Azenta, Inc. (AZTA): BCG Matrix [Dec-2025 Updated]

You're looking for a clear-eyed view of Azenta, Inc.'s (AZTA) business portfolio as of late 2025, and the BCG Matrix is defintely the right tool to map where capital should flow. We've mapped out where the action is: Stars like Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) Services are surging with 50% volume growth, while the Core Sample Management Solutions business acts as the reliable Cash Cow, pulling in $86 million in Q4 revenue with a 49.3% gross margin. Still, we must watch the Dogs, tied to older tech showing year-over-year decline, and the Question Marks, like the smaller but fast-growing Multiomics segment at 10% organic growth, which needs careful funding decisions given the company's overall -18.45% net margin. Dive in below to see exactly which parts of Azenta, Inc. deserve your next dollar and which ones might be draining resources.

Background of Azenta, Inc. (AZTA)

Azenta, Inc. is a key provider of life sciences solutions, focusing on cold-chain biological sample management, storage, and multiomics services for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, academic, and healthcare clients across North America, Europe, and Asia. The company is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts.

For the full fiscal year 2025, which ended on September 30, 2025, Azenta, Inc. reported total revenue from continuing operations of $594 million, marking a 4% increase year-over-year. Organic revenue growth, which excludes foreign exchange impacts, was 3% for the full year.

The company's operations are primarily divided into two segments: Sample Management Solutions (SMS) and Multiomics. In fiscal 2025, SMS generated revenue of $325 million, up 2% from the prior year, with organic revenue growth of only 1%. This segment's growth was driven by Clinical Biostores, Consumables and Instruments, and Sample Storage, though offset by lower revenue in Cryogenic Systems and Automated Stores.

The Multiomics segment showed stronger top-line performance, reporting revenue of $269 million for fiscal 2025, a 6% increase year-over-year. Specifically, the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 saw Multiomics revenue increase by 11% reported and 10% organically, largely due to growth in Next Generation Sequencing and Gene Synthesis services.

Profitability metrics showed significant improvement as the company executed on its transformation initiatives. For fiscal 2025, Azenta, Inc. achieved an Adjusted EBITDA of $66 million, resulting in an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 11.2%. This represented a substantial margin expansion of 310 basis points compared to the previous year.

Financially, Azenta, Inc. maintained a strong liquidity position at the close of fiscal 2025, ending the year with a total balance of cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and marketable securities amounting to $546 million.

Looking ahead into fiscal 2026, management projects continued, albeit measured, growth, anticipating core organic revenue growth in the range of 3% to 5%. Furthermore, the company is targeting an additional Adjusted EBITDA margin expansion of approximately 300 basis points relative to the fiscal 2025 results.

Azenta, Inc. (AZTA) - BCG Matrix: Stars

Stars are defined by having high market share in a growing market. Stars are the leaders in the business but still need a lot of support for promotion a placement. If market share is kept, Stars are likely to grow into cash cows. The business units or products with the best market share and generating the most cash are considered Stars. Monopolies and first-to-market products are frequently termed Stars too. However, because of their high growth rate, Stars consume large amounts of cash. This generally results in the same amount of money coming in that is going out. Stars can eventually become Cash Cows if they sustain their success until a time when a high-growth market slows down. A key tenet of a Boston Consulting Group (BCG) strategy for growth is to invest in Stars'

The Multiomics segment, driven by high-growth sub-segments, is a clear Star candidate, showing robust top-line acceleration in the latest reported quarter. This segment achieved record revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025. The overall company reported total revenue of $159.19 million for Q4 2025, with the Multiomics segment contributing $73 million, which is 46% of the total quarterly revenue. This segment's performance is key to the company's growth narrative.

The Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) Services within Multiomics is a primary engine for this growth. You saw sequencing volume rise by 50% year-over-year in Q4 2025. For context, in Q2 2025, NGS services alone had shown 20% year-over-year growth. This indicates sustained, high-velocity adoption in this specific service area.

The Sample Management segment, which houses Clinical Biostores and Sample Repository Solutions, also shows characteristics of a Star, particularly in its high-growth service offerings. While the overall Sample Management Solutions (SMS) revenue was $86 million in Q4 2025 (a 2% reported increase year-over-year), the growth within specific services like Clinical Biostores is what places it here. For instance, in Q2 2025, the SMS segment grew 8% year-over-year, led by sample storage services.

