grepcent / static financial knowledge base

Cytek Biosciences, Inc. (CTKB)

CIK: 0001831915. SIC: 3826 Laboratory Analytical Instruments. Latest 10-K as of: 2026-02-26.

SIC breadcrumb: Manufacturing > SIC Major Group 38 > SIC 3826 Laboratory Analytical Instruments

SEC company page: https://www.sec.gov/edgar/browse/?CIK=1831915. Latest filing source: 0001628280-26-012352.

Informational only - descriptive public-record data, not investment advice.

Business

Read CTKB's verbatim Item 1 Business section from its latest 10-K: Business.

Risk Factors

Read CTKB's verbatim Item 1A Risk Factors from its latest 10-K: Risk Factors.

Selected Fundamentals

MetricValueUnitFYFiled
Revenue201,493,000USD20252026-02-26
Net income-66,539,000USD20252026-02-26
Assets461,542,000USD20252026-02-26

Financials

Annual standardized facts from SEC companyfacts as of latest extracted filing date 2026-02-26. Source: https://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl/companyfacts/CIK0001831915.json. Derived margins, ratios, and free cash flow are computed from the extracted annual SEC facts.

Download these verified figures (annual + quarterly, with per-value filing provenance): JSON · CSV

Flow metrics use full-year FY periods from 10-K/10-K/A filings; balance-sheet metrics use FY-end instants. Free cash flow = operating cash flow - capital expenditures. Missing metrics are omitted rather than fabricated.

Metric2019202020212022202320242025
Revenue92,839,000127,950,000164,036,000193,015,000200,453,000201,493,000
Net income19,411,0003,027,0002,484,000-12,148,000-6,020,000-66,539,000
Operating income13,659,0009,157,000-1,804,000-27,845,000-20,523,000-40,384,000
Gross profit51,710,00079,144,000100,974,000109,426,000111,106,000104,460,000
Operating cash flow15,156,0004,630,000-12,231,0005,281,00025,379,000-4,686,000
Capital expenditures1,547,0004,364,0009,748,0004,648,0003,525,0004,084,000
Share buybacks0.000.0044,151,00021,611,00015,074,000
Assets219,979,000463,305,000519,476,000494,457,000499,500,000461,542,000
Liabilities41,688,00057,920,00093,930,000101,393,000103,763,000119,803,000
Stockholders' equity41,701,000-16,028,000405,385,000425,546,000393,064,000395,737,000341,739,000
Cash and cash equivalents165,231,000364,618,000296,601,000167,299,00098,716,00090,853,000
Free cash flow13,609,000266,000-21,979,000633,00021,854,000-8,770,000

Ratios

ROE and ROA use period-end equity/assets. Liabilities / equity uses total liabilities divided by stockholders' equity. Current ratio uses current assets divided by current liabilities when both are reported.

Metric2019202020212022202320242025
Net margin20.91%2.37%1.51%-6.29%-3.00%-33.02%
Operating margin14.71%7.16%-1.10%-14.43%-10.24%-20.04%
Return on equity0.75%0.58%-3.09%-1.52%-19.47%
Return on assets8.82%0.65%0.48%-2.46%-1.21%-14.42%
Liabilities / equity0.140.220.260.260.35
Current ratio7.8613.019.266.975.865.04

Industry Peer Context

Each number-line places CTKB against the min, median, and max of latest reported values among companies in the same SIC industry when at least three peers report that ratio.

Net margin peer context

CTKB Net margin versus SIC peer range. Source: grepcent computed from latest SEC companyfacts ratios for SIC industry 3826; peer count 14.CTKB Net margin versus SIC peer range. Source: grepcent computed from latest SEC companyfacts ratios for SIC industry 3826; peer count 14.14 SIC peersMin -138.9%Median -3.5%Max 29.4%CTKB -33.0%

Operating margin peer context

CTKB Operating margin versus SIC peer range. Source: grepcent computed from latest SEC companyfacts ratios for SIC industry 3826; peer count 13.CTKB Operating margin versus SIC peer range. Source: grepcent computed from latest SEC companyfacts ratios for SIC industry 3826; peer count 13.13 SIC peersMin -149.6%Median -3.8%Max 25.4%CTKB -20.0%

ROE peer context

CTKB ROE versus SIC peer range. Source: grepcent computed from latest SEC companyfacts ratios for SIC industry 3826; peer count 13.CTKB ROE versus SIC peer range. Source: grepcent computed from latest SEC companyfacts ratios for SIC industry 3826; peer count 13.13 SIC peersMin -75.8%Median -5.5%Max 31.2%CTKB -19.5%

ROA peer context

CTKB ROA versus SIC peer range. Source: grepcent computed from latest SEC companyfacts ratios for SIC industry 3826; peer count 14.CTKB ROA versus SIC peer range. Source: grepcent computed from latest SEC companyfacts ratios for SIC industry 3826; peer count 14.14 SIC peersMin -69.7%Median -2.2%Max 23.4%CTKB -14.4%

Financial Bridges

Waterfall figures reconcile reported SEC companyfacts components. Missing bridges are omitted when required components are not present for the same fiscal year.

Income statement bridge from reported figures

CTKB FY2025 income statement bridge from reported figures.CTKB FY2025 income statement bridge from reported figures.CTKB income bridgeFY2025: revenue to net incomeSource: SEC companyfacts FY2025.Income statement bridgeReported amount-$250.0M$0.0B$250.0M$201.5MRevenue-$97.0MCost$104.5MGross-$144.8MOpEx-$40.4MOperating-$26.2MOther/tax-$66.5MNet income

Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts FY 2025. Revenue: accession 0001628280-26-012352; concept RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax; source concepts us-gaap:RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax | Gross profit: accession 0001628280-26-012352; concept GrossProfit; source concepts us-gaap:GrossProfit | Operating income: accession 0001628280-26-012352; concept OperatingIncomeLoss; source concepts us-gaap:OperatingIncomeLoss | Net income: accession 0001628280-26-012352; concept NetIncomeLoss; source concepts us-gaap:NetIncomeLoss

Free cash flow = operating cash flow - capital expenditures

CTKB FY2025 free cash flow bridge from reported figures.CTKB FY2025 free cash flow bridge from reported figures.CTKB free cash flow bridgeFY2025: operating cash flow less capital expendituresSource: SEC companyfacts FY2025.Free cash flow bridgeReported amount-$250.0M$0.0B$250.0M-$4.7MOperating cash flow-$4.1MCapex-$8.8MFree cash flow

Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts FY 2025. Operating cash flow: accession 0001628280-26-012352; concept NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities; source concepts us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities | Capital expenditures: accession 0001628280-26-012352; concept PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment; source concepts us-gaap:PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment | Free cash flow: accession 0001628280-26-012352; concept NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities - PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment; source concepts us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities; us-gaap:PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment

Financial Charts

CTKB revenue, last 5 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts FY2025.CTKB revenue, last 5 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts FY2025.CTKB RevenueLatest point: FY2025 = $201.5MSource: SEC companyfacts FY2025.Fiscal yearReported revenue$0.0B$125.0M$250.0MFY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025

Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-012352; filed 2026-02-26. Concept: RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax. Source concepts: us-gaap:RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax.

