin was 55%, as compared to 52% for the full year 2023. The increase in gross margin was partly due to improved service gross margins, which increased over 1,200 basis points for the full year 2024, and to a lesser extent, higher levels of product revenue. Total operating expenses for the full year 2024 were $106.6 million, compared to $68.1 million in full year 2023. The increase in operating expenses was driven by a $40.7 million non-cash goodwill impairment charge, the inclusion of operating expenses related to RedWave and stock-based compensation.

This was offset in part by a $13.2 million credit for an adjustment to the valuation of our contingent consideration liability. Net loss for the full year 2024 was $72.2 million, compared to $36.4 million in the full year 2023. This increase was largely due to the $40.7 million non-cash charge for an impairment of goodwill. Adjusted EBITDA for the full year 2024 was a loss of $29.6 million, compared to $30 million for the full year 2023. We ended 2024 with $69.6 million in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, with no debt outstanding. We consumed approximately $2 million of cash in the fourth quarter of 2024. Today, we announced the sale of our desktop portfolio for $70 million.

These net proceeds, combined with the streamlined cost structures we implemented in Q4 and our growth drivers for 2025 and beyond, give us confidence we will cross over to cash flow breakeven on a full year basis in 2026 with a healthy cash balance. Looking ahead in 2025, we expect revenue from continuing operations to be in the range of $53 million-$55 million, representing growth of 11%-15% over full year 2024 revenue from continuing operations. In addition, we expect to recognize approximately $1 million of desktop revenues in Q1, which brings our expected 2025 total revenue to be in the range of $54 million-$56 million. Moving forward, we will report revenue across three categories, with our 2025 guidance aligned to this structure.

For 2025, first, we expect handheld product and service revenue to grow 11%-15% year over year, which equates to a range of $51 million-$53 million. Second, we expect OEM and funded partnerships, including contract revenue, to be approximately $2 million. Third, we are not assuming any meaningful revenue contribution from the U.S. Department of Defense AvCat program in 2025, as we completed the initial low-rate production deliveries in Q3 2024 and are preparing for potential full-rate production in 2026. As Kevin shared earlier, we expect total revenue growth to accelerate above 20% in 2026, driven by our three growth catalysts. Moving down the P&L, we expect adjusted gross margins to increase to the mid to high 50s range for full year 2025, with further expansion in 2026, following our planned manufacturing consolidation in Connecticut.

We expect to become adjusted EBITDA positive by Q4 of this year and reach cash flow positivity in 2026, supported by our facility consolidation, combined with the desktop portfolio divestiture, which includes an approximate 33% reduction in headcount. Finally, this divestiture meaningfully strengthens our balance sheet, and we expect to exit 2025 with more than $110 million in cash and cash equivalents, up from $70 million at the end of 2024. At this point, I would like to turn the call back to Kevin. Thanks, Joe. Today marks a transformative moment of value creation for 908 Devices. I could not be more excited about the road ahead. We are laser-focused on tackling the most urgent public health and safety crises of our time: fentanyl, carcinogens, and other critical security threats.

No one is better positioned than 908 Devices to lead this space, and we are seizing the opportunity with conviction as this is a unique moment in time. We have taken bold steps to reshape our cost structure, and by Q4, we expect to be adjusted EBITDA positive, setting the stage for a projected full year cash flow positivity in 2026. The momentum is building, following our strong Q4, and our revenue growth forecast of 11%-15% in 2025 paves the way for 20% plus growth in 2026. With a secured balance sheet, nearly doubling our cash reserves and removing any financing overhead concerns, we are well equipped to fuel innovation, scale operations, and execute on our vision. We're not just evolving; the strategic transformation we announced today is really the launch of 908 Devices 2.0.

To close, I think it is now clear as to why we believe our actions taken and new trajectory have fortified the thesis for our investors. With that, we'll now open it up to questions. Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press Star followed by 1 on your telephone keypad now. If for any reason you want to remove a question, please press Star followed by 2. When preparing to ask your question, please ensure your device is unmuted locally. Our first question is from Dan Arias from Stifel. Your line is now open. Please go ahead. Good morning, guys. Thank you. Kevin, within that set of ancillary opportunities that exist for the handhelds, which do you think are the most accessible in the near and the midterm? And then along those lines, can you maybe talk specifically about pharma?

