stockrowWhat it does
Bio-Rad Laboratories develops, makes and sells tools used in biological research and clinical testing. Founded in 1952, the company is headquartered in Hercules. Norman Schwartz is its chief executive officer.
Its Life Science business supplies instruments and materials that help researchers separate, identify, measure and purify biological substances such as proteins, cells and nucleic acids. Customers use those tools in university and pharmaceutical research, biopharmaceutical manufacturing, food safety testing and science education. The business also supplies products used in quality control during manufacturing.
Its Clinical Diagnostics business supplies laboratories with testing systems, software, test kits and quality controls. These products help laboratories analyze patient samples, including blood, tissue and urine, and check whether testing systems are performing as intended. Customers include hospital, transfusion, reference and physician office laboratories.
Bio-Rad sells instruments alongside the reagents and consumables needed to use them. In diagnostics, a laboratory typically uses these components together as an integrated system. Once a system is installed, the laboratory generally continues to buy test kits and consumables as it processes samples.
The company operates internationally through subsidiaries that handle sales, customer service and distribution, supplemented in some locations by distributors and agents. It sells more than 12,000 products and services worldwide.
How it makes money
Bio-Rad earns revenue from product and service sales, intellectual-property licenses and instrument rentals. It recognizes product revenue when control of the product passes to the customer. Contracts can combine products and services, with consideration allocated to the separate obligations in the arrangement.
Net sales were $2.58 billion in 2025 and approximately $656 million in the third quarter of 2026.
Clinical Diagnostics generated $1.6 billion of revenue in 2025, or 60.5% of the company total. Its systems combine instruments, reagents and software for laboratory workflows. Revenue is largely recurring because laboratories generally standardize on particular testing platforms and buy test kits and consumables for the samples they process. Quality controls, blood typing and diabetes testing are among the products contributing to this business. Quality controls is Bio-Rad’s largest diagnostics franchise.
Life Science generated $1.0 billion of revenue in 2025, or 39.5% of the total. Its portfolio includes research and biopharmaceutical laboratory instruments, reagents and consumables, as well as products for manufacturing and quality control. Customers’ need to standardize experiments and results supports recurring sales across the company. Bio-Rad also receives royalties from licenses of its intellectual property, while paying royalties on sales of certain products licensed from others.
Products compete on different attributes: some primarily on efficacy and others on price. In the third quarter of 2026, diagnostics growth was driven by the timing of orders for quality systems and diabetes products. Life Science sales fell as lower process chromatography sales and academic research challenges were partly offset by increased Droplet Digital PCR instrument sales.
| Segment | Revenue, FY2025 | Share | Change on the year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical Diagnostics | $1.6 billion | 60.5% | 1.57% |
| Life Science | $1.0 billion | 39.5% | −0.68% |
| All Other Segments | $0.00 | 0.00% | −100.0% |
Customers and how it sells
Bio-Rad serves universities and medical schools, government agencies, industrial research organizations, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and food producers and testing laboratories. Its diagnostics customers include hospital laboratories, diagnostic reference laboratories, transfusion laboratories and physician office laboratories. Research customers, particularly in Life Science, can depend on government grants and contracts for funding.
The company sells through its own commercial organization and uses distributors, agents, brokers and resellers in international markets. It has direct operations through subsidiaries in over 36 countries outside the United States. Its own sales teams are organized around the two operating segments and include personnel with scientific training.
In 2025, the United States accounted for 39.6% of revenue, Europe for 34.1%, and Asia for 19.9%. Other locations, primarily Canada and Latin America, accounted for 6.40%. Europe was the largest international region.
In China, Bio-Rad’s local manufacturing capability is operational and has enabled it to participate in a broader range of tenders. The company also faces local preferences for domestic suppliers and pricing pressure. In process chromatography, its revenue is concentrated in a select number of commercial therapeutics and vaccines.
| Region | Revenue, FY2025 | Share | Change on the year |
|---|---|---|---|
| UNITED STATES | $1.0 billion | 39.6% | −1.81% |
| Europe | $881.8 million | 34.1% | 5.72% |
| Asia | $513.3 million | 19.9% | −1.59% |
| Other (primarily Canada and Latin America) | $165.4 million | 6.40% | −2.30% |
Suppliers and costs
Bio-Rad uses chemicals, biological materials, electronic components, machined metal parts, optical parts, computers and peripheral devices. Most are available from numerous sources, and the company generally had no difficulty securing adequate supplies in 2025. Some components and materials, however, come from a sole supplier.
The company manufactures goods in a small number of locations and ships them to local distribution facilities worldwide. Its manufacturing facilities and certain suppliers are subject to regulatory inspections. Selected Life Science instruments are also manufactured in China for the local market.
Consolidated gross margin fell to 51.9% in 2025. Higher material costs and reduced absorption of fixed manufacturing costs contributed to declines in both segments; Life Science also had inventory write-offs following product-portfolio evaluations. Research and development expense was $275.6 million in 2025.
In the third quarter of 2026, consolidated gross margin was 50.1%, with the year-over-year decline primarily reflecting restructuring charges. Bio-Rad expects higher fuel prices to continue into 2027.
