Illumina Inc (ILMN) 2026 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the third-quarter 2026 Illumina earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

各位女士、先生，大家好。歡迎參加 Illumina 2026 年第三季財報電話會議。（接線員指示）請注意，今天的會議將被錄音。

I would now like to hand the call over to Head of Investor Relations, Conor McNamara.

現在我想把電話交給投資人關係主管 Conor McNamara。

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Illumina's third-quarter 2026 earnings call. Today, we will review our financial results released after the market close and provide prepared remarks before opening the line for Q&A. Our earnings release is available in the Investor Relations section of illumina.com.

各位好，歡迎參加 Illumina 2026 年第三季財報電話會議。今天我們將回顧在收盤後發布的財務結果，並在開放問答前提供事先準備的發言。我們的財報新聞稿可在 illumina.com 的投資人關係專區取得。

Joining me today are Jacob Thaysen, Chief Executive Officer; and Ankur Dhingra, Chief Financial Officer. Jacob will begin with an update on Illumina's business, followed by Ankur's review of our financials.

今天與我一同出席的有執行長 Jacob Thaysen，以及財務長 Ankur Dhingra。Jacob 將先就 Illumina 的業務近況進行更新，接著由 Ankur 回顧我們的財務表現。

As you may have seen in our press release, we recognized certain tariff refunds in the third quarter, which had a positive impact on GAAP and non-GAAP operating income, margins and EPS and a negative impact on revenue. These refunds were not contemplated into our previous guidance, and all financial measures discussed today will be on an adjusted non-GAAP basis, excluding the impact of tariff refunds.

如各位在我們的新聞稿中所見，我們在第三季認列了部分關稅退稅，這對 GAAP 與非 GAAP 的營業利益、毛利率與每股盈餘（EPS）帶來正面影響，但對營收帶來負面影響。這些退稅並未納入我們先前的財測指引；因此，今天討論的所有財務衡量指標將以調整後的非 GAAP 基礎呈現，並排除關稅退稅的影響。

Reconciliations to non-GAAP and GAAP can be found in today's release and in the supplementary data on our website. All revenue and revenue growth rates are presented excluding tariff refunds. Organic revenue growth also adjusts for the impact of currency and acquisitions and Rest of World organic growth further excludes our Greater China region. This call is being recorded, and the replay will be available on our website.

非 GAAP 與 GAAP 的調節表可在今日新聞稿以及我們網站的補充資料中查閱。所有營收與營收成長率皆以排除關稅退稅後呈現。有機營收成長亦會調整匯率與併購影響；而「世界其他地區」的有機成長則進一步排除大中華區。本次電話會議將被錄音，重播將於我們網站提供。

As a reminder, the information provided and discussed today will include forward-looking statements, including statements about Illumina's future events, product outlook and financial expectations. Actual results may differ materially. To better understand the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ, we refer you to the documents that Illumina files with the SEC, including our most recent Forms 10-Q and 10-K.

提醒各位，今天提供與討論的資訊將包含前瞻性陳述，包括關於 Illumina 未來事件、產品展望與財務預期的陳述。實際結果可能有重大差異。為更了解可能導致實際結果不同的風險與不確定性，請參閱 Illumina 向美國證券交易委員會（SEC）提交的文件，包括我們最新的 10-Q 與 10-K 表格。

With that, I will now turn the call over to Jacob.

接下來，我將把電話交給 Jacob。

Thank you, Conor, and good afternoon, everyone. We had a great third quarter with strong clinical sequencing demand and elevated NovaSeq X placements, driving revenue, margin and EPS above our guidance range. Our strategy is working, and I'm proud of what our team delivered for our customers and shareholders. Our continued disciplined execution and business momentum allow us to raise our fiscal year guidance, and we remain on track to achieve our long-range financial targets.

謝謝你，Conor，各位下午好。我們第三季表現非常出色，臨床定序需求強勁且 NovaSeq X 的裝機量提升，帶動營收、毛利率與每股盈餘（EPS）均高於我們的指引區間。我們的策略正在奏效，我為團隊為客戶與股東所交付的成果感到自豪。持續且有紀律的執行與業務動能，使我們得以上調全年財測指引；我們也仍按計畫朝長期財務目標邁進。

Before I go into details on our results, I want to highlight a few ways our innovation is helping customers answer new questions about biology. Early in 2026, we introduced the Billion Cell Atlas to address one of the biggest bottlenecks in applying AI to biology, the lack of functional data sets. AI models need a large amount of data to learn from. And in biology, those models only work if the data is accurate, standardized and reproducible. But these data sets don't exist at scale. There is no Internet of biology.

在我深入說明本季結果之前，我想先強調幾個我們的創新如何協助客戶回答新的生物學問題。2026 年初，我們推出了「十億細胞圖譜」（Billion Cell Atlas），以解決將 AI 應用於生物學時最大的瓶頸之一：缺乏功能性資料集。AI 模型需要大量資料來學習。而在生物學領域，只有在資料準確、標準化且可重現時，這些模型才有效。但這些資料集並未以規模化方式存在。生物學沒有「網際網路」。

Our Billion Cell Atlas was designed to help address these limitations. Now over halfway complete, the Atlas is advancing toward an unprecedented AI-ready perturbation data set that helps biopharma partners connect genetic signals to cellular mechanisms, strengthening target validation, improved disease understanding and enable accelerated drug discovery.

我們的十億細胞圖譜旨在協助克服這些限制。目前已完成過半，該圖譜正朝向前所未有、可供 AI 直接使用的擾動（perturbation）資料集邁進，協助生物製藥合作夥伴將遺傳訊號連結到細胞機制，強化標的驗證、加深疾病理解，並加速藥物發現。

By working directly with biopharma, we are integrating their input to ensure the proprietary data set is relevant and built to maximize value for both our partners and Illumina. GSK is the latest biopharmaceutical company to join the Billion Cell Atlas Consortium to accelerate drug discovery, and we are seeing growing interest from other companies seeking access to the completed Atlas.

透過與生物製藥公司直接合作，我們整合其意見，以確保此專有資料集具備相關性，並以最大化合作夥伴與 Illumina 雙方價值為目標建置。GSK 是最新加入十億細胞圖譜聯盟（Billion Cell Atlas Consortium）以加速藥物發現的生物製藥公司；我們也看到其他公司對取得完成後圖譜的存取權之興趣日益增加。

We have learned a lot from our partners about how to build these data sets for AI, and we see multiple opportunities to address additional bottlenecks across drug discovery and development. We see this as a large long-term opportunity and look forward to sharing more about our strategy in the coming quarters.

我們從合作夥伴身上學到許多關於如何為 AI 建構這些資料集的經驗，並看到在藥物發現與開發流程中，仍有多個機會可解決其他瓶頸。我們將此視為一項長期且規模龐大的機會，並期待在未來幾季分享更多策略內容。

Earlier this month at ASHG, we brought together our assays, sequencing platforms and software to show how customers can benefit using the Illumina Insight ecosystem. The most compelling examples came from customers themselves, who showed how combining genomics, transcriptomics, methylation and proteomics is helping them see biology they could not see before with work spanning bulk, single-cell and spatial approaches.

本月稍早在 ASHG 大會上，我們整合了檢測（assays）、定序平台與軟體，展示客戶如何透過 Illumina Insight 生態系獲益。最具說服力的案例來自客戶本身，他們展示了結合基因體學、轉錄體學、甲基化與蛋白體學，如何協助他們看見過去無法看見的生物學現象，相關工作涵蓋 bulk、單細胞與空間（spatial）方法。

What is resonating with customers is that we are looking at their work from start to finish, making it easier to obtain all the components they need to drive high-quality insights while bringing down the total cost of the workflow.

引起客戶共鳴的是，我們從頭到尾檢視他們的工作流程，讓他們更容易取得推動高品質洞見所需的所有組件，同時降低整體工作流程的總成本。

On the analysis side, we launched the BioInsight platform, which brings our analysis application, AI models and curated biological data together in one place, reducing the need for customers to assemble and manage separate software tools. Through the platform, customers can also access SpliceAI2, our new AI model that predicts how genetic changes affect RNA splicing. In rare disease research data sets, it identified 17% more disease-relevant splice variants than other splicing models.

在分析端，我們推出了 BioInsight 平台，將我們的分析應用程式、AI 模型與精選生物資料整合於同一處，降低客戶自行組裝與管理分散軟體工具的需求。透過該平台，客戶也可使用 SpliceAI2——我們新的 AI 模型，用於預測基因變異如何影響 RNA 剪接。在罕見疾病研究資料集中，它比其他剪接模型多辨識出 17% 與疾病相關的剪接變異。

I'm proud of the innovation our teams continue to deliver. Our view is that the next era of life sciences innovation will be powered not only by sequencing, but also by the software, AI and differentiated data that unlock the power of the genome. Through BioInsight, Illumina is building the base for AI biology, enabling more powerful foundational models and virtual cell models with the potential to improve our ability to understand and predict biology. As we move nearer to predicting biology, we see a path to using those insights to move health care toward a more proactive future, identifying risks sooner, preventing disease where possible and intervening earlier.

