llumina on Thursday forecast core business revenue to be nearly flat in the coming year compared to 2023 amid subdued demand for its genetic testing tools and diagnostics products.
The San Diego-based gene-sequencing machine maker has witnessed a year of sluggish demand for its tools and services due to cautious customer spending and a protracted recovery in its key market, China.
The company’s fourth-quarter revenue was $1.12 billion, compared with analysts’ estimates of $1.09 billion, helped by strong demand for its consumables and DNA sequencing instrument NovaSeq X. It shipped 79 units of the instrument during the quarter and 352 for the full year 2023.
The company said it is focusing its financial outlook on core Illumina, as the specific timing and impact of its divestment of Grail remains uncertain.
Shares fell 2.7% to $139.5 in extended trading. The stock lost more than 30% of its value in 2023.
On an adjusted basis, Illumina earned a per-share profit of 14 cents during the quarter ended Dec. 31, versus analysts’ average estimate of 2 cents.
Illumina said in December that it will divest cancer diagnostic test maker Grail after the companies ran afoul of U.S. and European antitrust enforcers for more than two years and faced fierce opposition from activist investor Carl Icahn.
Terms of the divestiture are expected to be finalized by the second quarter of 2024.
Reuters contributed to this article.