- Revenue$2.6B
- Cost of revenue−$1.2B
- Research and development−$275.6M
- Selling, general and administrative−$844.3M
- Other operating costs−$172.8M
- Operating income$47.2M
Competitive position
Bio-Rad operates in competitive markets that include early-stage companies and multinational corporations. Because its Life Science portfolio spans specialized product lines, it does not face the same competitors for every product. Major Life Science competitors include Becton Dickinson, Danaher, Merck KGaA, Qiagen N.V. and Thermo Fisher Scientific. Competition centers on product performance, technical support and comprehensive solutions.
In Clinical Diagnostics, major competitors include Abbott Laboratories, Danaher, Roche, Siemens Healthineers, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Werfen. Bio-Rad competes on attributes including quality, service and the range of products it offers.
Laboratories generally standardize on testing platforms that use a supplier’s instruments, reagents and consumables. Our reading: this installed-base relationship is a meaningful source of customer retention because ongoing testing requires compatible supplies, although the company still competes on product and service quality.
Bio-Rad owns over 2,100 U.S. and international patents and holds licenses to third-party patents. The company says its ability to develop and manufacture products depends primarily on knowledge, technology and special skills rather than its intellectual-property positions. Our reading: patents support the business, but the company’s own account suggests technical capabilities are the more important source of differentiation.
Bio-Rad also maintains direct sales organizations for each segment and offers technical support. Our reading: those capabilities can support customer relationships, but the competitive markets and varied product lines limit what can be inferred about their strength across the whole portfolio.
| Competitor | Where they compete | Threat (our reading) |
|---|---|---|
| Danaher | Life science tools and clinical diagnostics | High |
| Thermo Fisher Scientific | Life science tools and clinical diagnostics | High |
| Becton Dickinson | Life science tools and clinical diagnostics | High |
| Merck KGaA | Life science tools | Medium |
| Qiagen N.V. | Life science tools | Medium |
| Abbott Laboratories | Clinical diagnostics | Medium |
| Roche | Clinical diagnostics | Medium |
| Siemens Healthineers | Clinical diagnostics | Medium |
Growth opportunities
Bio-Rad develops new products and applications in both segments, working with scientific and medical professionals at pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies, universities, hospitals and medical schools. It also invests in companies developing technologies that complement or expand its portfolio. Bio-Rad estimates worldwide annual sales in the Life Science markets it serves at approximately $19 billion and in its Clinical Diagnostics markets at approximately $16 billion.
In the third quarter of 2026, Bio-Rad launched the Chemidot Pro Western blot imaging system. Its analytical algorithm was developed using AI trained on Western blot images. The company has also expanded its pre-packed chromatography column portfolio to include Renuvia resins.
Bio-Rad’s Droplet Digital PCR portfolio posted 7% currency-neutral growth in the third quarter of 2026, with instrument revenue growing more than 20% year over year. Consumable pull-through had not yet normalized, and the company says that could continue into 2027. Bio-Rad is also prioritizing clinical applications of the technology, further digital PCR development and oncology assays.
Acquisitions are another avenue for expansion. Bio-Rad is interested in companies in diagnostics or life science tools with $100 to $500 million of revenue, provided they complement its business and meet its other criteria. It expects its restructuring plan to produce $30 to $35 million in savings, with the full effect starting in 2028.
- $2.9BFY2021
- $2.8BFY2022
- $2.7BFY2023
- $2.6BFY2024
- $2.6BFY2025
Structural risks
- Funding and demand: Many research customers rely on government grants and contracts. Reduced government spending and challenges among biopharmaceutical and small biotechnology customers have affected Bio-Rad’s business. U.S. academic and government funding conditions remain challenging.
- Reimbursement and pricing: Sales depend partly on coverage and reimbursement for tests using Bio-Rad products. Lower reimbursement or non-coverage could reduce their use. Updated Chinese healthcare guidelines are creating pricing pressure across the in vitro diagnostics market.
- Regulation and supply: Diagnostic products require regulatory clearances and ongoing compliance. Enforcement actions could include recalls, operating restrictions or production shutdowns. Some materials and components also come from sole suppliers.
- International disruption: International operations bring regulatory and other costs, while exchange rates affect reported sales. Logistics costs remain elevated, and Bio-Rad’s planning assumptions contemplate continued Middle East disruption into 2027.
- Investment and earnings: Bio-Rad accounts for its Sartorius investment at fair market value. Changes in that value produced a holding gain in 2025 and a holding loss in 2024, affecting reported results.
- Product development: In 2025, Bio-Rad recorded impairment charges associated with delayed or discontinued acquired development projects. It also recorded a non-cash Life Science intangible-asset impairment in the third quarter of 2026.
Leadership
The Schwartz family holds a significant majority of Bio-Rad’s voting stock, which could lead to conflicts of interest.
| Name | Role | Since | Total pay, FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norman SchwartzChief Executive Officer and | Chairman | — | $8.0 million |
| Roop K. LakkarajuExecutive | Vice President, Chief Financial Officer | — | $3.0 million |
| Jonathan P. DiVincenzoPresident and | Chief Operating Officer | — | $3.7 million |
| Rajat MehtaExecutive | Vice President, Global Commercial Operations | — | $2.7 million |
| James BarryExecutive | Vice President, President, Life Science Group | — | $2.6 million |
Bottom line
Our reading
Bio-Rad combines research tools with a diagnostics business in which installed systems generate recurring consumables sales. Our reading: those ongoing purchases support the business, but research funding, reimbursement and international conditions can still affect demand. The Sartorius investment also exposes reported results to changes in its fair value, separate from the performance of Bio-Rad’s operating businesses.