我為團隊持續交付的創新感到自豪。我們認為，生命科學創新的下一個時代，不僅將由定序驅動，也將由軟體、AI 與具差異化的資料所驅動，進而釋放基因體的力量。透過 BioInsight，Illumina 正在為 AI 生物學建立基礎，促成更強大的基礎模型與虛擬細胞模型，並有潛力提升我們理解與預測生物學的能力。隨著我們更接近能夠預測生物學，我們看到一條路徑可運用這些洞見，推動醫療照護走向更主動的未來：更早辨識風險、在可能情況下預防疾病，並更早介入。

Now let me expand on our financial results, starting with our performance in the quarter. Customer demand for the NovaSeq X platform remains at very high levels. In the quarter, we placed over 80 instruments. This equates to approximately 360 X placements over the last four quarters, more than in our first year of launch. This demand is being fueled by broader adoption of sequencing-based diagnostics and more sequencing intense assays. As these instruments go live, they will support additional consumables revenue for years to come.

接下來我將進一步說明我們的財務結果，先從本季表現談起。客戶對 NovaSeq X 平台的需求仍維持在非常高的水準。本季我們裝機超過 80 台儀器。這相當於過去四個季度約 360 台 X 的裝機量，超過我們上市第一年的裝機量。此需求來自以定序為基礎的診斷更廣泛採用，以及定序強度更高的檢測項目。隨著這些儀器上線，未來多年將帶來額外的耗材營收。

End market growth rates for Rest of World sequencing consumables were similar in Q3 and Q2, with clinical growth of 14% and research and applied declines of 6%. We continue to expect mid-teens clinical growth and mid- to high single-digit declines in research and applied sequencing consumables for Rest of World for 2026.

「世界其他地區」定序耗材的終端市場成長率在第三季與第二季相近，其中臨床成長 14%，研究與應用則下滑 6%。我們仍預期 2026 年「世界其他地區」的臨床將維持約中十位數（mid-teens）成長，而研究與應用定序耗材將呈現中到高個位數（mid- to high single-digit）的下滑。

Let me now turn to our outlook for the rest of the year. We are raising our full year revenue outlook to reflect Q3 outperformance and a stronger Q4, driven by an increase in sequencing consumable revenue on a larger NovaSeq X installed base. We are also raising our full year margin and EPS outlook and now expect operating margins of approximately 25% in the second half of 2026, up about 400 basis points versus 2024.

接著談談我們對今年剩餘期間的展望。我們上調全年營收展望，以反映第三季優於預期的表現以及更強勁的第四季，主要由更大的 NovaSeq X 裝機基礎帶動定序耗材營收增加。我們也上調全年毛利率與每股盈餘（EPS）展望，並預期 2026 年下半年營業利益率約為 25%，較 2024 年提升約 400 個基點。

I'm extremely proud of how our teams have managed investments through a challenging environment. With each quarter that passes, it becomes more clear our strategy is working. We are achieving what we set out to do in 2024 and capitalizing on emerging opportunities to drive growth for the years to come. I want to thank our teams for their hard work and commitment to Illumina and our customers for the trust they place in us. I look forward to sharing our 2027 guidance during the fourth quarter earnings call.

我對我們團隊在充滿挑戰的環境中管理投資的方式感到非常自豪。隨著每一季過去，我們的策略正在奏效變得愈發清晰。我們正在達成 2024 年所設定的目標，並把握新興機會，推動未來多年的成長。我要感謝團隊對 Illumina 的辛勤付出與承諾，也感謝客戶對我們的信任。我期待在第四季財報電話會議中分享我們對 2027 年的財測指引。

And with that, I'll turn it over to Ankur to walk through our results and updated outlook.

說到這裡，我把時間交給 Ankur，請他帶大家回顧我們的業績以及更新後的展望。

Thank you, Jacob, and good afternoon, everyone. I will walk through our third quarter financial results, provide additional color on revenue, earnings and cash flow and then discuss our updated outlook. As Conor mentioned earlier, all of our financial metrics will be on a non-GAAP basis, excluding tariff refunds. The reconciliations are provided in our financial disclosures.

謝謝你，Jacob，各位下午好。我將帶大家回顧我們第三季的財務結果，補充說明營收、獲利與現金流的更多細節，接著討論我們更新後的展望。如 Conor 先前提到，我們所有財務指標將以非 GAAP 基礎呈現，並排除關稅退稅的影響。相關調節表已在我們的財務揭露中提供。

On a high level, our Q3 revenue and earnings came in ahead of our expectations and guidance. Rest of World organic revenue grew 5%. Our operating margin was 25%, 100 basis points above our guidance, and diluted EPS of $1.44, grew 7% year-over-year.

整體而言，我們第三季的營收與獲利均優於我們的預期與指引。世界其他地區（Rest of World）的有機營收成長 5%。我們的營業利益率為 25%，較指引高出 100 個基點；稀釋後每股盈餘（EPS）為 1.44 美元，年增 7%。

Now turning to the details. During the third quarter, Illumina's revenue was $1.17 billion, up 4.7% year-over-year on a Rest of World organic basis, with currency and acquired revenue together contributing just under 3 percentage points to our reported growth.

接著看細節。第三季 Illumina 的營收為 11.7 億美元，以世界其他地區有機基礎計算年增 4.7%；匯率與併購帶來的營收合計對我們的報告成長貢獻了略低於 3 個百分點。

Sequencing consumables revenue of $792 million was up 6% year-over-year and up 5% on an organic Rest of World basis. High throughput volume drove most of the revenue growth as the NovaSeq X installed base continues to expand and clinical customers continue to bring their instruments online. Sales in clinical markets grew 14% on Rest of the World, and we continue to expect mid-teens growth for clinical consumables in 2026.

定序耗材營收為 7.92 億美元，年增 6%；以世界其他地區有機基礎計算成長 5%。高通量用量帶動了大部分營收成長，因 NovaSeq X 的裝機基數持續擴大，臨床客戶也持續將其儀器上線。世界其他地區的臨床市場銷售成長 14%，我們仍預期 2026 年臨床耗材將維持約中十位數（mid-teens）的成長。

Sequencing consumable sales in research and applied markets declined 6% for Rest of the World. And year-to-date trends have remained consistent with our outlook entering the year. Revenue has grown sequentially each of the last two quarters, and we are seeing signs research activity is stabilizing. We continue to expect mid- to high single-digit declines for research and applied consumables in 2026.

世界其他地區的研究與應用市場之定序耗材銷售下滑 6%。而年初至今的趨勢仍與我們年初的展望一致。過去兩季營收皆呈季增，我們也看到研究活動正在趨於穩定的跡象。我們仍預期 2026 年研究與應用耗材將出現約中到高個位數（mid- to high single-digit）的下滑。

Moving to the NovaSeq X transition. Approximately 84% of high-throughput volume and 60% of revenue is now on the X. In research and applied markets, 90% or greater volume has been on the X for each of the last five quarters, signaling the conversion to X is largely complete. Thus, we expect minimal transition pricing headwinds from these customers going forward.

接著談 NovaSeq X 的轉換。目前約 84% 的高通量用量以及 60% 的營收已轉至 X。在研究與應用市場，過去五個季度每一季都有 90% 或以上的用量在 X 上，顯示轉換至 X 基本上已完成。因此，我們預期未來來自這些客戶的轉換定價逆風將非常有限。

In clinical, 78% of volume is currently on the X, and we have seen the pace of conversion slow in recent quarters. This is the dynamic you've heard us talk about. Certain clinical customers are keeping current on-market assays on the 6K while adding X capacity for new tests. We anticipate clinical conversion to reach 80% to 85% in the coming quarters. And as such, we expect the year-over-year pricing headwinds from the X transition to be lower in 2027 than in 2026.

在臨床方面，目前 78% 的用量在 X 上，我們也看到近幾季轉換速度放緩。這就是你們聽我們談過的動態。部分臨床客戶在 6K 上維持現有市售檢測（assays），同時為新檢測增加 X 的產能。我們預期未來幾季臨床轉換率將達到 80% 至 85%。因此，我們預期 X 轉換帶來的年對年定價逆風在 2027 年將低於 2026 年。

As the X conversion is nearly complete, we believe these charts are becoming less relevant in showing the price and volume dynamics impacting our revenue growth. As such, we plan to discontinue showing this slide in our quarterly earnings presentations after Q4 2026.

隨著 X 的轉換幾乎完成，我們認為這些圖表在呈現影響我們營收成長的價格與用量動態方面，正變得不那麼相關。因此，我們計畫在 2026 年第四季之後的季度財報簡報中停止展示這張投影片。

As it relates to sequencing activity, gigabase output growth on our connected high and mid-throughput instruments remained above 30%, showing that demand remains strong. Sequencing instruments revenue of $106 million was down 2% year-over-year in Q3 on a Rest of World organic basis. Higher NovaSeq X placements were offset by weaker instrument sales in our Europe, Middle East, Latin America region. X placements were up year-over-year in both clinical and research markets.

就定序活動而言，我們已連網的高通量與中通量儀器之 gigabase 產出成長仍高於 30%，顯示需求依然強勁。第三季定序儀器營收為 1.06 億美元，以世界其他地區有機基礎計算年減 2%。NovaSeq X 的較高裝機量被我們歐洲、中東、拉丁美洲地區較疲弱的儀器銷售所抵銷。X 的裝機量在臨床與研究市場皆較去年同期成長。

Instrument sales still account for over 90% of our X placements, though we are seeing an increasing level of interest in lease-type arrangements with certain research customers. Demand for the NovaSeq X remains elevated, especially among some of our largest clinical customers where we saw several multiunit capacity expansion orders. This is a testament to the value our customers place on the Illumina ecosystem today and for years into the future.