You know, there are applications that seem nicely aligned with what you offer, but those can be tough nuts to crack, so to speak, in terms of penetration. Curious to hear just how optimistic you are there. Yeah, absolutely. Thanks, Dan. Yeah, really, we're repositioning ourselves to capture these highest growth, highest margin opportunities in the technology today for the handhelds. As you put it right, the core applications for us are the fentanyl response, the opioid crisis, measuring toxic industrial materials across the board with our FTIR products. All of that couples into security concerns. These are here and now applications that we are indeed serving. We do have a continued service of life science customers in the near term. We're doing that really through OEM and partnership agreements today. Areas like reaction monitoring and small molecule analysis, we do through partnership today.

If you think forward for where our handhelds can go, you're right, there is a tremendous amount of opportunity we see there doing things like cleaning validation or GMP incoming materials inspection and purity analysis. Those could take time. Absolutely, our focus today is around those core applications of the fentanyl, the carcinogens, and the associated security threats and concerns. Okay. I mean, obviously government budgets and just government organizations in general are pretty up in the air right now. To what extent has the guide for the year accounted for the downsizing that's taking place, the fact that spending is pretty hung up right now, and just general uncertainty that you have at the federal level? Do you feel like there's a level of conservatism embedded when it comes to that stuff? Thanks.

Yeah, definitely a lot of uncertainty in today's world, but we do believe our initial 2025 guide adequately reflects our assumptions for government funding, taking into account various puts and takes within the year. It's a bit challenging today to determine how the 2025 funding environment will compare to last year, but we feel the guidance range is appropriate. We do mention and see potential tailwinds from the increased focus on the border security and combating the fentanyl crisis. We aren't including any aggressive assumptions in our initial guidance that we put out there today. Yeah, maybe if I just add on to that, Dan. About a third of our business comes from the U.S. federal government and military-style accounts. Another third comes from state and local accounts, and the last third being from international. As Joe said, we do see tailwinds across some of these segments.

You're right, there is a little bit of a timing new administration coming into form. We certainly believe we are well aligned to the priorities of that administration. Again, fentanyl response, the foreign policy further drives use and need from international customers as a little bit of a rippling effect there. We announced on the call today a couple of examples of that with a large-scale order to Finland with our Protector devices, as well as to Romania. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Our next question is from Puneet Souda from Leerink Partners. Your line is now open. Please go ahead. Yeah, hi, Kevin. Joe, thanks for taking the questions. The first one is, I mean, I appreciate the upside to the balance sheet and cash flow being positive now, but you were taking a long-term view on the healthcare business.

Trying to understand sort of how the process evolved here, how things came about. Was this a competitive process? I mean, I do not see you having a large academic position, so I do not think NIH impact was part of that. Obviously, markets, the macro has been tough in bioprocess, I mean, overall in biopharma as well. I understand that, but just trying to understand how the process came about and if you could provide any more details. Yeah, happy to. Thank you for that question. Yeah, absolutely. We really do believe there is quite a bright future for this set of products, the whole space of the PAT initiative that we have worked to really develop these four class-leading products, in our opinion, that now we have sold those assets to Repligen.

We do believe that while it's a large market and while we had a strong Q4 performance, it does take time to develop those markets. We're absolutely subscale in that area for us. It represents about one-fifth of our total business in 2024. If you look forward to where our handhelds have been positioned, in the last year, we expanded from one handheld to four handhelds. If you look back in time, our one handheld grew at a 20% CAGR between its initial launch and last year, 2024. If you look at the three new handhelds we've added, those had had strong pro forma growth in 2024 of 17%.

