Life sciences company Azenta (NASDAQ: AZTA) reported Q4 CY2025 results beating Wall Street’s revenue expectations, but sales were flat year on year at $148.6 million. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.14 per share was in line with analysts’ consensus estimates.
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Azenta (AZTA) Q4 CY2025 Highlights:
- Revenue: $148.6 million vs analyst estimates of $147 million (flat year on year, 1.1% beat)
- Adjusted EPS: $0.14 vs analyst estimates of $0.13 (in line)
- Adjusted EBITDA: $12.69 million vs analyst estimates of $17.91 million (8.5% margin, 29.1% miss)
- Operating Margin: -4.9%, up from -7.7% in the same quarter last year
- Free Cash Flow Margin: 9.9%, down from 14.9% in the same quarter last year
- Market Capitalization: $1.7 billion
Company Overview
Serving as the guardian of some of medicine's most valuable materials, Azenta (NASDAQ: AZTA) provides biological sample management, storage, and genomic services that help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies preserve and analyze critical research materials.
Revenue Growth
A company’s long-term sales performance can indicate its overall quality. Any business can have short-term success, but a top-tier one grows for years. Azenta struggled to consistently generate demand over the last five years as its sales dropped at a 2.3% annual rate. This wasn’t a great result and suggests it’s a low quality business.
We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within healthcare, a half-decade historical view may miss recent innovations or disruptive industry trends. Azenta’s annualized revenue declines of 2.7% over the last two years align with its five-year trend, suggesting its demand has consistently shrunk. 
We can better understand the company’s revenue dynamics by analyzing its most important segment, Sample Management. Over the last two years, Azenta’s Sample Management revenue averaged 2.9% year-on-year growth. This segment has outperformed its total sales during the same period, lifting the company’s performance. 
This quarter, Azenta’s $148.6 million of revenue was flat year on year but beat Wall Street’s estimates by 1.1%.
Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 5.4% over the next 12 months, an improvement versus the last two years. This projection is above average for the sector and indicates its newer products and services will spur better top-line performance.
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Operating Margin
Azenta’s high expenses have contributed to an average operating margin of negative 7.3% over the last five years. Unprofitable healthcare companies require extra attention because they could get caught swimming naked when the tide goes out. It’s hard to trust that the business can endure a full cycle.
On the plus side, Azenta’s operating margin rose by 2.2 percentage points over the last five years. This performance was mostly driven by its recent improvements as the company’s margin has increased by 6.1 percentage points on a two-year basis.
This quarter, Azenta generated a negative 4.9% operating margin. The company's consistent lack of profits raise a flag.
Earnings Per Share
Revenue trends explain a company’s historical growth, but the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) points to the profitability of that growth – for example, a company could inflate its sales through excessive spending on advertising and promotions.
Sadly for Azenta, its EPS declined by 18.7% annually over the last five years, more than its revenue. We can see the difference stemmed from higher interest expenses or taxes as the company actually improved its operating margin and repurchased its shares during this time.
In Q4, Azenta reported adjusted EPS of $0.14, up from $0.05 in the same quarter last year. This print beat analysts’ estimates by 3.3%. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects Azenta’s full-year EPS of $0.54 to grow 59.9%.
Key Takeaways from Azenta’s Q4 Results
It was good to see Azenta narrowly top analysts’ revenue expectations this quarter. We were also glad its EPS was in line with Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, this print had some key positives. The market seemed to be hoping for more, and the stock traded down 3.5% to $35.60 immediately after reporting.
Is Azenta an attractive investment opportunity right now? When making that decision, it’s important to consider its valuation, business qualities, as well as what has happened in the latest quarter. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).