CTKB net income, last 5 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts FY2025.CTKB net income, last 5 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts FY2025.CTKB Net incomeLatest point: FY2025 = -$66.5MSource: SEC companyfacts FY2025.Fiscal yearNet income-$250.0M$0.0B$250.0MFY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025

Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-012352; filed 2026-02-26. Concept: NetIncomeLoss. Source concepts: us-gaap:NetIncomeLoss.

CTKB operating income, last 5 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts FY2025.CTKB operating income, last 5 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts FY2025.CTKB Operating incomeLatest point: FY2025 = -$40.4MSource: SEC companyfacts FY2025.Fiscal yearOperating income-$250.0M$0.0B$250.0MFY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025

Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-012352; filed 2026-02-26. Concept: OperatingIncomeLoss. Source concepts: us-gaap:OperatingIncomeLoss.

CTKB gross profit, last 5 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts FY2025.CTKB gross profit, last 5 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts FY2025.CTKB Gross profitLatest point: FY2025 = $104.5MSource: SEC companyfacts FY2025.Fiscal yearGross profit$0.0B$125.0M$250.0MFY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025

Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-012352; filed 2026-02-26. Concept: GrossProfit. Source concepts: us-gaap:GrossProfit.

CTKB operating cash flow, last 5 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts FY2025.CTKB operating cash flow, last 5 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts FY2025.CTKB Operating cash flowLatest point: FY2025 = -$4.7MSource: SEC companyfacts FY2025.Fiscal yearOperating cash flow-$250.0M$0.0B$250.0MFY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025

Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-012352; filed 2026-02-26. Concept: NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities. Source concepts: us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities.

CTKB capital expenditures, last 5 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts FY2025.CTKB capital expenditures, last 5 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts FY2025.CTKB Capital expendituresLatest point: FY2025 = $4.1MSource: SEC companyfacts FY2025.Fiscal yearCapital expenditures$0.0B$125.0M$250.0MFY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025

Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-012352; filed 2026-02-26. Concept: PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment. Source concepts: us-gaap:PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment.

CTKB share buybacks, last 5 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts FY2025.CTKB share buybacks, last 5 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts FY2025.CTKB Share buybacksLatest point: FY2025 = $15.1MSource: SEC companyfacts FY2025.Fiscal yearShare buybacks$0.0B$125.0M$250.0MFY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025

Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-012352; filed 2026-02-26. Concept: PaymentsForRepurchaseOfCommonStock. Source concepts: us-gaap:PaymentsForRepurchaseOfCommonStock.

CTKB assets, last 5 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts FY2025.CTKB assets, last 5 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts FY2025.CTKB AssetsLatest point: FY2025 = $461.5MSource: SEC companyfacts FY2025.Fiscal yearAssets$0.0B$375.0M$750.0MFY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025

Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-012352; filed 2026-02-26. Concept: Assets. Source concepts: us-gaap:Assets.

CTKB liabilities, last 5 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts FY2025.CTKB liabilities, last 5 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts FY2025.CTKB LiabilitiesLatest point: FY2025 = $119.8MSource: SEC companyfacts FY2025.Fiscal yearLiabilities$0.0B$125.0M$250.0MFY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025

Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-012352; filed 2026-02-26. Concept: Liabilities. Source concepts: us-gaap:Liabilities.

CTKB stockholders' equity, last 5 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts FY2025.CTKB stockholders' equity, last 5 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts FY2025.CTKB Stockholders' equityLatest point: FY2025 = $341.7MSource: SEC companyfacts FY2025.Fiscal yearStockholders' equity$0.0B$250.0M$500.0MFY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025

Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-012352; filed 2026-02-26. Concept: StockholdersEquity. Source concepts: us-gaap:StockholdersEquity.

CTKB cash and cash equivalents, last 5 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts FY2025.CTKB cash and cash equivalents, last 5 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts FY2025.CTKB Cash and cash equivalentsLatest point: FY2025 = $90.9MSource: SEC companyfacts FY2025.Fiscal yearCash and cash equivalents$0.0B$250.0M$500.0MFY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025

Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-012352; filed 2026-02-26. Concept: CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue. Source concepts: us-gaap:CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue.

CTKB free cash flow, last 5 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts FY2025.CTKB free cash flow, last 5 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts FY2025.CTKB Free cash flowLatest point: FY2025 = -$8.8MSource: SEC companyfacts FY2025.Fiscal yearFree cash flow-$250.0M$0.0B$250.0MFY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025

Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001628280-26-012352; filed 2026-02-26. Concept: NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities - PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment. Source concepts: us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities; us-gaap:PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment.

Quarterly

Quarterly standardized facts from SEC companyfacts as of latest extracted filing date 2026-05-07. Source: https://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl/companyfacts/CIK0001831915.json.

Flow metrics use discrete quarter-length periods from 10-Q/10-Q/A filings. Q4 revenue and net income are derived only when annual FY and nine-month YTD facts exist for the same fiscal year; derived Q4 values are labeled. EPS Q4 is not derived.

QuarterEnd DateRevenueNet IncomeDiluted EPSMethod
2021-Q32021-09-300.00reported discrete quarter
2022-Q12022-03-310.02reported discrete quarter
2022-Q22022-06-300.00reported discrete quarter
2022-Q32022-09-30-0.01reported discrete quarter
2023-Q22023-06-3049,693,000-4,388,000reported discrete quarter
2023-Q32023-06-30-4,388,000reported discrete quarter
2023-Q32023-09-3048,000,000reported discrete quarter
2023-Q42023-12-3158,233,0005,503,000derived Q4 = FY annual - nine-month YTD
2024-Q12024-03-3144,860,000-6,169,000reported discrete quarter
2024-Q22024-03-31-6,169,000reported discrete quarter
2024-Q22024-06-3046,617,000reported discrete quarter
2024-Q32024-06-30-10,434,000reported discrete quarter
2024-Q32024-09-3051,500,000reported discrete quarter
2024-Q42024-12-3157,476,0009,643,000derived Q4 = FY annual - nine-month YTD
2025-Q12025-03-3141,457,000-11,402,000reported discrete quarter
2025-Q22025-06-3045,602,000-5,583,000reported discrete quarter
2025-Q32025-09-3052,293,000-5,478,000reported discrete quarter
2025-Q42025-12-3162,141,000-44,076,000derived Q4 = FY annual - nine-month YTD
2026-Q12026-03-3144,135,000-18,866,000reported discrete quarter

Quarterly Charts

CTKB quarterly revenue, last 12 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts 2026-Q1.CTKB quarterly revenue, last 12 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts 2026-Q1.CTKB Quarterly RevenueLatest point: 2026-Q1 = $44.1MSource: SEC companyfacts 2026-Q1.Fiscal quarterQuarterly Revenue$0.0B$125.0M$250.0M2023-Q22023-Q32023-Q42024-Q12024-Q22024-Q32024-Q42025-Q12025-Q22025-Q32025-Q42026-Q1

Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2026 ended 2026-03-31; accession 0001628280-26-032293; filed 2026-05-07. Concept: RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax. Source concepts: us-gaap:RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax.