儀器銷售仍占我們 X 裝機量的 90% 以上，不過我們也看到部分研究客戶對類租賃安排的興趣正在提高。NovaSeq X 的需求仍維持在高檔，尤其是在我們部分最大的臨床客戶之中，我們看到數筆多台設備的產能擴充訂單。這證明客戶對 Illumina 生態系在當下以及未來多年所能提供價值的高度認同。

Sequencing service and other revenue of $158 million was up 8% on a Rest of World organic basis. As Jacob mentioned in his prepared remarks, we are gaining traction in our Billion Cell Atlas program as we continue to deliver data, converting more of our backlog to revenue. The pipeline and interest in our programs is very strong. Microarrays and other revenue of $110 million was up 2% on a Rest of World organic basis and included SomaLogic revenue that outperformed our initial deal model.

定序服務及其他營收為 1.58 億美元，以世界其他地區有機基礎計算成長 8%。如 Jacob 在事先準備的發言中提到，隨著我們持續交付資料、將更多積壓訂單（backlog）轉為營收，我們在 Billion Cell Atlas 計畫上正取得進展。我們的計畫管線與市場興趣都非常強勁。微陣列（Microarrays）及其他營收為 1.10 億美元，以世界其他地區有機基礎計算成長 2%，其中包含 SomaLogic 的營收，表現優於我們最初的交易模型預期。

Moving to the rest of the P&L. Gross margin of 69.4% was up 20 basis points year-over-year. Operating margin was 25% for the quarter, 100 basis points above our guidance, driven by higher revenue and disciplined investments. EPS of $1.44 per diluted share came in above the high end of our guidance range and was up 7% versus Q3 of last year. Year-to-date, EPS is up 12% versus 2025.

接著看損益表其餘項目。毛利率為 69.4%，年增 20 個基點。本季營業利益率為 25%，較指引高出 100 個基點，主要受惠於較高營收與有紀律的投資。稀釋後每股盈餘（EPS）為每股 1.44 美元，高於指引區間上緣，較去年第三季成長 7%。年初至今，EPS 較 2025 年成長 12%。

Moving to cash flow and the balance sheet. Our cash flow from operations was $419 million, and we generated $378 million of free cash flow in the quarter. We repurchased $9 million worth of stock in the quarter. And at quarter end, we had approximately $1.8 billion remaining under our current share repurchase authorizations, and we intend to continue to repurchase shares opportunistically.

接著看現金流與資產負債表。我們的營運活動現金流為 4.19 億美元，本季產生自由現金流 3.78 億美元。本季我們回購了 900 萬美元的股票。截至季末，我們在現行股票回購授權下仍有約 18 億美元的剩餘額度，並打算持續在適當時機進行機會性回購。

We ended the quarter with approximately $1.34 billion in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, $1.79 billion in total debt and a leverage ratio of approximately 1.4 times gross debt to last 12 months EBITDA. Overall, we had a great third quarter, allowing us to raise our full year guidance and reinforce our confidence in the progress we are making towards our financial targets.

本季結束時，我們持有約 13.4 億美元的現金、約當現金與短期投資，總負債為 17.9 億美元，槓桿比率約為總負債對過去 12 個月 EBITDA 的 1.4 倍。整體而言，我們第三季表現非常出色，使我們得以上調全年指引，並強化我們對朝財務目標邁進之進展的信心。

Now turning to our full year 2026 guidance, starting with revenue. We are raising our revenue guidance by $30 million at the midpoint to $4.64 billion to $4.66 billion. This reflects our Q3 outperformance and increased expectations for sequencing consumable sales in the fourth quarter. We still expect Rest of World organic growth greater than 5%. Product revenue guidance ranges are unchanged, and we expect Rest of World organic sequencing consumable growth of mid-single digits and low single-digit instrument growth in 2026.

接著談我們 2026 年全年指引，先從營收開始。我們將營收指引的中點上調 3,000 萬美元至 46.4 億至 46.6 億美元。這反映了我們第三季優於預期的表現，以及對第四季定序耗材銷售更高的預期。我們仍預期世界其他地區有機成長高於 5%。產品營收指引區間維持不變，我們預期 2026 年世界其他地區有機定序耗材成長為中個位數（mid-single digits），儀器成長為低個位數（low single-digit）。

We now expect operating margins of approximately 23.6% at the high end of our previous guidance. With our higher revenue expectations for the year, this equates to diluted EPS guidance of $5.40 to $5.45, an increase of $0.08 at the midpoint versus our prior guide and represents year-over-year growth of 12% to 13%.

我們目前預期營業利益率約為 23.6%，位於先前指引區間的上緣。在全年營收預期提高的情況下，這相當於稀釋後 EPS 指引為 5.40 至 5.45 美元，中點較先前指引上調 0.08 美元，並代表年對年成長 12% 至 13%。

For our fourth quarter of 2026, we expect revenue of $1.22 billion to $1.24 billion and Rest of World organic growth of approximately 4.5%, similar to Q3, and we expect EPS of $1.51 to $1.56 and an operating margin of approximately 25%.

對於 2026 年第四季，我們預期營收為 12.2 億至 12.4 億美元，世界其他地區有機成長約 4.5%，與第三季相近；並預期 EPS 為 1.51 至 1.56 美元，營業利益率約為 25%。

We have made tremendous progress this year. Adoption of sequencing across a wide range of clinical applications continues to grow, and our rapidly growing X installed base provides for a strong consumables revenue stream for years to come.

我們今年已取得巨大的進展。定序在廣泛的臨床應用中的採用持續成長，而我們快速擴大的 X 裝機基數，將在未來多年提供強勁的耗材營收來源。

Revenue and customer interest in our Billion Cell Atlas are both expanding, and we're just getting started on the large AI-based predictive biology opportunity that lies ahead. And our strong balance sheet and cash flows give us the flexibility to invest in areas of strategic growth that complement our innovative tool set. We are excited about our long-term outlook.

我們的 Billion Cell Atlas 相關營收與客戶興趣都在擴大，而我們才剛開始把握前方龐大的、以 AI 為基礎的預測生物學機會。同時，我們強健的資產負債表與現金流，讓我們能靈活投資於與我們創新工具組合相輔相成的策略性成長領域。我們對長期展望感到振奮。

In closing, I want to thank the Illumina team for their continued focus and disciplined execution throughout the year.

最後，我想感謝 Illumina 團隊在全年持續保持專注，並以紀律嚴謹地落實執行。

Thank you for joining our call today. I now invite the operator to open the line for Q&A.

感謝各位今天加入我們的電話會議。我現在請接線員開放電話線進行問答。

(Operator Instructions)

（接線員指示）

Tycho Peterson, Jefferies.

Tycho Peterson，Jefferies。

Hey, thanks guys. I want to probe a little bit on the clinical consumable number. So first of all, any stocking orders to call out? You had that last quarter, obviously. And then 4Q implies, I think, low double-digit clinical growth. Is that the right jumping-off point as we think about next year?

嗨，謝謝各位。我想稍微深入問一下臨床耗材的數字。首先，有沒有需要特別指出的備貨訂單？你們上一季顯然有。另外，第四季的指引看起來意味著臨床成長是低雙位數。如果我們在思考明年，這是不是正確的起點？

Thanks, Tycho. And first and foremost, we continue to be pleased with the overall clinical performance. We see ourselves for the full year in the mid-teens. We had here Q3 looked very much like Q2 with a 14%, 15% growth in clinical. And we continue this to expect that to continue. We will serve our customers, continue to serve them. And there are always puts and takes in the quarter, but we feel good about how we see also Q4 coming along.

謝謝你，Tycho。首先也是最重要的，我們對整體臨床表現仍然感到滿意。我們預期全年會落在十幾%的中段。第三季看起來非常像第二季，臨床成長約 14%、15%。而我們也預期這樣的趨勢會持續。我們會服務我們的客戶，並持續服務他們。每一季總會有一些正負因素拉扯，但我們對第四季目前的進展也感到樂觀。

Okay. And then obviously...

好的。然後很明顯……

Tycho, to...

Tycho，針對……

Go ahead.

你先請。

Tycho, to your question on the Q4. So overall, let's say, I'm raising the guidance for Q4 consumables. So our expectations there are going up given the strong placements that we continue to have. In terms of your growth rate question, I'll recall last year Q4 was a growth -- 11% growth rate quarter on the sequencing consumables. So we're still expecting a pretty good 5%, 6% growth in Q4 overall for the consumables. So that's still a good growth on top of one of the more unique compares throughout last year. So that would be one of the factors there. But our expectations are improving for Q4.

Tycho，回到你對第四季的問題。整體來說，我正在上調第四季耗材的指引。因此，鑑於我們持續強勁的裝機量，我們對耗材的預期正在上修。至於你問到的成長率，我提醒一下，去年第四季定序耗材的成長率是 11%。所以我們仍預期第四季整體耗材約有 5%、6% 的不錯成長。也就是在去年較為特殊、較高的比較基期之上，仍能維持良好成長。這是其中一個因素。但我們對第四季的預期正在改善。

Vijay Kumar, Evercore ISI.