I think when you look at it in total, we see a massive opportunity for both areas of our business and really believe we could unlock more through this process with Repligen by separating the business at this time. We really do see that there's a lot of conviction here around the highest growth, highest margin opportunity with our handheld devices. You further lay on the secular trends, it makes this decision very clear. Of course, what that transposes into is the financial benefits for us. Yes, from a process approach, we were approached by a potential acquirer. We ran a process, a competitive bidding process, received multiple bids, and Repligen won out, which I personally am excited for because I do think it's a great fit for our technologies and the people that will be driving it forward. Got it. Thanks for that.

There are a number of noise in the marketplace right now in regards to tariffs. I just want to clarify anything you're baking in for tariffs for Canada and Mexico. Also, if you could elaborate the MX908 installed in the quarter, I'm not sure if I heard that correctly. What are the expectations for the handheld and MX908 in the full year guide? Maybe just real quick on the tariffs, right? So much news out there and uncertainty on the tariff side. Canada and Mexico going into effect today. We're definitely going to let it shake out, and we are monitoring it closely. We are seeing traction with our international customers and are focused on providing the unique capabilities of our technologies.

If there are significant tariffs and they kick in for an extended period of time, then it may have some impact on our international opportunities as we continue to expand. On the supplier side, we're primarily U.S.-based materials and production with sourcing, so there might be some impact, but not as much on the insourcing side. Talking about placements and kind of how we finished up the year, kind of overall with the FTIR and MX908 combined, it was a really exciting year as far as placements, especially with FTIR stepping up in the back half. We see growth across both placements. We'll continue to report them on a combined basis moving forward, but great placements. The Romania opportunity was MX908-driven, and the Protector was FTIR-driven with 90 and an order in Q4. Great opportunity for growth, excited by the multiple products and driving those to market.

Got it. All right. Thanks, guys. I'll hop back in a few. Thank you. Our next question is from Chad Wiatrowski from TD Cowen. Your line is now open. Please go ahead. Hey, guys. Chad on for Brendan Smith. I know you're investing R&D dollars into an MX908 2.0 in the next couple of years, expected to be released. Did progress there or the opportunity there give you that extra conviction to feel like you could be opportunistic about selling the bioprocessing portfolio? And could you just kind of outline what improvements you're focusing on and what that upgrade cycle could look like? Yeah, sure. Happy to, Chad. Yeah, that's definitely an element of our conviction. If you step back, I mean, we really have a strong roadmap of futures. The next generation of MX is part of that. That's one of the three growth catalysts we called out.

Another product called AvCat is a third growth catalyst we called out. I would bring you back to the first growth catalyst, which is we moved massively from having one product, as we said here, a year ago to now having four on the market. That first growth catalyst fundamentally for us is execution. Now that by the end of last year, we've gotten those products fully into our commercial channel. We see a tremendous opportunity there to take those RedWave Technology products, the FTIR-based products into the market. We estimate there's about 15,000 FTIRs in the market that are a bit dated and could use modernization. As well, our MX908 has a fielded install base of 2,800 devices. You're right that as we get the next-gen MX out, we do expect it to spawn an upgrade cycle.

Our customers expect to have useful lifes of in the five- to seven-year capital equipment cycles. We're well into that now with our current first generation of the MX908, which is still very much a class-leading product. You're right that with the performance gains that we expect to be about 50% the size, importantly simpler to use, and then have more opportunity to leverage some of the connected services. We have a software program called Team Leader that allows fleet management that we leverage across our FTIR technologies, and we're looking to build more and more out. A very exciting roadmap is how I see it on the innovation front and a compelling set of products that are here and now that we can execute on. As RedWave's executing, I know there's some earnouts in that acquisition. Are they on track to receive those earnouts?

Yeah, they are tracking. Within the contingent valuation, it's through April of 2026 that the opportunity runs through. It's accumulative through that date. There's different thresholds. Yes, we're excited at the traction and what lays ahead. We'll need a strong year here in 2025 and into 2026 to achieve, but it's still in the cards, which I think if they're able to achieve, we all win and achieve from a revenue growth perspective. It's fairly aggressive growth, if you recall, in those earnouts. Post-acquisition in 2024, we saw over $11 million. I think it was $11.2 million. Good start out of the gate. Really, as we ramp and have integrated the commercial channels at this point, see a key opportunity here in 2025 and beyond. Thanks for the questions, guys. Thank you. Our next question is from Matt Leroy from William Blair.