CTKB quarterly net income, last 12 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts 2026-Q1.CTKB quarterly net income, last 12 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts 2026-Q1.CTKB Quarterly Net incomeLatest point: 2026-Q1 = -$18.9MSource: SEC companyfacts 2026-Q1.Fiscal quarterQuarterly Net income-$250.0M$0.0B$250.0M2023-Q22023-Q32023-Q42024-Q12024-Q22024-Q32024-Q42025-Q12025-Q22025-Q32025-Q42026-Q1

Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2026 ended 2026-03-31; accession 0001628280-26-032293; filed 2026-05-07. Concept: NetIncomeLossAvailableToCommonStockholdersBasic. Source concepts: us-gaap:NetIncomeLossAvailableToCommonStockholdersBasic.

CTKB quarterly diluted eps, last 4 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts 2022-Q3.CTKB quarterly diluted eps, last 4 periods. Source: SEC companyfacts 2022-Q3.CTKB Quarterly Diluted EPSLatest point: 2022-Q3 = -$0.01/shareSource: SEC companyfacts 2022-Q3.Fiscal quarterQuarterly Diluted EPS (USD/share)-$0.50/share$0.00/share$0.50/share2021-Q32022-Q12022-Q22022-Q3

Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2022 ended 2022-09-30; accession 0000950170-22-023935; filed 2022-11-09. Concept: EarningsPerShareDiluted. Source concepts: us-gaap:EarningsPerShareDiluted.

Macro Cross-References

Latest quarter (10-Q)

Latest 10-Q source: 0001628280-26-032293.

Extracted structurally from real Item 2 body heading to real Item 3/4 boundary. Published MD&A gate trimmed front/tail over-capture. Confidence: high. Filing date: 2026-05-07. Report date: 2026-03-31.

Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our unaudited interim consolidated financial statements and related notes included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto as of and for the year ended December 31, 2025 and the related Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, both of which are contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on February 26, 2026. Unless the context requires otherwise, references in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q to “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Cytek Biosciences, Inc.

Forward-Looking Statements

The information in this discussion contains forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the Securities Act) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), which are subject to the “safe harbor” created by those sections. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning our strategy, future operations, future financial position, future revenues, projected costs, prospects and plans and objectives of management. The words “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “projects,” “will,” “would” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions, or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements that we make. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, the risks set forth in Part II, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and in our other filings with the SEC. The forward-looking statements are applicable only as of the date on which they are made, and we do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

Overview

We are a leading cell analysis solutions company advancing the next generation of research and clinical tools with our novel technical approach of leveraging the full spectrum of fluorescence signatures from multiple lasers to distinguish fluorescent tags on single cells (“Full Spectrum Profiling” or “FSP” technology). Our goal is to become the premier cell analysis company through continued innovation that facilitates scientific advances in biomedical research and clinical applications. Our platform includes instruments, accessories, reagents, software and services to provide a comprehensive and integrated suite of cell analysis solutions for our customers.

We manufacture our instruments in our facilities in Fremont, California; Wuxi, China; Seattle, Washington; and Singapore. We have designed our operating model to be capital efficient and to scale efficiently as our product volumes grow.

Total revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2026 was $44.1 million, representing a 6% increase compared to revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2025 of $41.5 million.

To date, we have adopted a direct sales model in North America, Europe, China, and several other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and sell our products through third-party distributors in certain countries in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. Revenue from direct sales represented 69% and 72% of total revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025, respectively, and revenue from distributors represented 31% and 28% of total revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025, respectively.

We focus a substantial portion of our resources on developing new products and solutions to meet our customers’ needs. Our research and development efforts focus on developing new and complementary instruments, reagents and reagent kits, and continued operating software development. We incurred research and development expenses of $9.6 million and $9.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025, respectively. We intend to continue to make significant investments in research and development in the future.

We expect to continue to invest in our commercial infrastructure through hiring additional employees with strong scientific and technical backgrounds to support growth in our instrument sales as well as our planned expansion of reagents offerings and panel design capabilities. We also plan to continue to invest in sales, marketing and business development across the globe to drive commercialization of our products. We incurred sales and marketing expenses of $11.6 million and $12.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025, respectively.

Since our inception in 2014, we have financed our operations primarily through sales of our securities and revenue from the sale of our products and services.

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Our net loss was $18.9 million and $11.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025, respectively. The change for the three months ended March 31, 2026 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2025, resulted primarily from a slight increase in revenues and gross profit, offset by higher operating expenses.

We expect our expenses will increase substantially in connection with our ongoing activities, as we:

•attract, hire and retain qualified personnel;

•invest in processes, commercial infrastructure and supporting functions to scale our business and introduce new products and services;

•support our research and development efforts;

•continue to expand geographically;

•protect and defend our intellectual property; and

•make strategic investments in complementary businesses, services, products or technologies.

Key factors affecting our results of operations and future performance

We believe that our financial performance has been, and in the foreseeable future will continue to be, primarily driven by multiple factors as described below, each of which presents growth opportunities for our business. These factors also pose important challenges that we must successfully address to sustain our growth and improve our results of operations. Our ability to successfully address these challenges is subject to various risk and uncertainties, including those described under the heading “Risk Factors” included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

Global customer adoption

Our financial performance has largely been driven by our ability to increase the adoption of our FSP platform, a key factor on which our future success depends. We plan to drive global customer adoption through business development efforts, direct sales and marketing and third-party distributions. We are investing in our direct sales organization and commercial support functions and developing third-party distributor relationships to support global expansion and drive revenue growth. We intend to continue increasing our workforce in line with our growth.

Recurring revenues

We believe our expanding installed base of instruments to new and existing customers will provide us with greater leverage to drive pull-through for reagent and service revenue, which are recurring by nature. Furthermore, as we develop and identify new applications and products, we expect to further increase pull-through across our installed base. We expect recurring revenue on an absolute basis to increase and become an increasingly important contributor to our revenue as our installed base expands.

Revenue mix and gross margin

Our revenue is primarily derived from sales of our instruments and services with our instruments recognizing higher revenue and gross profit than our services. Although we expect sales of our instruments to continue to represent the largest percentage of our revenue in the future, we expect service revenue to increase as a percentage of our total revenue and our gross margins to experience a corresponding improvement as we grow our installed base and increase our focus on leveraging our fixed manufacturing and service overhead costs. Our sales in certain regions, particularly outside of the United States, are largely realized through third-party distribution partners that typically receive discounted prices, thus resulting in lower gross margins than those recognized by our direct sales organization. Furthermore, our instrument selling prices and gross margins may fluctuate in the future due to the impact of competing products entering the market and fluctuating foreign exchange rates and as we continue to introduce new products and reduce our production costs.

In the near term, we expect the continued leveraging of fixed manufacturing and service overhead costs, optimization of our manufacturing processes, and material cost fluctuations to have the greatest impact on our gross margin.

Expansion into new markets

We focus our research and development efforts on the greatest value-additive products to meet the growing and unmet needs of the research and clinical markets. We work closely with researchers, clinicians and scientists to optimize and implement new panels and applications to meet their specific needs. We also gain valuable insight on potential new products, new applications and enhancements to existing products, as well as biomarker combinations that would be beneficial in different fields, through collaborations with our customers, academic laboratories, KOLs and industry

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partners. We plan to continue to invest in new product development and enhancements to support our expansion into new markets.