Vijay Kumar，Evercore ISI。

Hi, Jacob and Conor. I guess I had a two-parter, if you will. Q4 jump-off here, I think it implies something like close to like 6% for Rest of World. And my question is, with that being the jump off, what's the right framework for '27? Are the LRP targets still intact? And just given the strong instrument placements so far, could instruments become a headwind next year? How do you offset it? Thank you.

嗨，Jacob 和 Conor。我想我有兩個問題。以第四季作為起點，我認為它意味著「世界其他地區」大概接近 6% 左右。我的問題是，以此作為起點，對 2027 年的正確思考框架是什麼？LRP 的目標仍然維持不變嗎？另外，鑑於目前儀器裝機量很強，儀器明年會不會變成逆風？你們要如何抵消？謝謝。

Vijay, thanks for that. And I can't believe we had to go into question number two before we had a question about '27 here. But let me share a few points here. I mean, first and foremost, we will come out with a full guide in our Q4 earnings call. We got to wait with the details. But we are still operating in very healthy market environment, especially the clinical market is strong, and we anticipate that clinical will be a growth driver for the company for the foreseeable future.

Vijay，謝謝你的問題。我真不敢相信，我們到第二個提問才有人問到 2027 年。不過我分享幾點。首先，我們會在第四季財報電話會議中提供完整指引。細節目前還需要再等等。但我們仍處於非常健康的市場環境中，尤其臨床市場很強勁，我們預期在可預見的未來，臨床將會是公司成長的驅動力。

On top of that, there is now also opportunities in what we are seeing with our multi-omics capabilities, especially when the research market is coming back, we're very well positioned for taking advantage of that. And on top of that, the AI market is just -- we're just scratching the surface on that. But there's no doubt there is a substantial requirement or need for large data set to really train models. We can talk more about that later also. So that's the overall framing for how we see the future.

此外，隨著我們多體學（multi-omics）能力的發展，也出現新的機會；特別是當研究市場回溫時，我們具備非常好的條件去把握。再者，AI 市場方面——我們其實才剛開始觸及表面。但毫無疑問，要真正訓練模型，需要龐大的資料集，這方面的需求非常可觀。我們之後也可以再多談。以上就是我們看待未來的整體框架。

What I will leave you with is that -- and how I think about the next year is that we have over the last quarters in this year, each quarter, we have been growing our consumables above 5%. So we think that's a good starting point here. We also see ourselves, of course, with what we talked about when we put the strategy in place in '24 is that we see ourselves starting to move ourselves into growth.

我想留給各位的一點——以及我對明年的看法是：在今年過去幾季中，我們每一季的耗材成長都超過 5%。因此我們認為這是一個不錯的起點。當然，回到我們在 2024 年制定策略時所談到的，我們也看到自己開始逐步回到成長軌道。

And the main driver was that we would make the X transition, thereby also lapse the price impact of that. We are definitely on the latter end of that, as Ankur spoke to in the prepared remarks. And then what we are seeing with the elevated placements of X is that, that will, of course, continue to be a driver also for the growth. So that's how we think about it right now. I'll leave you with that.

主要的驅動因素是我們會完成 X 的轉換，從而也讓其價格影響逐步消退。正如 Ankur 在事先準備的講稿中提到的，我們確實已經進入那個轉換的後段。而我們看到 X 的裝機量提升，當然也會持續成為成長的驅動力。這就是我們目前的看法。我先說到這裡。

Doug Schenkel, UBS.

Doug Schenkel，UBS。

Good afternoon and thank you for taking my question. Regarding NovaSeq X demand, you've had several quarters of solid X placements now above 80 this quarter. Are you seeing any indication that recent strength reflects pull forward in terms of what you might have expected in the future versus last quarter and this quarter? Or is the sustainability of the purchasing cycle still pretty strong right now? And building off of that, how would you characterize the mix of demand this quarter between capacity expansion tied to clinical volume growth versus transitions and replacements? Thank you very much.

下午好，謝謝讓我提問。關於 NovaSeq X 的需求，你們已經連續幾季都有穩健的 X 裝機量，本季更是超過 80 台。你們是否看到任何跡象顯示，近期的強勁表現反映了需求提前釋放（pull forward），也就是把原本可能在未來發生的需求拉到上一季與本季？還是說，目前採購週期的可持續性仍然相當強？另外延伸這點，本季需求組合你們會如何描述：與臨床量成長相關的產能擴張，與轉換/汰換相比，各占比重如何？非常感謝。

Thanks, Doug. First and foremost, I don't think there was any pull forward. I think this is a normal course of business. But overall, as also mentioned, we are very pleased with the placements we have done over the last four quarters, which was outperformed actually the first year of X placements when we launched.

謝謝你，Doug。首先，我不認為有任何需求提前釋放。我認為這是正常的業務進程。但整體而言，如同先前提到的，我們對過去四季的裝機表現非常滿意；實際上，這甚至超過我們推出 X 後第一年的裝機表現。

And it really speaks to a few things. It speaks to that, as I mentioned, also the market conditions we are in and the opportunity, especially in the clinical space is very healthy. And the new assays that is putting in place are very sequencing intensive. And I think we haven't even seen the -- what is coming. There's a lot more coming here. The intensity will continue to increase. So I think we are -- we will continue to see a strong demand for the X's going forward.

這確實反映了幾件事。它反映了我剛才提到的市場環境，以及特別是在臨床領域非常健康的機會。而且目前導入的新檢測（assays）對定序的需求非常高。我認為我們甚至還沒看到——接下來會發生什麼。後面還有很多。定序強度會持續提升。因此我認為，未來我們仍會持續看到對 X 的強勁需求。

Secondly, as you probably recall, at AGBT, we were out showcasing the innovations that we're bringing to the X platform. So I also think that our customers are seeing that this is the platform to bet on for the future and much more innovation will come out, both in terms of quality of sequencing, but turnaround times and capacity of sequencing, plus all the multi-omics assays that's coming on. So we feel good about where we sit and also for the future.

第二點，如你可能記得，在 AGBT 上我們展示了我們為 X 平台帶來的創新。因此我也認為，我們的客戶正在看到這是值得押注未來的平台，而且後續還會推出更多創新——不僅在定序品質方面，也包括周轉時間與定序產能，以及即將推出的各種多體學檢測。所以我們對目前的定位以及未來都很有信心。

Puneet Souda, Leerink.

Puneet Souda，Leerink。

Thanks for the question. Just wanted to understand the dynamic on the sequencing consumable side. Is this a function of placing a number of instruments in the clinical space and applied and obviously, research that is driving sort of a shift lower cost per gigabase elasticity and that seems to be -- is that what's playing out here in the quarter? And then I just wanted to understand on '27, is the high single-digit framework is still intact? Just want to get your thoughts there. Thank you.

謝謝你的提問。我想了解一下在定序耗材端的動態與節奏。這是否是因為在臨床與應用（當然也包括研究）領域部署了多台儀器，進而推動每 gigabase 成本下降的彈性轉變——也就是說，這就是本季正在發生的情況嗎？另外我也想確認一下，關於 2027 年，高個位數成長的框架是否仍然維持不變？想聽聽你的看法。謝謝。

Yes. So I'm not sure I fully understand -- understood the first question on how the dynamic of sequencing consumables play out...

是的。所以我不確定我是否完全理解——理解你第一個問題，也就是定序耗材的動態是如何發展的……

Yes. Just in terms of -- are you seeing sort of a lower cost for gigabase from the labs coming to you essentially just because they're placing -- you're placing a new instrument that is providing them more cheaper sequencing essentially right away in the first six months.

是的。我的意思是——你們是否看到實驗室端的每 gigabase 成本在下降，基本上是因為你們部署了一台新儀器，讓他們在前六個月就能立刻用更便宜的方式進行定序。

Well, I think how we think about it, obviously, is that with the transition from the 6K to the X, that was a price step down, obviously, but also generated substantially more volume. And that volume continues. So it's not only a six-month volume gain we are seeing in the logic of a fixed budget, but we actually do see that, especially in the clinical space that we see that our customers, as we've talked about before, are building bigger assay, also getting a better competitive positioning and continues to drive growth and introduction or further advancement of -- especially in the clinic -- in the oncology space of testing.

嗯，我們的看法當然是，從 6K 轉換到 X 的過程中，價格確實下了一個台階，但同時也帶來了顯著更高的用量。而且這個用量仍在延續。所以我們看到的不只是固定預算邏輯下的六個月用量提升；我們確實看到，特別是在臨床領域，我們的客戶——如同我們之前談過的——正在建立更大型的 assay（檢測項目），也取得更好的競爭定位，並持續推動成長，以及在——尤其在臨床端——腫瘤學檢測領域的導入或進一步推進。

So I think that is playing out, and that will continue to play out. So we feel good about how our growth is sitting with consumables, and we think that's going to continue. And I will say, of course, is that as many other companies, if you come to Illumina and are willing to sign up for a large volume, we are, of course, very willing to also talk about what the right price point is for that.

所以我認為這正在發生，而且會持續發生。因此我們對耗材端的成長態勢感到樂觀，也認為這會延續。當然我也要說，和許多其他公司一樣，如果你來到 Illumina 並願意承諾大用量，我們當然也非常願意討論在那種情況下合適的價格點。

So that's a conversation I like to have with the customers. If they come with new assays they would like to put in place that require substantially more sequencing, we are absolutely more than willing to have that conversation and find how we both companies can be successful. That is -- that works well.