Investment in advanced automation platforms, such as those targeting the ultracold storage market, supports the long-term positioning of these services. The broader automated sample storage market is a high-growth environment, estimated to be valued at $1.36 billion in 2025, with a projected Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 11.1% through 2034. The automated biological sample storage systems segment held a 37.10% market share in 2024.

Here's a quick look at the key performance indicators for these high-growth areas as of the end of fiscal year 2025:

The strength in these areas is notable when looking at the overall company performance for the full fiscal year 2025, where core revenue grew 3% and the adjusted EBITDA margin expanded by 310 basis points. The Multiomics segment's performance is particularly strong, driving the overall organic growth.

The key drivers within the high-growth Multiomics sub-segments include:

• Next-Generation Sequencing volume growth of 50% in Q4 2025.
• Record quarterly revenue for the Multiomics segment at $73 million in Q4 2025.
• Overall Multiomics segment organic growth of 10% in Q4 2025.
• Gene Synthesis revenue achieving its highest quarterly revenue in fiscal year 2025.

For the Sample Management Solutions segment, the growth in specific services is what warrants its Star classification, even as the overall segment growth moderated:

• Clinical Biostores growth contributed meaningfully to FY 2025 results.
• Sample Storage and Clinical Biostores drove 8% reported growth in SMS in Q2 2025.
• SMS segment reported revenue of $86 million in Q4 2025.

Management anticipates continued growth, projecting fiscal 2026 organic revenue growth in the range of 3% to 5%, with an expected adjusted EBITDA margin expansion of approximately 300 basis points.

Azenta, Inc. (AZTA) - BCG Matrix: Cash Cows

The Core Sample Management Solutions (SMS) business fits the profile of a Cash Cow, characterized by high market share in a mature area of Azenta, Inc.'s portfolio.

This segment posted a fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 revenue of $86 million, representing a significant portion of the total quarterly revenue of $159 million. The full fiscal year 2025 saw core revenue growth of 3%. For the fourth quarter specifically, the Sample Management Solutions segment delivered organic revenue growth that was flat year-over-year, consistent with a low-growth market.

The financial strength derived from this segment is evident in its profitability metrics. The segment's non-GAAP gross margin in the fourth quarter of 2025 reached 49.3%, marking an improvement of 180 basis points year-over-year. This high margin helps generate substantial internal cash flow to support other parts of Azenta, Inc.'s business.

The stability comes from established product lines and services within SMS:

• Established Consumables and Instruments product lines provide recurring revenue.
• Sample Storage and Clinical Stores services are mature and sticky offerings.
• These components support the existing installed base effectively.

The high-margin nature of this business unit is a key contributor to the overall financial health. For the full fiscal year 2025, Azenta, Inc. reported an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 11.2%, with an expansion of approximately 310 basis points over the prior year. Furthermore, the company ended the fiscal year with a strong liquidity position, holding $546 million in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities.

The performance of the SMS segment is critical for funding the enterprise, as illustrated by the following financial snapshot:

Investments here are focused on maintaining this productivity level, with management anticipating mid-single-digit growth contribution from Sample Management Solutions in fiscal year 2026, alongside an expected total organic revenue growth of 3% to 5% for the company.

Azenta, Inc. (AZTA) - BCG Matrix: Dogs

Dogs are units or products with a low market share and low growth rates. They frequently break even, neither earning nor consuming much cash. Dogs are generally considered cash traps because businesses have money tied up in them, even though they bring back almost nothing in return. These business units are prime candidates for divestiture.

For Azenta, Inc. (AZTA), the Dogs quadrant likely contains legacy services and specific product lines within the Sample Management Solutions (SMS) segment that are struggling with market share or growth, despite the company's overall positive margin trajectory for the year.

Sanger Sequencing and Gene Synthesis services represent older technologies that are clearly facing headwinds. During the second quarter of fiscal 2025, the revenue from Sanger Sequencing alone declined by 18% year-over-year. This trend continued into the third quarter of fiscal 2025, where the overall organic revenue growth was partially offset by a year-over-year decline in both Sanger Sequencing and Gene Synthesis. These declining services fit the low-growth/declining market characteristic of a Dog.

Within the Sample Management Solutions (SMS) segment, certain legacy or non-core Core Products are showing signs of market maturity or competitive pressure. For the full fiscal year 2025, SMS revenue was $325 million, representing only a 2% year-over-year increase, with organic revenue growth of just 1%. This low organic growth for the segment signals underperforming product lines within it, even though the overall company achieved 3% organic revenue growth for the full year.