Your line is now open. Please go ahead. Hi, thanks. This is Jacob Krahenbuhl on for Matt. Thanks for the questions here. I wanted to start on the divestment of the desktop assets. Appreciate that you gave some of the profitability targets in the press release and the path to break even there. Just as we look at the long-term P&L and margin structure as now more of a pure-play forensics player versus bioprocessing, a combination of the two bioprocessing forensics, can you just help us think about what the long-term P&L and margin structure should look like? Sure. Yeah, happy to. Part of the key rationale for the divestiture was the fact that the desktop segment is still subscale as part of mass within our walls and required a significant cost burden to continue to grow.

As a result, the divestiture will be eliminating roughly $20 million in annualized operating losses for 908. We expect to be adjusted EBITDA positive in Q4 this year and cash flow positive for the full year 2026. Our revenue growth has been historically back half-weighted, so Q4 is often the strongest quarter of the year. I think our business will continue to remain back half-weighted, especially with the government spending timelines as we see it today. I think as we think about the opportunity, this really transforms 908, focus on profitability and a clear path to get there. Gross margin improvement, continued leverage is an opportunity for 2026, 2027, and beyond with some of the key growth drivers that Kevin laid out. Got it. Thanks. Obviously now after the divestment, you're flush with cash on the balance sheet.

Just kind of wondering what your priority for investment is going forward now. Do you see adding sales and marketing resources as a high ROI opportunity or just kind of given the sales process of selling into the forensics market? Maybe that's not the highest ROI, so maybe it's R&D initiatives that you couldn't necessarily invest in before, but now you can with the extra cash, or maybe it's M&As that better use and more tuck-ins down the road like RedWave to kind of grow the bagged products and tech and services that you can sell on the same account. Just kind of wondering what your priority for investment is with now the extra cash. Yeah, a good challenge to have, right? We think through best to deploy proceeds and manage our investments. Definitely focused organically, I'd say in the near term.

We expect to exit 2025, as we mentioned, with over $110 million. We are targeting the full year adjusted EBITDA positively in 2026. We do feel like the go-forward organization is right-sized with the forensics business to our goals from a top-line growth and profitability perspective across selling and marketing R&D. Yeah. Maybe if I just add on to that, Joe, I mean, we're very excited that the balance sheet has taken a fundamental dramatic increase change here step, and then that connected with the cost. We do not expect to be in the need of cash or depleting such a balance. We said we'd end the year with over $110 million of cash in the balance sheet. It's great because it does give us flexibility to pursue particular opportunities where maybe we're a little more hamstrung if a position or two comes up as we go.

As Joe said, we're feeling very comfortable with the size of our commercial organization today. If you remember, it was a separate commercialization group compared to our desktop efforts. It is a standalone, very experienced government sales-driven team of about 30 individuals. Great team there. From an M&A side, super happy with how the RedWave integration has been going. Super happy about that. We're happy that we exceeded the initial post-acquisition target that we put out to the street of $11 million. We just slightly ticked over that. Super happy about that. The integration now, as at the end of the last year, is really fully done in terms of the commercial team and having it in our hands of our commercial team that can be kind of a force multiplier now to the efforts that RedWave started. We'll certainly have our eyes open.

We'll continue to be opportunistic and see if there are things that are very synergistic and align with this financial profile. As Joe said, the organic effort that's in front of us, we have a lot now that really that we can execute upon. Awesome. Thanks for the questions, guys. Thank you. We currently have no further questions, so I'll hand back to Kevin for closing remarks. All right. Thank you. Thank you, everyone, for joining us on the call today. Very important call in a step of the journey for 908 Devices. Very excited to tell you a little bit about how we see this transforming our business and making a much stronger, compelling financial profile for it. We really see a lot of conviction around the growth with the secular trends. I appreciate you taking the time to learn about it.

It was a bit of an introduction of 908 Devices 2.0. Thank you for that. This concludes today's call. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your line.

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