所以這是我喜歡和客戶進行的對話。如果他們帶來想要導入的新 assay，而這些 assay 需要大幅增加定序量，我們絕對非常願意進行這樣的討論，並找出讓雙方公司都能成功的方式。這——運作得很好。

From '27, as you mentioned, all the way back in 2024 is that our strategy is to walk ourselves or walk into growth, and we were predicting mid-single here for '25, and we still are on the track to deliver on the '27 of high single digit in that range.

至於你提到的 2027 年，我們早在 2024 年就說過，我們的策略是讓自己逐步走向成長；我們對 2025 年預期的是中個位數成長，而我們仍在軌道上，能在 2027 年交付高個位數、落在那個區間的成長。

Subbu Nambi, Guggenheim.

Subbu Nambi，Guggenheim。

Hey, guys. Thank you for asking my question. I have a question as the -- as the consumables -- sorry, thinking ahead to 2027, I have two questions. First, do you still believe that new products to have the potential to contribute 1 to 2 points of growth? Second, recognizing that you're going to exit 2026 at an operating margin of 25%, is that the right launch point, keeping in mind more progress towards operating improvement and improving mix as you move past pricing headwinds? Thank you.

嗨，各位。謝謝讓我提問。我有一個問題——關於耗材——抱歉，我是在往 2027 年想，我有兩個問題。第一，你們是否仍然相信新產品有潛力貢獻 1 到 2 個百分點的成長？第二，考量到你們將在 2026 年以 25% 的營業利益率作結，這是否是正確的起點？同時也請考慮到，當你們逐步走過定價逆風、組合改善並持續推進營運改善時，後續還會有更多進展。謝謝。

Yes, Subbu. So let me start with the first one. And just a reminder, we are still very much in Illumina operating in Q4, and we want to deliver Q4 before we go into details of '27. But I will say that what we talked about in '24 about that we would add also new growth driver through both our new assays that will come out and obviously also data is playing out well.

是的，Subbu。我先從第一個問題開始。也提醒一下，我們現在仍在 Illumina 的第四季營運中，我們希望在深入談 2027 年細節之前，先把第四季交付好。但我會說，我們在 2024 年談到的——我們會透過即將推出的新 assay，當然也包括資料（data），新增新的成長驅動力——目前進展良好。

We have come out over the last 18 months with a very, very significant multi-omics portfolio and also with the acquisition of SomaLogic, we're very well positioned in that space. And that has momentum, obviously, from a low base, but this will start to actually reflect in our numbers, both here in '26, but particularly in '27 and beyond. So we feel good about that.

過去 18 個月，我們推出了非常、非常重要的多體學（multi-omics）產品組合；同時透過收購 SomaLogic，我們在該領域也具備非常好的布局。而且這顯然正在累積動能，雖然基期較低，但這將開始反映在我們的數字上，包含 2026 年，尤其是在 2027 年及之後。所以我們對此感到樂觀。

I think related to our operating margin, again, if you look over the last few years, we have increased or improved our margins with 400 basis points, and we feel really good about what the team has achieved over the past years. We have had a lot of headwinds that we didn't anticipate, and I think the team have shown that we can deliver this year electronic component pricing, shipping costs and obviously also some tariffs has been the headwinds, and we have been able to deliver expansion of margins. So I feel good about where we are, and I think there is more to come in the years to come and also in '27.

至於我們的營業利益率，我再說一次，如果你看過去幾年，我們的利潤率已提升或改善了 400 個基點，我們對團隊過去幾年的成果感到非常滿意。我們遇到不少未曾預期的逆風，我認為團隊已經展現出我們能夠交付：今年電子元件價格、運輸成本，當然還有一些關稅，都是逆風，但我們仍能實現利潤率擴張。所以我對目前的位置感到樂觀，也認為未來幾年、包括 2027 年，還會有更多進展。

Luke Sergott, Barclays.

Luke Sergott，Barclays。

Great, thanks. I just wanted to follow-up on the implied growth here of the exit rate on the clinical sequencing and how to think about when you next year, you got all the liquid biopsy players that you're seeing a strong growth in all their samples and then you have the conversion there from a lot of them converting to the X. And so like how does that play out with initial reads and concordance studies and then when that starts to flip on back on to the X?

很好，謝謝。我想追問一下，這裡隱含的臨床定序退出（exit rate）成長，以及該如何看待：明年你們會看到所有液體活檢玩家的樣本量都在強勁成長，然後其中很多也在轉換到 X。那麼這在初始讀數（initial reads）與一致性研究（concordance studies）上會如何展開？以及什麼時候會開始把量再切回到 X 上？

Well, I think it is playing out as we expect. I mean what we've been very pleased with over the last 4 quarters is the elevated placements of the X. And as you know, we are in a razor-razor blade logic in the company. So the more instruments you place, nobody buys an instrument to put in the corner. They all put it there to generate more revenue.

嗯，我認為它正如我們預期地在發展。我的意思是，過去 4 個季度我們非常滿意的一點，是 X 的部署量提升。你也知道，我們公司採用的是「剃刀—刀片」的商業模式。所以你部署的儀器越多——沒有人買一台儀器只是放在角落。大家放置它都是為了創造更多營收。

So obviously, when every time we place an X, that is a revenue generator for the years to come. And so with that and with the elevated placement, we feel good about the growth opportunity in the consumables also for the years to come.

所以很明顯，每當我們部署一台 X，它就會在未來多年成為營收產生器。因此，搭配這樣的部署提升，我們也對未來幾年耗材的成長機會感到樂觀。

As I mentioned before, the clinical market is very healthy. I know many of you want to sit and have a conversation about whether we grow 14%, 15% or 16% in clinical. What the takeaway is that this is a strong market. There is still a lot of application that is just coming online. So we feel good about that, and we see that, that has legs. If you just look at a great point here is the US/Can business that has continued to grow very, very strongly over the last four quarters in the clinical, and we don't think that will stop.

如我先前提到，臨床市場非常健康。我知道你們很多人想坐下來討論我們在臨床端是成長 14%、15% 還是 16%。但重點是：這是一個強勁的市場。仍有很多應用才剛開始上線。所以我們對此感到樂觀，也看到這個趨勢具有延續性。舉個很好的例子，美國/加拿大業務在過去四個季度於臨床端持續非常、非常強勁地成長，我們不認為這會停止。

Yes, that's well covered on the clinical growth side. Luke, to your point about the clinical, the only thing I would add is still look at the number of tests that have recently come on market, the volume growth of on-market tests and the number of clinical trials that are still expected to read out over the next one year, implying the new tests that would be coming to the market, and that's a very rich pipeline.

是的，臨床成長面向已經說得很完整了。Luke，針對你提到的臨床，我唯一想補充的是：仍要看近期上市的檢測數量、已上市檢測的量能成長，以及未來一年仍預期會讀出結果的臨床試驗數量——這意味著將有新的檢測進入市場，而這是一條非常豐富的產品管線。

Dan Arias, Stifel.

Dan Arias，Stifel。

Jacob -- yes, can you hear me?

Jacob——是的，你聽得到我嗎？

Yes, go ahead.

是的，請說。

Okay. Thanks. Jacob, as you guys try to tap into this training model, virtual cell AI opportunity, can you just talk about how you see genome pricing playing into that? I mean, obviously, you think that the X is the box to bet on, but there are some pretty cheap genomes that are being talked about out there pushing down to $50.

好的，謝謝。Jacob，當你們嘗試切入這個訓練模型、虛擬細胞 AI 的機會時，你能談談你們如何看待基因組定價在其中扮演的角色嗎？我的意思是，很明顯你們認為 X 是值得押注的機器，但外面也有人在談一些非常便宜的基因組，價格被推到 50 美元。

So to what extent do you think that you might need to revisit the price elasticity discussion in order to make sure that you really take those large projects? Can you win those with the current pricing scheme? Or do you think it takes whatever the new 35B flow cell might bring on genome cost?

那麼你認為，為了確保你們真的能拿下那些大型專案，你們需要在多大程度上重新檢視價格彈性的討論？以目前的定價方案，你們能贏得那些案子嗎？還是你認為這取決於新的 35B flow cell 可能為基因組成本帶來的變化？

Well, first and foremost, we feel really good where we are. I think AI models is way beyond what a whole genome pricing. It's -- there's a lot going into this. So let me just try to frame this a little bit. First and foremost, I think we see a big opportunity in what I would call the predictive biology. But if you want to step into that new logic or world, which could be very, very -- have a substantial impact on everything we do, both in our space.

嗯，首先也是最重要的，我們對目前的狀況感覺非常好。我認為 AI 模型的範疇遠遠超出全基因組定價本身。這——其中牽涉的事情很多。所以我先試著把這件事稍微框架化一下。首先，我認為我們在我所稱的「預測生物學」方面看到很大的機會。但如果你想踏入那套新的邏輯或世界，它可能會對我們所做的一切產生非常、非常——重大的影響，無論是在我們的領域內。

But if you think about life science as a whole, this could revolutionize our understanding on biology, and it could definitely also have big disruption into overall the health care industry with where Illumina is very well positioned because it's not only about the price of sequencing here.