Our Northern Lights-CLC system received CE Marking under the European Union In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Directive in September 2020 and was registered in the European Union in compliance with Regulation (EU) 2017/746 on In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices in November 2023. The Northern Lights-CLC system was also registered as a Class II In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Device in China. These registrations enable the Northern Lights-CLC system to be marketed for clinical use in China, the European Union and in other countries around the world that accept the Certification of Free Sale issued from an EU Competent Authority.

Key business metrics

We regularly review the following key business metrics to evaluate our business, measure our performance, identify trends affecting our business, formulate financial projections and make strategic decisions. We believe that the following metrics are representative of our current business; however, we anticipate these will change or may be substituted for additional or different metrics as our business grows.

Three months ended March 31,
20262025Dollar Change
(In thousands)
Sales channel mix
Direct sales channel$30,269$29,970$299
Distributor channel13,86611,4872,379
Total revenue, net$44,135$41,457$2,678
Customer mix
Academia and government$16,939$17,132$(193)
Biotechnology, pharmaceutical, distributor and CRO27,19624,3252,871
Total revenue, net$44,135$41,457$2,678

Distributors typically sell to end customers identified in other customer

[Excerpt truncated for page length; source filing is linked above.]

Latest 10-K MD&A

Extracted structurally from real Item 7 body heading to real Item 7A/8 boundary. Published MD&A gate trimmed front/tail over-capture. Confidence: high. Filing date: 2026-02-26. Report date: 2025-12-31.

Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. See “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” at the beginning of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Our actual results could differ materially from those contained in these forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed in Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Unless the context requires otherwise, references in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Cytek Biosciences, Inc.

The following is a discussion and year-to-year comparisons of our financial condition and results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024. For a discussion of the results of operations and financial condition for the years ended December 31, 2024 and year-to-year comparisons between 2024 and 2023, please refer to “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” section of our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 28, 2025.

Overview

We are a leading cell analysis solutions company advancing the next generation of research and clinical tools with our novel technical approach of leveraging the full spectrum of fluorescence signatures from multiple lasers to distinguish fluorescent tags on single cells (“Full Spectrum Profiling” or “FSP” technology). Our goal is to become the premier cell analysis company through continued innovation that facilitates scientific advances in biomedical research and clinical applications. Our FSP platform includes instruments, accessories, reagents, software and services to provide a comprehensive and integrated suite of solutions for our customers.

Our FSP cell analyzers, the Cytek Aurora, Northern Lights and Cytek Aurora Evo systems, deliver high-resolution, high-content and high-sensitivity cell analysis and addresses the inherent limitations of other technologies by providing a higher level of multiplexing with exquisite sensitivity, more flexibility and increased efficiency, all at a lower cost for performance. Additionally, our Cytek Aurora cell sorter (“Aurora CS system”) leverages our FSP technology to further broaden our potential applications across cell analysis. Each system is supported by our highly intuitive, proprietary embedded SpectroFlo software, our reagents, and our service offerings to provide a comprehensive, end-to-end platform of solutions for our customers. Since our first U.S. commercial launch in mid-2017, we have sold and deployed our instruments to customers around the world, including pharmaceutical companies, biopharma companies, academic research centers, and contract research organizations (“CROs”).

In addition to our FSP product portfolio, pursuant to an acquisition in February 2023, we offer conventional flow and image-based flow cytometry instrumentation and related products and services under the Amnis® and Guava® brands, which provide insights into all facets of cellular phenotypes and morphology. Amnis instruments and applications are important tools in the investigation of cell morphology, intracellular translocation and cell-cell interaction in a variety of research areas, including immunology, neurobiology, stem cell research and cell biology. Guava flow cytometers expand our core instrument offerings, adding cost-effective, entry-level and personal instrument options with microcapillary-based fluidics for cell analysis. The Guava microcapillary-based flow cytometers are mainly adopted by entry to mid-range flow cytometry users who are looking for easy-to-use and cost-effective solutions for applications, such as cell counting, cell biology and lower-plex immunophenotyping.

We manufacture our instruments in our facilities in Fremont, California; Wuxi, China; and Singapore. We have designed our operating model to be capital efficient and to scale efficiently as our product volumes grow.

Total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2025 was $201.5 million, representing a 1% increase compared to revenue for the year ended December 31, 2024 of $200.5 million.

To date, we have adopted a direct sales model in North America, Europe, China, and several other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and sell our products through third-party distributors in certain countries in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. Revenue from direct sales represented 73%, 75% and 76% of total revenue for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and revenue from distributors represented 27%, 25% and 24% of total revenue for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively.

We focus a substantial portion of our resources on developing new products and solutions to meet our customers’ needs. Our research and development efforts focus on developing new and complementary instruments, reagents and reagent kits, and continued operating software development. We incurred research and development expenses of $36.5 million, $39.4 million and $44.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively. We intend to continue to make significant investments in research and development in the future.

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We expect to continue to invest in our commercial infrastructure through hiring additional employees with strong scientific and technical backgrounds to support growth in our instrument sales as well as our planned expansion of reagents offerings and panel design capabilities. We also plan to continue to invest in sales, marketing and business development across the globe to drive commercialization of our products. We incurred sales and marketing expenses of $49.4 million, $49.1 million and $49.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Since our inception in 2014, we have financed our operations primarily through sales of our securities and revenue from the sale of our products and services.

Our net loss was $66.5 million, $6.0 million and $12.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively. The change for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to the year ended December 31, 2024, was primarily driven by the recording of a $33.1 million valuation allowance against deferred tax assets in 2025. In addition, lower gross profit, increased operating expenses, and an operating and interest expense reduction related to a change in estimate of a license and royalty settlement liability in 2024, contributed to the overall year-over-year change.

We expect our expenses will increase substantially in connection with our ongoing activities, as we:

•attract, hire and retain qualified personnel;

•invest in processes, commercial infrastructure and supporting functions to scale our business and introduce new products and services;

•support our research and development efforts;

•continue to expand geographically;

•protect and defend our intellectual property; and

•make strategic investments in complementary businesses, services, products or technologies.

Key factors affecting our results of operations and future performance

We believe that our financial performance has been, and in the foreseeable future will continue to be, primarily driven by multiple factors as described below, each of which presents growth opportunities for our business. These factors also pose important challenges that we must successfully address to sustain our growth and improve our results of operations. Our ability to successfully address these challenges is subject to various risk and uncertainties, including those described under the heading “Risk Factors” included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Global customer adoption

Our financial performance has largely been driven by our ability to increase the adoption of our FSP platform, a key factor on which our future success depends. We plan to drive global customer adoption through business development efforts, direct sales and marketing and third-party distributions. We are investing in our direct sales organization and commercial support functions and developing third-party distributor relationships to support global expansion and drive revenue growth.

Recurring revenues

We believe our expanding installed base of instruments to new and existing customers will provide us with greater leverage to drive pull-through for reagent and service revenue, which are recurring by nature. Furthermore, as we develop and identify new applications and products, we expect to further increase pull-through across our installed base. We expect recurring revenue on an absolute basis to increase and become an increasingly important contributor to our revenue as our installed base expands.