The specific pressure points within SMS are evident in the quarterly reports. For instance, in the third quarter of fiscal 2025, the SMS segment revenue was $78 million, a 4% year-over-year decline, with organic revenue falling 6%. This was explicitly attributed to lower revenues in Core Products, specifically naming Automated Stores and Cryogenic Systems. Conversely, the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 showed SMS revenue at $86 million, which was flat organically. This flat performance, especially when the Multiomics segment delivered 10% organic growth in Q4'25, suggests that the SMS segment contains product lines acting as Dogs.

The existence of these underperformers is reflected in the company's overall profitability metrics. Despite strong Adjusted EBITDA margin expansion of 310 basis points for the full fiscal year 2025, Azenta, Inc. still posted a negative net margin of -18.45% for the full year 2025. This negative net margin indicates that the costs and cash consumption associated with these low-share, low-growth lines are still outweighing the operational efficiencies gained elsewhere, making them cash traps that drag down overall net profitability.

Here's a quick look at the segment and product performance that points to the Dog category:

You're looking at legacy services and specific hardware/store components that are not keeping pace with the Multiomics growth. The focus should be on minimizing cash tied up here. The company's overall GAAP operating margin in Q3 2025 was (0.5%), showing that even with operational improvements, the base business still struggles for GAAP profitability.

The underperforming product lines within SMS include:

• Cryogenic Systems revenue being lower in Q3 2025.
• Automated Stores revenue being lower in Q3 2025.
• The SMS segment achieving only 1% organic revenue growth for the full fiscal year 2025.

These units are candidates for divestiture or aggressive cost reduction, as expensive turn-around plans rarely work when the market itself is mature or the technology is being superseded, as seen with the 18% drop in Sanger Sequencing revenue in Q2'25. Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Azenta, Inc. (AZTA) - BCG Matrix: Question Marks

The Question Marks quadrant represents business units operating in high-growth markets but currently holding a low relative market share. These units consume cash to fuel their growth potential, which may eventually elevate them to Stars or, if growth stalls, relegate them to Dogs. For Azenta, Inc. (AZTA), the Multiomics segment exhibits characteristics aligning with this profile, despite showing strong recent organic growth.

The entire Multiomics segment is positioned here due to its high-growth market dynamics, even as it represents a smaller portion of the overall revenue base compared to Sample Management Solutions (SMS). In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, Multiomics generated revenue of \$73 million, which accounted for 46% of the total Q4 revenue of \$159 million. This segment posted a strong organic growth rate of 10% in Q4 2025. For the full fiscal year 2025, Multiomics revenue reached \$269 million, with an organic growth rate of 5%. The segment's performance has been somewhat inconsistent quarter-to-quarter in 2025, suggesting the need for focused investment to solidify market position.

The growth trajectory within Multiomics is key to its Question Mark status; for example, Q2 2025 saw organic growth of 3%, while Q1 2025 showed 6% organic growth. The Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) within Multiomics showed impressive growth of 20% in Q2 2025.

Within the larger Sample Management Solutions (SMS) business, specific product lines are showing weakness, which can also be categorized as Question Marks if they are in a segment that management believes still has high growth potential but is currently underperforming due to specific issues. Large Automated Stores and Cryogenic Systems products experienced revenue declines in the first and third quarters of 2025, often attributed to order timing or macroeconomic factors. This suggests these specific offerings are struggling to maintain share in their markets.

• SMS organic revenue declined by 6% in Q3 2025.
• The decline in Q3 2025 was driven by lower revenues in Core Products, specifically mentioning Automated Stores and Cryogenic Systems.
• A year-over-year decline in large automated stores was noted in Q1 2025 due to timing issues.

Initiatives requiring substantial capital expenditure to scale, often associated with new market entries or service rollouts, consume cash with uncertain near-term returns. Azenta, Inc. (AZTA) reported capital expenditures of \$7 million in the second quarter of 2025 specifically to invest for growth and scale across its businesses. This investment occurred when the company generated \$7 million in free cash flow for that same quarter. By the third quarter of 2025, capital expenditures increased to \$11 million.

The strategy here involves deciding whether to commit significant capital to boost the market share of Multiomics or the struggling product lines, or to divest them. The company ended Q4 2025 with \$546 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, providing the flexibility for such investment decisions.