但如果你從整個生命科學的角度來看，這可能會徹底改變我們對生物學的理解，而且也很可能對整體醫療保健產業帶來重大顛覆；而 Illumina 在這方面處於非常有利的位置，因為這裡不僅僅是定序價格的問題。

It's about the ability to develop and create large data sets that goes across the both the genome, the transcriptome, the methylome and of course, also the proteome. Combine that together, look at that from a bulk, the single-cell and also a spatial context. There's no other company in this industry that have the broad portfolio and also have the ability to create those data sets.

重點在於能否開發並建立橫跨基因組、轉錄組、甲基組，當然也包括蛋白質組的大型資料集。把這些整合起來，從整體（bulk）、單細胞以及空間（spatial）脈絡來觀察。在這個產業裡，沒有其他公司同時擁有如此廣泛的產品組合，也具備建立這些資料集的能力。

We started with the one Billion Cell. It's a great example of a functional data set that is not only looking at something in time, but when you try to see what is happening to a cell when you change your up- or down-regulated gene. So I think these are types of the data sets that you want to look for. So we feel good about where we are.

我們從「十億細胞（one Billion Cell）」開始。這是一個很好的例子，屬於功能性資料集，不只是看某個時間點的狀態，而是當你改變某個上調或下調的基因時，試圖了解細胞發生了什麼。所以我認為，這些就是你想要尋找的資料集類型。因此我們對目前的狀況感到樂觀。

Look, Illumina has been in a world for many years to deal with elasticity. We love elasticity. We can address any opportunity that we need to. And we see this market could be much, much bigger, and we are -- we have the -- both the capabilities, but also innovation pipeline to be a very strong player in that.

你看，Illumina 多年來一直在一個需要處理彈性的世界裡。我們喜歡彈性。我們可以因應任何我們需要把握的機會。而且我們看到這個市場可能會大得多，而我們——既具備能力，也有創新管線，能在其中成為非常強的參與者。

So both developing the data sets ourselves, but also looking at flywheel that we together with our customers, we create data sets, our customers can add on to those data sets, and we can create a bigger and bigger data sets for training those model. So we're excited about that, and I'm not super concerned about what others are doing right now.

因此，一方面我們自己開發資料集；另一方面也在看所謂的「飛輪效應」：我們與客戶一起建立資料集，客戶可以在這些資料集上再加值，我們就能建立越來越大的資料集，用來訓練那些模型。所以我們對此感到興奮，對於其他人目前在做什麼，我並不是特別擔心。

Kyle Mikson, Canaccord Genuity.

Kyle Mikson，Canaccord Genuity。

Dave Westenberg, Piper Sandler.

Dave Westenberg，Piper Sandler。

Thanks, guys. Sorry to belabor the same clinical sequencing question, but I think we're all kind of trying to get at the same thing. Clinical is 70% of consumables and how fast can it grow to kind of get you into that long-term high single-digit kind of growth rate. So as we're looking at the Signatera, the Shield, et cetera, we want to know even in the X transition, what kind of pricing like discounts or kind of thing growth that you can get from these customers net of that discount as we get into the '27, '28, '29?

謝謝各位。抱歉又再追問同一個臨床定序的問題，但我想我們大家都在試著釐清同一件事。臨床佔耗材的 70%，它要多快成長才能讓你們進入長期的高個位數成長率。所以當我們看 Signatera、Shield 等等時，我們想知道即使在 X 的轉換期間，從這些客戶那裡你們能拿到什麼樣的定價（例如折扣）或成長；在扣除折扣後，到了 2027、2028、2029 年，你們能達到什麼樣的成長？

Because we know you are kind of stuck on this X, but we also want to know like when we're looking at that 25%, 30% volume kind of growth rate on that, how much can Illumina continue to grow? Because we are confident that you're going to get, participate. We just want to know in kind of the magnitude of that participation. Thank you.

因為我們知道你們某種程度上被卡在這個 X 上，但我們也想知道：當我們看那 25%、30% 的量成長率時，Illumina 還能持續成長多少？因為我們有信心你們會參與其中、分到一杯羹。我們只是想了解這種參與的量級大概會是什麼。謝謝。

No. Thanks, Dave. That's very specific into where we could go pricing-wise. I would leave you with that is that, as I mentioned before, we work very closely with our customers. I think many of our customers are seeing, of course, opportunities to build bigger and bigger assays that goes for therapy selection, MRD and also, of course, now MCED coming alive.

不，謝謝你，Dave。這個問題非常具體，涉及我們在定價上可能走到哪裡。我想我能給你的重點是：如我先前提到的，我們與客戶合作非常緊密。我認為我們許多客戶當然也看到機會去建立越來越大型的檢測（assay），用於治療選擇、MRD，當然還有現在逐漸成形的 MCED。

So what we are seeing is that, obviously, we will continue to have conversations. We will continue to make sure that both we can grow in alignment with our customers. There might always be some certain difference between the different growth rates. But what we are taking away is that when our customers are growing, we were also growing very healthy. So we believe there is more opportunities in that space. We think there is more growth opportunities for Illumina.

所以我們看到的是：很明顯地，我們會持續進行對話。我們會持續確保我們能與客戶的成長保持一致地成長。不同成長率之間可能永遠會有一些差異。但我們的結論是：當客戶在成長時，我們也在非常健康地成長。因此我們相信在那個領域還有更多機會。我們認為 Illumina 還有更多成長機會。

So we are -- I think we have proven over the last few quarters or a few years that we can step back into growth. The conversation 18 months ago was very, very different. I think all of you was questioning whether we could grow at all. Now we sit with a mid-single growth in consumables. Now you're questioning how much we can take that. I think you should see that we have a track record that show that we can continue to expand our growth rate in those reagents for consumables.

所以我們——我認為我們在過去幾個季度或幾年已經證明，我們可以重新回到成長軌道。18 個月前的對話非常、非常不同。我想你們所有人都在質疑我們是否還能成長。現在我們的耗材是中個位數成長。現在你們在問的是我們能把它提升到多高。我認為你們應該看到，我們有一個過往紀錄，顯示我們能持續擴大這些耗材試劑的成長率。

Yes. One thing I would add there is that we -- last quarter, we added about the overall consumables growth rate in US, Canada, which is a proxy of some of the customers that you're talking about. And within our US business, the growth rate within that clinical is well above the 14% that you're talking about. So we're reasonably well indexed that way. And always remember, the big customers make up a reasonable part of our business, but Illumina's business is global, and it both benefits otherwise from the clinical activity across the world. Within our US business, that growth rate on the clinical is well above that 14%.

是的。我想補充一點：我們——上一季，我們在美國、加拿大的整體耗材成長率有所提升，這可作為你所提到部分客戶的代理指標（proxy）。而在我們的美國業務中，臨床的成長率遠高於你所提到的 14%。所以從這個角度看，我們的對應程度相當不錯。另外也請記得，大客戶確實占我們業務相當一部分，但 Illumina 的業務是全球性的，也會受惠於全球各地的臨床活動。在我們的美國業務中，臨床的成長率確實遠高於 14%。

Kyle Mikson, Canaccord Genuity.

Kyle Mikson，Canaccord Genuity。

Hey, thanks, guys. Sorry for that before. Congrats on the quarter. I wanted to ask about -- a different way to ask about the '27 and beyond, I guess, congratulations on the kind of executing on the Strategy Day from 2024 sort of numbers and the framework and all that. But I mean, is there upside to the high single-digit growth going forward? I think, obviously, as was discussed before, you got AI, multi-omics, maybe a research inflection, clinical, I feel like that could be kind of longer term as well. So could you approach double-digit growth perhaps while expanding operating margins to the high 20s? And what could that take really?

嗨，謝謝各位。抱歉剛才那樣。恭喜這一季的表現。我想換個方式問一下 2027 年及之後的情況：我想先恭喜你們，基本上把 2024 年策略日（Strategy Day）提出的數字與框架等都執行到位。但我的意思是，未來高個位數成長是否還有上行空間？我想，顯然如先前討論的，你們有 AI、多組學（multi-omics）、也許研究端的拐點、臨床端，我覺得那也可能是更長期的動能。所以你們是否可能在把營業利潤率擴張到接近 20% 後段（high 20s）的同時，達到接近兩位數的成長？而這實際上需要什麼條件？

Yes. Look, Kyle, I think, yes, this is absolutely not impossible. I mean there's definitely upside to a high single-digit growth. But remember, a few things here. When we were laying out our strategy in 2024, we were in a negative growth arena. And now we have stepped ourselves into mid-single-digit growth.

是的。你看，Kyle，我認為，是的，這絕對不是不可能。我的意思是，高個位數成長確實有上行空間。但請記得幾件事。當我們在 2024 年提出策略時，我們處在一個負成長的環境。而現在我們已經把自己帶到中個位數成長。

I think we want to also show we can do high single digit before we go beyond that. But I do -- I mean -- and you can also see over the last few years, there's been a lot of headwinds that this industry and Illumina specifically had to deal with. You can pick your one you want to talk about, but there's been plenty.

我想我們也希望先證明我們能做到高個位數，然後再往更高邁進。但我確實——我的意思是——你也可以看到，過去幾年這個產業、以及 Illumina 特別需要面對很多逆風。你可以挑任何一個你想談的，但確實有很多。

So we think that we are operating in a significant market opportunity space, particularly in clinical. And we think that is going to continue to expand over the years. We are very well positioned when the Research segment is coming back with our multi-omics portfolio, where we see a lot of grants being moving in that direction right now.