Revenue mix and gross margin

Our revenue is primarily derived from sales of our instruments and services. Although we expect sales of our instruments to continue to represent the largest percentage of our revenue in the future, we expect service revenue to increase as a percentage of our total revenue and our gross margins to experience a corresponding improvement as we grow our installed base and increase our focus on leveraging our fixed manufacturing and service overhead costs. Our sales in certain regions, particularly outside of the United States, are largely realized through third-party distribution partners that typically receive discounted prices, thus resulting in lower gross margins than those recognized by our direct sales organization. Furthermore, our instrument selling prices and gross margins may fluctuate in the future due to the impact of competing products entering the market and fluctuating foreign exchange rates and as we continue to introduce new products and reduce our production costs.

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In the near term, we expect the continued leveraging of fixed manufacturing and service overhead costs, optimization of our manufacturing processes, and material cost fluctuations to have the greatest impact on our gross margin.

Expansion into new markets

We focus our research and development efforts on the greatest value-additive products to meet the growing and unmet needs of the research and clinical markets. We work closely with researchers, clinicians and scientists to optimize and implement new panels and applications to meet their specific needs. We also gain valuable insight on potential new products, new applications and enhancements to existing products, as well as biomarker combinations that would be beneficial in different fields, through collaborations with our customers, academic laboratories, KOLs and industry partners. We plan to continue to invest in new product development and enhancements to support our expansion into new markets.

Our Northern Lights-CLC system received CE Marking under the European Union In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Directive in September 2020 and was registered in the European Union in compliance with Regulation (EU) 2017/746 on In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices in November 2023. The Northern Lights-CLC system was also registered as a Class II In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Device in China. These registrations enable the Northern Lights-CLC system to be marketed for clinical use in China, the European Union and in other countries around the world that accept the Certification of Free Sale issued from an EU Competent Authority.

Key business metrics

We regularly review the following key business metrics to evaluate our business, measure our performance, identify trends affecting our business, formulate financial projections and make strategic decisions. We believe that the following metrics are representative of our current business; however, we anticipate these will change or may be substituted for additional or different metrics as our business grows.

Year ended December 31,2025 vs. 20242024 vs. 2023
(In thousands)202520242023Dollar ChangeDollar Change
Sales channel mix
Direct sales channel$146,668$149,874$147,169$(3,206)$2,705
Distributor channel54,82550,57945,8464,2464,733
Total revenue, net$201,493$200,453$193,0151040$7,438
Customer mix
Academia and government$84,763$80,911$82,145$3,852$(1,234)
Biotechnology, pharmaceutical, distributor and CRO116,730119,542110,870(2,812)$8,672
Total revenue, net$201,493$200,453$193,015$1,040$7,438

Distributors typically sell to end customers identified in other customer categories.

Known Trends, Events and Uncertainties

Our business, results of operation and financial condition are dependent on both domestic and global macroeconomic conditions.

Recent inflation trends may adversely affect our business and corresponding financial position and cash flows. Inflationary factors, such as increases in the cost of materials and supplies, labor and benefit costs and overhead costs may adversely affect our operating results. Although we do not believe that inflation has had a material impact on our financial position or results of operations to date, we may experience increases in the near future (especially if the rate of inflation increases) on our operating costs, including our labor costs and research and development costs, due to inflationary pressures as well as supply chain constraints, consequences associated with future public health crises, the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and the conflicts in the Middle East.

Certain of our pharmaceutical and biotech customers based in the United States have been impacted by the difficult fundraising environment for small companies and generally high interest rates. We believe these factors contributed to longer sales cycles, which adversely impacted our operating results for the three months and full year ended December 31, 2025, and may adversely affect our operating results in the future.

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The U.S. government has made and continues to signal additional changes to existing U.S. trade policies, including imposing and announcing plans for tariffs on all U.S. trading partners including China, and renegotiating or potentially terminating existing bilateral and multi-lateral trade agreements. Certain foreign governments have announced or implemented retaliatory tariffs against U.S. goods and other non-tariff protectionist measures, such as procurement preferences or informal disincentives to engage with, purchase from or invest in U.S. entities, which may limit our ability to compete internationally and attract non-U.S. investment, employees, customers and suppliers. Although we cannot predict the ultimate extent to which the United States or other countries will impose quotas, duties, reciprocal tariffs, taxes, or other similar restrictions upon the import or export of our products, nor can we predict future trade policy or the terms of any renegotiated trade agreements and their impact on our business, the U.S. government’s imposition of tariffs as well as threatened and actual retaliatory tariffs against U.S. goods may have a negative impact on our revenue and costs in the future.

In addition, the new license and export controls announced by the U.S. government in January 2025 that impact exports of certain products and technology, including high-parameter and spectral flow cytometers and cell sorters and certain mass spectrometry equipment to certain countries, including China, may have a negative impact on our sales, manufacturing and research and development activities.

Finally, changes in the U.S. National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) policy with respect to grants for academic research, specifically, the reduction in indirect cost reimbursement, has impacted and may continue to impact our revenue from academic and government customers in the near term.

For a further discussion of trends, events, uncertainties and other factors that could impact our operating results, see the section titled “Risk Factors” in Item 1A of Part I in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Components of our results of operations

Total revenue, net

We currently generate our total revenue, net from product revenue and service revenue.

Product. Our product revenue primarily consists of sales of our instruments, including the Cytek Aurora, Northern Lights, Cytek Aurora Evo, Aurora CS, Amnis and Guava systems, instrument accessories, such as loaders, and consumables, such as reagents. We offer multiple versions of our FSP systems with different price points based on the number of lasers integrated in the systems. We also derive revenue from sales of our conventional flow cytometry system, which is available for sale in China. We recognize product revenue when control of the instrument is transferred to the customer.

Service. Our service revenue primarily consists of post-warranty service contracts, installations and repairs which are recognized over time. Post-warranty service contracts are recognized ratably over the term of the contract and installations and repair services are recognized as they are delivered to the customer.

We expect our total revenue to increase in absolute dollars as we expand our sales organization and sales territories, broaden our customer base, and expand awareness of our products with new and existing customers. Our revenue was $201.5 million, $200.5 million and $193.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Total cost of sales, gross profit and gross margin

Our total cost of sales is comprised of product cost of sales and service cost of sales.

Product. Cost of sales associated with our products primarily consists of manufacturing-related costs incurred in the production process, inventory write-downs, warranty costs, third-party royalty costs, personnel and related costs, costs of component materials, overhead, packaging and delivery and depreciation expense.

Service. Cost of sales associated with our services primarily consists of personnel and related costs, expenses related to product replacements, product updates and qualification validation of our products and depreciation expense.

We expect our total cost of sales to increase in absolute dollars in future periods, corresponding to our anticipated growth in revenue and employee headcount to support our manufacturing, operations, field service team and support organizations.

Gross profit is calculated as revenue less total cost of sales. Gross margin is gross profit expressed as a percentage of revenue. Our gross profit in future periods will depend on a variety of factors, including market conditions that may impact our pricing, sales mix changes among our instruments and service agreements, product mix changes between established products and new products, excess and obsolete inventories, our cost structure for manufacturing operations relative to volume and product warranty obligations.

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Operating expenses

Our operating expenses are primarily comprised of research and development, sales and marketing, and general and administrative expenses, depreciation and amortization, and related overhead.