因此我們認為，我們正處於一個重大的市場機會領域，特別是在臨床端。而且我們認為，這個領域在未來幾年將會持續擴大。當研究（Research）業務板塊隨著我們的多組學產品組合回溫時，我們的布局非常到位；目前我們看到許多補助金正朝這個方向移動。

And then, of course, the whole AI space where there will be substantial data sets generated and look for. And I think that is something that when you -- with our one Billion Cell Atlas shows that we are very well committed. It's not about just selling sequences anymore in that space. Our customers and the broad spectrum of customers is looking for companies like Illumina that can actually generate those data sets.

然後，當然還有整個 AI 領域，將會產生大量資料集並需要加以運用。我認為這也是一件事：透過我們的「十億細胞圖譜」（Billion Cell Atlas），顯示我們投入得非常堅定。在那個領域，已經不再只是賣定序（sequencing）而已。我們的客戶以及更廣泛的客戶群，正在尋找像 Illumina 這樣能夠真正產生那些資料集的公司。

They're much more interested in what those data sets can generate and obviously, the models that can -- how they can perform rather than the sequencing itself. So we are very well positioned, and there's certainly opportunities to grow beyond that.

他們更感興趣的是那些資料集能夠產生什麼，以及顯然，模型能夠——它們能如何表現——而不是定序本身。因此我們的布局非常到位，而且確實也有機會在此之外進一步成長。

Dan Leonard, RBC.

Dan Leonard，RBC。

Thank you a bunch. Jacob and Ankur, you talked a bunch about BioInsight. When would BioInsight become more visible in the P&L? Would that be as soon as next year? Or is that a further-out event?

非常感謝。Jacob 和 Ankur，你們談了很多 BioInsight。BioInsight 何時會在損益表（P&L）上變得更明顯？會最快在明年就看到嗎？還是那是更久以後的事情？

Yes. So I think, first of all, we are -- we actually established BioInsight approximately a year ago, which was the combination of our software part, which is actually doing extremely well also. And I think for those of you who visited our booth and at our symposiums at ASHG, we really presented how important software is for the ecosystem. So very excited about that. But we combine that with the data because there's a lot of synergies between the two. You have to generate data, but you also have to develop models on top of that.

是的。我想首先，我們——我們其實大約在一年前成立了 BioInsight，這是把我們的軟體部門整合在一起，而那部分表現也非常好。我想對於那些在 ASHG 參觀過我們攤位、以及參加過我們研討會的人，我們確實展示了軟體對整個生態系的重要性。所以我們對此非常興奮。但我們也把它與資料結合，因為兩者之間有很多綜效。你必須產生資料，但也必須在其上開發模型。

So we are -- so as we mentioned in 2024 also is that the data and, of course, the multi-omics business would start to generate 1% to 2% in the latter part. So here in '27 of our strategic period when we look to 2024, and that is playing out very well. But I think you will -- depending on how that AI opportunity plays out, which we actually looks very, very promising, this could be substantially bigger. But maybe, Ankur, you have comments on that also.

所以我們——正如我們在 2024 年也提到的，資料以及當然多組學業務會在後段開始貢獻 1% 到 2%。因此在我們的策略期間到 2027 年、回看 2024 年時，這個進展非常符合預期。但我認為你會看到——取決於 AI 機會如何發展，而我們認為前景非常、非常可期——這可能會大得多。不過也許 Ankur 你也可以補充一下。

Yes. I think our view right now is somewhere in 2027, there should be some sort of color we should be able to begin to add the Billion Cell Atlas and then the second gen, we've talked about it expanding to 5 billion cells certainly would be one of the first drivers within that. Jacob mentioned, we actually have a very broad spectrum of customers in discussion about the Cell Atlas and several other new bio AI-based applications that they are working on. But we anticipate that somewhere in 2027, it does become more visible. And the whole point around the new products and BioInsight adding 1 to 2 points of growth for 2027 would certainly be an area.

是的。我們目前的看法是，大約在 2027 年，我們應該能開始提供一些更具體的資訊：我們可以開始把「十億細胞圖譜」以及我們談過的第二代（擴展到 50 億細胞）納入，這肯定會是其中最早的驅動因素之一。如 Jacob 所提到的，我們正與非常廣泛的客戶群就細胞圖譜以及其他幾個新的、以生物 AI 為基礎的應用進行討論，這些都是他們正在推進的方向。但我們預期在 2027 年左右，它會變得更可見。而圍繞新產品以及 BioInsight 在 2027 年帶來 1 到 2 個百分點成長的整體目標，肯定會是其中一個重點領域。

Casey Woodring, JPMorgan.

Casey Woodring，JPMorgan。

Great. Thank you for taking my question. I guess two just quick cleanups on 4Q. Could you quantify what the extra selling week means in terms of a tailwind to the quarter? And then are you expecting a budget flush? So that's the first part.

很好。謝謝你們回答我的問題。我想針對第四季（4Q）有兩個快速釐清：你們能否量化多出的一個銷售週，對本季帶來多少順風（tailwind）？另外，你們是否預期會有預算衝刺（budget flush）？這是第一部分。

And then just there's been some noise this week on US trade restrictions on some of your Chinese competitors. Meanwhile, you guys are still dealing with China regarding the unreliable entities list. So just curious, has there been any change in your position with the Chinese authorities? And now that you've returned to growth year-on-year in the region in 3Q, what are you seeing on the ground with customer comfort given geopolitical concerns? Thanks.

另外，本週有一些消息提到美國對你們部分中國競爭對手的貿易限制。同時，你們仍在就「不可靠實體清單」一事與中國方面交涉。所以想請教，你們與中國主管機關之間的情況是否有任何變化？以及既然你們在第三季（3Q）已在該區域恢復年對年成長，在地端就客戶在地緣政治疑慮下的信心，你們觀察到什麼？謝謝。

Yes. Thanks, Casey. And first and foremost, we are, of course, very pleased that we're back to growth in China. Our focus has been all the way through this time to work closely with our Chinese customer, continue to drive innovation and obviously also work with the regulators in country to make sure that we have a path for the future. We feel good. We are very committed to China and to serve our customers, we believe there's a huge opportunity there.

是的，謝謝你，Casey。首先也是最重要的，我們當然非常高興在中國重回成長。在這段期間，我們的重點一直是與中國客戶密切合作、持續推動創新，並且也與當地監管機構合作，確保我們未來有一條可行的路徑。我們感覺良好。我們對中國以及服務我們的客戶非常投入，我們相信那裡有巨大的機會。

We learned about this situation as many of you did yesterday morning. And of course, we are -- we're trying to better understand what the impact is. That's what I know at this point. From a budget perspective, budget flush perspective, we are not anticipating any specific budget flush besides what's normal for Q4.

我們和各位一樣，是在昨天早上得知這個情況。當然，我們——我們正在努力更深入了解其影響。目前我所知道的就是這些。就預算、預算衝刺而言，除了第四季正常情況外，我們不預期會有任何特別的預算衝刺。

Ankur, maybe you take that.

Ankur，也許你來回答這個。

Yes. Let me cover the Q4 question there, Casey. So Jacob covered the budget flush side. So we haven't assumed anything meaningful there. So if there is indeed a stronger budget flush, that would be a potential upside into Q4.

好的，Casey，我來補充第四季的問題。Jacob 已經談到預算衝刺的部分。因此我們沒有在那方面做任何有意義的假設。所以如果確實出現更強的預算衝刺，那將可能成為第四季的上行因素。

Now regarding your question about the extra week, let me contextualize that. So for everyone, Illumina reports on a fixed number of weeks per quarter basis, usually, which means that once every four years, we end up with an extra week to complete the cycle and come back into a consistent 13-week cycle there.

至於你問到多出一週的問題，我先提供一些背景。對大家而言，Illumina 通常是以每季固定週數來報告，這表示大約每四年一次，我們會多出一週來完成週期，然後回到一致的 13 週季度週期。

The extra week in Q4 has always been part of our guidance throughout this year. That extra week falls during the holidays and very early part of January. So the actual impact on revenue is quite minimal. That's not the window where we see a lot of top line activity. So fairly minimal impact on revenue.

第四季多出的一週，整年以來一直都已包含在我們的財測之中。那一週落在假期期間以及一月初的很早時段。因此對營收的實際影響相當有限。那不是我們看到大量營收活動的時間窗口。所以對營收的影響相當小。

On the expenses side, of course, we have the cost of -- our people cost for one extra week. But both of those have been part of our guidance and thinking all throughout the year. And just to be clear, our raise of consumables expectations for Q4 is entirely from the strong placements and the customer demand that we've seen so far.

在費用端，當然會有——我們的人員成本多一週。但這兩者都已在我們整年的財測與思考中納入。另外要說清楚，我們上調第四季耗材（consumables）預期，完全是因為我們迄今看到的強勁裝機（placements）以及客戶需求。

Dan Brennan, TD Cowen.

Dan Brennan，TD Cowen。

Great, thank you. Maybe just one on AI. I know there's been a lot of discussion there so far. But -- if we think about the next, say, three-plus years or so, is the opportunity more on the service side for Illumina through BioInsight? Or is it going to be substantial or opportunity on the placing boxes and traditional flow cells? I'm just wondering how that splits out.