Research and development. Our research and development expenses primarily consist of salaries, benefits, and stock-based compensation costs for employees in our research and development department, independent contractor costs, laboratory supplies, equipment maintenance and materials expenses.

We plan to continue to invest in our research and development efforts. Research and development expense may increase in absolute dollars in future periods due to our continuing investment in product development.

Sales and marketing. Our sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of salaries, benefits, and stock-based compensation costs for employees in our sales and marketing department, sales commissions, marketing material costs, travel expenses and costs related to trade shows, trainings and various workshops. Sales and marketing expense may increase in absolute dollars in future periods.

General and administrative. Our general and administrative expenses primarily consist of salaries, benefits, and stock-based compensation costs for employees in our executive, accounting and finance, legal, and human resource functions, as well as professional services fees, such as consulting, audit, tax, legal, general corporate costs, and allocated overhead expenses. The Company is focused on controlling our general and administrative expenses; however these may increase in absolute dollars in future periods.

We expect our operating expenses to vary from period to period as a percentage of revenue. As a result, our historical results of operations may not be indicative of our results of operations in future periods.

Other income (expense), net

Interest income (expense), net. Interest income (expense), net consists primarily of accretion of the present value of the litigation settlement liability. See our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further details regarding the settlement.

Interest income. Our interest income consists primarily of interest earned on our cash and cash equivalents which are invested in cash deposits and in money market funds.

Other income, net. Our other income, net consists primarily of investment income from our marketable securities offset by foreign exchange gains and losses.

Income taxes

Our provision for (benefit from) income taxes consists primarily of provision for federal taxes and local taxes in the United States as well as foreign taxes. As we plan to expand the scale and scope of our international business activities, any changes in the United States and foreign taxation of such activities may increase our overall provision for income taxes in the future.

Results of operations

Comparison of the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024

The results of operations presented below should be reviewed in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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The following table sets forth our consolidated results of operations and comprehensive (loss) income data for the periods presented:

Year ended December 31,
(In thousands)20252024
Revenue, net:
Product$144,233$153,263
Service57,26047,190
Total revenue, net201,493200,453
Cost of sales:
Product69,81369,088
Service27,22020,259
Total cost of sales97,03389,347
Gross profit104,460111,106
Operating expenses:
Research and development36,46839,402
Sales and marketing49,44049,114
General and administrative58,93643,113
Total operating expenses144,844131,629
Loss from operations(40,384)(20,523)
Other income (expense):
Interest income (expense), net (Notes 11, 12)(474)5,239
Interest income2,2165,121
Other income, net8,8014,463
Total other income, net10,54314,823
Loss before income taxes(29,841)(5,700)
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes36,698320
Net loss$(66,539)(6,020)
Foreign currency translation adjustment, net of tax2,1671,193
Unrealized gain (loss) on marketable securities5897
Net comprehensive loss$(64,314)$(4,730)

Total revenue, net

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20252024Amount%
Revenue, net
Product$144,233$153,263$(9,030)(6)%
Service57,26047,19010,07021%
Total revenue, net$201,493$200,453$1,0401%

Total revenue, net increased by $1.0 million, or 1%, for the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2024. Revenue growth was primarily driven by growth in service revenue partially offset by a decline in product revenue.

Product revenue decreased by $9.0 million, or 6%, to $144.2 million, for the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2024. The decrease was primarily driven by a decline in instrument revenue offset by growth in reagent revenue. Unit volumes decreased 6.0% for spectral and imaging products, including the Cytek Aurora, Northern Lights, Aurora CS and ImageStream systems.

Service revenue increased by $10.1 million, or 21%, to $57.3 million, for the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2024. The increase in service revenue was mainly driven by continued growth in

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the installed base of our instruments with more instruments with expiring warranties contributing to greater contract and time and material service revenue.

Total cost of sales, gross profit and gross margin

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20252024Amount%
Cost of sales:
Product$69,813$69,088$7251%
Service27,22020,2596,96134%
Total cost of sales$97,033$89,347$7,6869%
Gross profit$104,460$111,106$(6,646)(6)%
Gross margin52%55%

Total cost of sales increased by $7.7 million, or 9%, for the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2024. The increase in cost of sales was driven primarily by an increase in service revenue, and associated service material, headcount, and other overhead costs. Product cost of sales increased due to higher tariff costs and higher overhead costs resulting from transitioning a manufacturing facility overseas, offset by lower material costs as a result of lower instrument volume.

Total gross margin was 52% and 55% as a percent of total revenue for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. Gross margin depends on many factors, including market conditions that might affect our pricing; services; product mix changes between instrument configurations; excess and obsolete inventories; our cost structure for manufacturing operations relative to volume, freight costs and product support.

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20252024Amount%
Product:
Revenue$144,233$153,263$(9,030)(6)%
Cost of sales69,81369,0887251%
Product gross profit$74,420$84,175$(9,755)(12)%
Gross margin52%55%
Service:
Revenue$57,260$47,190$10,07021%
Cost of sales27,22020,2596,96134%
Service gross profit$30,040$26,931$3,10912%
Gross margin52%57%

Product revenue for the year ended December 31, 2025 decreased by 6% as compared to the year ended December 31, 2024. Product gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2025 decreased by 12% as compared to the year ended December 31, 2024. Product cost of sales for the year ended December 31, 2025 increased by 1% as compared to the same period in 2024. The lower product gross margins in the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the year ended December 31, 2024 were primarily due to higher tariffs costs as well as higher production overhead costs related to transitioning a manufacturing facility overseas.

Service revenue and service gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2025 increased by 21% and 12%, respectively, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2024. Service cost of sales for the year ended December 31, 2025 increased by 34% as compared to the same period in 2024. The higher service gross profit in the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the year ended December 31, 2024 was driven by higher revenue, while higher headcount, overhead, and material costs as a percentage of service revenue contributed to lower service gross margin.

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Operating expenses

Research and development

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20252024Amount%
Research and development$36,468$39,402$(2,934)(7)%

Research and development expenses were $36.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to $39.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. The decrease of $2.9 million in research and development expenses was primarily due to a decline in research and development compensation expense, driven by efforts to streamline and focus our research and development activities.

We expect our research and development expense to increase in absolute dollars going forward as we continue to develop new products and enhance existing instruments and technologies.

Sales and marketing

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20252024Amount%
Sales and marketing$49,440$49,114$3261%

Sales and marketing expenses were $49.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to $49.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. The relatively flat sales and marketing expenses year-over-year was due to re-organization of the commercial team to drive increased revenue with a more focused and efficient sales team.

We expect our sales and marketing expenses to increase in absolute dollars in the future as we hire additional sales and marketing personnel, expand our sales support infrastructure and invest in our brand and product awareness to further penetrate the United States and the international markets.

General and administrative

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20252024Amount%
General and administrative$58,936$43,113$15,82337%

General and administrative expenses were $58.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to $43.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. The increase of $15.8 million in general and administrative expenses was primarily due to higher patent litigation expenses, and also higher compensation, sales and use tax, and software expenses, and a lower benefit related to the change in estimate of the royalty settlement liability with Becton, Dickinson and Company (“BD”). See Note 11 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further details on the legal settlement liability.

We expect to incur additional general and administrative expenses as a result of operating as a public company and for these expenses to increase in absolute dollars in future periods.

Interest income (expense), net

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20252024Amount%
Interest income (expense), net$(474)$5,239$(5,713)(109)%

Interest expense was $0.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to interest income of $5.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. The $5.7 million decrease in interest income was primarily due to a benefit of $5.3 million change in estimate to the royalty settlement liability with BD. See Note 11 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further details on the legal settlement liability.

Interest income

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20252024Amount%
Interest income$2,216$5,121$(2,905)(57)%

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Interest income was $2.2 million and $5.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. The decrease of $2.9 million in interest income was primarily the result of a lower interest rate environment and lower cash and cash equivalents and short term investment balances as compared to the year ended December 31, 2024. This was a result of the movement of assets from interest bearing accounts to marketable securities investment accounts which are classified as investment income rather than interest income.

Other income, net

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20252024Amount%
Other income, net$8,801$4,463$4,33897%

Other income, net was $8.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to other income, net of $4.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, respectively. The increase of $4.3 million was primarily due to $3.6 million of realized and unrealized foreign exchange losses in 2024, compared to $0.7 million of gains in 2025.

Income Taxes

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20252024Amount%
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes$36,698$320$36,37811368%

Provision for income taxes was $36.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2025. The benefit from income taxes was $0.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. The net change of $36.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 was primarily driven by the recording of a valuation allowance against deferred tax assets of $33.6 million due to the uncertainty of realizing the associated future tax benefit and an increase in current year tax expense from foreign jurisdictions of $2.5 million.

Non-GAAP Financial Measure

To supplement our consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, we use constant currency revenue, which is a financial measure not reported in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). We believe the presentation of revenue on a constant currency basis, in addition to results reported in accordance with GAAP, provides useful information about our operating performance because the constant currency presentation excludes the effects of foreign currency volatility and highlights our core operating results. The presentation of revenue on a constant currency basis should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, measures of financial performance reported in accordance with GAAP. Revenue on a constant currency basis, as we present it, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

The FX Impact is calculated as the difference between the current year amounts and the current year amounts translated at prior period average exchange rates. The FX Impact % represents the percentage change on a period-over-period basis adjusted for foreign currency impacts.

The following table presents a reconciliation of constant currency revenue to our reported net revenue for the periods indicated (in thousands, except percentages):

RevenueTwelve months ended December 31, 2025Twelve months ended December 31, 2024
As reported201,493200,453
Non-GAAP constant currency198,247201,346
FX Impact [$](3,246)893
FX Impact [%](1.6)%0.4%

Liquidity and capital resources

Overview

To date, our primary sources of capital have been through sales of our securities and revenue from the sale of our products and services. As of December 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, we had approximately $261.5 million and $277.9

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million, respectively, in cash and cash equivalents and short term investments, which were primarily held in U.S. short-term bank deposit accounts, money market funds, U.S. Treasury notes, Federal agency security notes, and short term commercial paper.

Funding and material cash requirements

We anticipate continuing to expend significant amounts of cash in the foreseeable future as we continue to invest in research and development of our product offerings, commercialization of new products and services, and expansion into new markets. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors including our revenue, research and development efforts, the timing and extent of additional capital expenditures to invest in existing and new facilities, as well as our manufacturing operations, the expansion of sales and marketing and the introduction of new products. We have entered into, and may in the future enter into, arrangements to acquire or invest in businesses, services and technologies, and any such acquisitions or investments could significantly increase our capital needs.

We currently anticipate making additional capital expenditures during the next 12 months, which is expected to primarily include equipment to be used for manufacturing and investment in research and development.

In addition, we lease certain office facilities under operating lease arrangements that expire on various dates through fiscal year 2029. Under the terms of the leases, we are responsible for certain expenses related to operations, maintenance, repairs and management fees. Future minimum lease payments under non-cancelable operating leases totaled $21.3 million as of December 31, 2025.

Based on our current business plan, we believe our existing cash and cash equivalents and anticipated cash flows from operations will be sufficient to meet our working capital and capital expenditure needs for at least the next 12 months from the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Sources of liquidity

We have financed our operations primarily through sales of our securities. In July 2021, we completed our initial public offering (“IPO”), which resulted in net proceeds to us of approximately $215.7 million. We have also benefited from operating cash flows from the sale of our products and services.

On August 26, 2022, we entered into a sales agreement (the “2022 Sales Agreement”) with Piper Sandler & Co. (“Piper”) as sales agent to sell from time to time up to $150.0 million of our common stock through an “at-the-market” offering program. The securities in this transaction were offered pursuant to an automatic shelf registration statement on Form S-3ASR (File No. 333-267118) that was filed with the SEC on August 26, 2022 and expired in August 2025. As of the termination of the 2022 Sales Agreement in August 2025, concurrent with the expiration of the automatic shelf registration statement, the Company had not made any sales of common stock pursuant to the 2022 Sales Agreement. Accordingly, $0.7 million in transaction expenses recorded as prepaid offering costs have been expensed and recorded in the third quarter of 2025.

Share repurchases

On May 17, 2023, our board of directors approved a program for the repurchase by the Company of up to an aggregate of $50 million of its outstanding common stock. During the three months ended December 31, 2023, the Company repurchased 5,332,769 shares of its outstanding common stock for a total cost of approximately $34.6 million at an average price per share of $6.49. During the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, the Company repurchased 6,613,780 shares of its outstanding common stock for a total cost of approximately $44.2 million at an average price per share of $6.66. The commission costs related to the repurchases were $0.1 million for both the three months and twelve months ended December 31, 2023. The repurchase program was used to return capital to shareholders and to minimize the dilutive impact of stock options and other stock-based awards. The repurchased shares of common stock were retired. The repurchase program expired on December 31, 2023.

On June 6, 2024, our board of directors approved a program for the repurchase by the Company of up to an aggregate of $50 million of its outstanding common stock. During the three months ended December 31, 2024, the Company repurchased 1,332,950 shares of its outstanding common stock for a total cost of approximately $7.0 million at an average price per share of $5.21. During the twelve months ended December 31, 2024, the Company repurchased 3,971,624 shares of its outstanding common stock for a total cost of approximately $21.6 million at an average price per share of $5.41. The repurchase program was used to return capital to shareholders and to minimize the dilutive impact of stock options and other stock-based awards. The repurchased shares of common stock were retired. The repurchase program expired on December 31, 2024.

On December 11, 2024, the Board approved a program for the repurchase by the Company of up to an aggregate of $50 million of its outstanding common stock commencing January 1, 2025. During the twelve months ended December 31,

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2025, the Company repurchased 3,292,588 shares of its outstanding common stock for a total cost of approximately $15.1 million at an average price per share of $4.56. As of December 31, 2025, the Company had a remaining authorized amount of $35.0 million in the repurchase program. The repurchase program was used to return capital to shareholders and to minimize the dilutive impact of stock options and other stock-based awards. The repurchased shares of common stock were retired. The repurchase program expired on December 31, 2025.

Under these repurchase programs, the Company has purchased an aggregate of 13,877,992 shares of its outstanding common stock for a total cost of approximately $80.8 million at an average price per share of $5.80 as of December 31, 2025.