很好，謝謝。也許問一個關於 AI 的問題。我知道到目前為止已經討論很多了。但是——如果我們看未來大概三年以上的時間，Illumina 的機會更多是在透過 BioInsight 的服務端嗎？還是會在設備裝機（placing boxes）以及傳統 flow cells 上有相當大的機會？我只是想了解這之間大概會如何分配。

And then related to that, you talked about the Billion Cell Atlas. So is the way to think about it right now from what you're seeing in your pipeline and backlog? Is it more going to be on single cell and multi-omics versus traditional whole genome?

另外相關地，你們提到「十億細胞圖譜」。所以就你們目前在管線與訂單積壓（backlog）中看到的情況，現在應該怎麼理解？它會更多是在單細胞（single cell）與多組學，相對於傳統全基因組（whole genome）嗎？

And then a quick follow-up just on NovaSeq X pricing in the quarter. Just if you can give any color on that, that would be helpful. Thank you.

最後快速追問一下本季 NovaSeq X 的定價。如果你們能提供一些說明（color），會很有幫助。謝謝。

Okay. So -- good question, Dan. I think how we think about the AI opportunity, as I mentioned, the industry right now is looking for some huge data set that is both reproducible and standardized. And the problem is when you have individual PIs or individual postdocs or others that is sitting and building small data sets, these are quite noisy, and it's very difficult for models to actually train well on those.

好的。所以——問得好，Dan。我認為我們看待 AI 機會的方式，如我先前提到的，目前產業正在尋找一個既可重現又標準化的龐大資料集。問題在於，當你有個別的主試驗者（PI）或個別的博士後或其他人坐在那裡建立小型資料集時，這些資料相當雜訊化，而模型其實很難在其上良好訓練。

We have seen many times that they are better in predicting where the data is coming from rather than predicting the biology that is -- that -- what the experiments were actually telling you. So -- but that's why we're seeing a big demand and a big ask for customers that would like us to help generate large data sets that can help build those because we can -- when we do those large data set, obviously, we also spend time on ensuring they're reproducible, standardized and so on.

我們多次看到，模型更擅長預測資料是從哪裡來的，而不是預測生物學本身——也就是那些實驗實際在告訴你的內容。所以——但這也是為什麼我們看到客戶有很大的需求、也提出很大的請求，希望我們協助產生大型資料集來幫助建立這些能力；因為我們——當我們做這些大型資料集時，顯然也會投入時間確保其可重現、標準化等等。

And I think -- so there's a big demand for that. So there's certainly a huge opportunity for Illumina in what you can call in a service business format. At the same time, we are, of course, in the business of placing instruments. So you can imagine there's a lot of customers saying, we can get access to the Illumina data sets, can we augment that with our own data that we might want to keep to ourselves because of various reasons. So I think we will see a lot of demand for that also.

我認為——因此對此有很大的需求。所以對 Illumina 而言，若以你所謂的服務業務形式來看，確實存在巨大的機會。同時，我們當然也從事儀器佈署的業務。所以你可以想像，很多客戶會說：我們可以取得 Illumina 的資料集，那我們能否再用我們自己的資料來擴充，而這些資料基於各種原因可能想要自行保留。所以我認為我們也會看到對此有很大的需求。

So it will be a blend, but versus how we traditionally think about it, we also think there's a big service opportunity. This plays extremely well to what Illumina where we're sitting today. The capabilities we built up over the last few years in this space is probably not fully understood, but we are -- we have really become experts in how to think about or how to do perturbation for different cell lines and what it takes to build that quality. And that's what some of our customers are really seeing a lot of benefits in.

所以這會是一種混合模式；但相較於我們傳統的思考方式，我們也認為存在很大的服務機會。這與 Illumina 目前所處的位置非常契合。我們在過去幾年於這個領域建立的能力，可能尚未被完全理解，但我們——我們確實已成為專家，知道如何思考、或如何針對不同細胞系進行擾動（perturbation），以及建立那樣品質所需的條件。而這正是我們的一些客戶真正看到大量效益的地方。

Yes. Let me add just a couple more things on the BCA and the way you think about it. Jacob covered it extensively. The power of our portfolio by having a significant part of the multi-omic workflows is that the pathway where we stand today looks like a combination of whole genome and proteomics, combination of single cell and transcriptomics, combination of spatial and transcriptomics, all of those combinations based on either specific organs where the research is or specific disease pathways where the research is happening.

是的。讓我再補充幾點關於 BCA 以及你應該如何看待它。Jacob 已經很全面地說明了。我們產品組合的力量在於，我們涵蓋了多組學工作流程中的相當大一部分；因此我們目前所處的路徑看起來像是：全基因組與蛋白質體學的組合、單細胞與轉錄體學的組合、空間（spatial）與轉錄體學的組合——所有這些組合都會以特定器官的研究場景，或研究正在發生的特定疾病路徑為基礎。

So that combination of the -- of different multi-omics would vary, but that's what different types of data sets could be. As we've said, our Billion Cell Atlas is a starting point, which is helping prove causality in many areas already. But we do see a pathway for multiple combinations, as I was describing, of additional data sets that can be very meaningful and powerful going forward.

因此，不同多組學的組合會有所不同，但那就是不同類型資料集可能呈現的樣貌。如我們所說，我們的 Billion Cell Atlas（十億細胞圖譜）是一個起點，已經在許多領域協助證明因果關係。但我們確實看到一條路徑，能夠如我所描述的那樣，透過多種額外資料集的多重組合，在未來帶來非常有意義且強大的影響。

Dave Westenberg, Piper Sandler.

Dave Westenberg，Piper Sandler。

I didn't even know it was going to be back on. Maybe I'll just ask a quick one on China. Did I see that right? That was growth in the quarter. One was reported and one was organic [7%] and double digits. What happened there, I guess?

我甚至不知道會再接回來。也許我就快速問一個關於中國的問題。我看到的沒錯吧？本季那裡是成長。一個是報告口徑，一個是有機口徑，[7%] 而且是雙位數。那裡發生了什麼事呢？

And then secondly, how should we think about China on a go-forward basis? We obviously had the unreliable entity list, but we also didn't kind of expect that. And again, I'm sorry for that, it's a bad question. I didn't even know it was going to be back on.

第二個問題，我們應該如何看待未來的中國？我們顯然遇到不可靠實體清單，但我們也沒有太預期會那樣。再說一次，很抱歉，這是個不太好的問題。我甚至不知道會再接回來。

Dave, we always like to hear from you. So thank you for the additional question. I think, as I mentioned before, how to think about China is that we believe we have been -- I think we have been committed -- shown that we are committed to find a path forward in China. I think we have good relationships there. And the first and foremost, we are focusing on what we can control.

Dave，我們總是很高興聽到你的提問。所以謝謝你追加這個問題。我認為，如我之前提到的，談到如何看待中國，我們相信我們一直——我想我們已經展現出我們致力於在中國找到一條前進的道路。我認為我們在那裡有良好的關係。而且首要之務，我們專注在我們能掌控的事情上。

And what we can control is to continue to support our customers, continue to drive innovations. We see a lot of interest for a lot of our innovations in China, and we believe the opportunity in China is big. I think the Chinese customers want to see Illumina play in the market space, and we will continue to do our best to have a future in China.

而我們能掌控的，就是持續支持我們的客戶、持續推動創新。我們看到中國對我們許多創新有很高的興趣，我們也相信中國的機會很大。我認為中國客戶希望看到 Illumina 參與這個市場領域，而我們會持續盡最大努力，讓我們在中國有未來。

Tycho Peterson, Jefferies.

Tycho Peterson，Jefferies。

Hey, thanks for takng follow up. Ankur, you called out operating leases -- more operating leases. I understand that was in context of the research market. But can you maybe elaborate there? And any chance it spills over to clinical?

嘿，謝謝讓我追問。Ankur，你提到營業租賃——更多的營業租賃。我理解那是在研究市場的脈絡下。但你能否再多闡述一下？以及有沒有可能延伸到臨床端？

Yes. So great question, Tycho. The -- both the entire operating leases as well as reagent rental models, we have them have had them on the offer for a fairly long period of time, but the demand there has been growing, both in the research as well as for clinical customers as well.

是的。所以問得好，Tycho。——無論是整體的營業租賃，或是試劑租賃（reagent rental）模式，我們都已經提供——也提供了相當長一段時間，但那方面的需求一直在成長，不僅在研究端，也在臨床客戶端同樣如此。

We haven't seen that a whole lot with our largest clinical customers who have been in extensive capacity expansion. But when you look at the midsized clinical laboratories all over the world, including in US and in Europe, that's where we've seen interesting demand pickup in that space. But that offering has been -- is available to all our customers globally.

我們在最大的臨床客戶身上並沒有看到太多這種情況，因為他們一直在大幅擴充產能。但當你看全球各地的中型臨床實驗室，包括美國與歐洲，我們就在那個領域看到需求有趣地回升。不過，這項方案——是提供給我們全球所有客戶使用的。

Thank you. This concludes the Q&A section of the call. I would now like to turn the call back to Conor McNamara for closing remarks.

謝謝。本次電話會議的問答環節到此結束。現在我想把電話交回給 Conor McNamara 作結語。

Thank you for joining us today. A replay of this call will be available in the Investors section of our website. This concludes our call, and we look forward to seeing you at upcoming events

感謝各位今天加入我們。本次電話會議的重播將可在我們網站的投資人（Investors）專區取得。本次會議到此結束，我們期待在接下來的活動中與各位見面