On August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IRA”) was signed into law. Among other things, the IRA imposes a 15% corporate alternative minimum tax for tax years beginning after December 31, 2022, levies a 1% excise tax on net stock repurchases after December 31, 2022, and provides tax incentives to promote clean energy. Beginning in 2023, net stock repurchases are subject to the excise tax. As of December 31, 2025, we have accrued $0.1 million excise taxes related with our stock repurchases.

Cash flows

The following table summarizes our cash flows for the periods presented:

Year ended December 31,
(In thousands)20252024
Net cash provided by (used in):
Operating activities$(4,686)$25,379
Investing activities10,117(82,974)
Financing activities(13,432)(15,822)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash1094,532
Net decrease in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash$(7,892)$(68,885)

Operating activities

Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2025 was $4.7 million. The primary factors affecting our operating cash flows during the period were our net loss of $66.5 million, impacted by our non-cash charges of $66.6 million, primarily consisting of stock-based compensation expense of $24.6 million, depreciation and amortization of $7.6 million, amortization of right-of-use assets of $4.4 million, and provision for excess and obsolete inventory of $1.7 million, respectively, partially offset by gain on investment accretion and amortization of $5.7 million, deferred income taxes of $33.6 million, and interest expenses for accretion of the legal settlement liabilities $0.3 million. The cash used in changes in our operating assets and liabilities of $4.8 million were primarily due to an increase of inventories of $5.2 million, a decrease of operating lease liabilities of $4.1 million, and a decrease in the legal settlement liability of $1.1 million, and an increase in prepaid expenses and other assets of $2.7 million. These amounts were partially offset by cash provided from changes in our operating assets and liabilities of an increase in deferred revenue of $3.6 million, and a decrease of accrued expenses and other liabilities of $4.0 million, and an increase in trade accounts payable of $0.4 million.

Net cash provided by operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2024 was $25.4 million. The primary factors affecting our operating cash flows during the period were our net loss of $6.0 million, impacted by our non-cash charges of $23.7 million, primarily consisting of stock-based compensation expense of $26.8 million, depreciation and amortization of $7.2 million, amortization of right-of-use assets of $3.3 million, and provision for excess and obsolete inventory of $1.6 million respectively, partially offset by interest expenses for accretion of the legal settlement liabilities of $7.2 million, gain on investment accretion and amortization of $5.2 million, and deferred income taxes of $2.9 million. The cash provided by changes in our operating assets and liabilities of $7.7 million were primarily due to a decrease of inventories of $14.8 million, an increase in deferred revenue of $3.7 million, and a decrease of trade accounts payables of $2.6 million. These amounts were partially offset by cash used from changes in our operating assets and liabilities of an increase of trade accounts receivable of $5.4 million, an increase in prepaid expenses and other assets of $2.8 million, a decrease in the legal settlement liability of $1.1 million, and a decrease of operating lease liabilities of $3.2 million, and an increase in accrued expenses and other liabilities of $0.8 million.

Investing activities

Net cash provided by investing activities during the year ended December 31, 2025 was $10.1 million driven by proceeds from maturities of marketable securities of $292.2 million, and proceeds from sales of property and equipment of $0.3 million, partially offset by purchases of marketable securities of $278.2 million, purchases of property and equipment of $4.1 million.

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Net cash used in investing activities during the year ended December 31, 2024 was $83.0 million driven by purchases of marketable securities of $274.1 million, purchases of property and equipment of $3.5 million, the purchase of the Cytometric Engineering Ltd. (d.b.a. FlowCEL) business of $0.5 million, and purchase of intangible assets of $0.2 million, partially offset by proceeds from maturities of marketable securities of $195 million, and proceeds from sales of property and equipment of $0.3 million.

Financing activities

Net cash used in financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2025 was $13.4 million driven by $15.1 million of costs related to our share repurchase program, $4.7 million in loan repayment costs and payments for taxes related to net share settlement of equity awards of $0.7 million, partially offset by proceeds from line of credit of $5.6 million, the issuance of our common stock under our Employee Stock Purchase Plan of $1.1 million, and the issuance of our common stock under our equity incentive plans of $0.3 million.

Net cash used in financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2024 was $15.8 million driven by $21.6 million of costs related to our share repurchase program, $0.6 million in loan repayment costs and payments for taxes related to net share settlement of equity awards of $0.6 million, partially offset by partially offset by proceeds from line of credit of $4.2 million, the issuance of our common stock under our Employee Stock Purchase Plan of $1.7 million, and the issuance of our common stock under our equity incentive plans of $1.0 million.

Contractual Obligations and Commitments

During the year ended December 31, 2025, there were no material changes to our contractual obligations and commitments from those described under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition” which is contained in our Form 10-K and filed with the SEC on February 28, 2025.

Off-balance sheet arrangements

We did not have during the periods presented, and we do not currently have, any off-balance sheet financing arrangements or any relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, including entities sometimes referred to as structured finance or special purpose entities, that were established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements or other contractually narrow or limited purposes.

Critical accounting policies, significant judgments and use of estimates

We have prepared our consolidated financial statements in accordance with GAAP. Our preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates, assumptions and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses, and related disclosures. We evaluate our estimates and judgments on an ongoing basis. We based our estimates on our historical experience and on various other factors that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources.

Actual results could therefore differ materially from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. We believe that the accounting policies discussed below are critical to understanding our historical and future performance, as these policies relate to the more significant areas involving management’s judgments and estimates.

While our significant accounting policies are described in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we believe that the following accounting policies are the most critical to understanding and evaluating our reported consolidated financial results.

Revenue recognition

Our product revenue primarily consists of sale of our instruments, instrument accessories, such as loaders and, to a lesser extent, consumables such as reagents. We offer multiple versions of our instruments with different price points based on the number of lasers integrated in the systems. We also derive revenue from sales of our conventional flow cytometry system, which is available for sale in China. We recognize product revenue when control of the instrument is transferred to the customer.

Our service revenue consists of post-warranty service contracts, preventative maintenance plans, repairs, installation and quality check, customer training and other specialized product support services. We recognize service contract revenue ratably over the term of the contract and other service obligations as they are performed. Revenue is recognized when control of promised goods or services is transferred to a customer in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. To determine revenue recognition for its arrangements with customers, we perform the following five steps: (i) identify the contract(s) with a customer; (ii) identify the performance obligations in the contract; (iii) determine the transaction price; (iv) allocate the transaction price to the

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performance obligations in the contract; and (v) recognize revenue when (or as) the entity satisfies a performance obligation.

A performance obligation is a promise in a contract to transfer a distinct good or service to the customer and is defined as the unit of account for revenue recognition under the contract with customers guidance. Performance obligations are considered distinct if they are both capable of being distinct, and distinct within the context of the contract. The Company identified the following performance obligations in the contracts: product sales of instrument systems, installation on instrument systems, delivery of instrument accessories such as loaders, consumables, reagents, extended service contracts and professional services revenue for post-warranty service contracts, preventative maintenance plans, repairs, installations, training, time and material services and other specialized support services. A good or service is distinct when the customer can benefit from the good or service either on its own or together with other resources that are readily available from third parties or from the Company, and is distinct in the context of the contract, where the transfer of the good or service is separately identifiable from other promises in the contract.

Payments from customers are in arrears. For arrangements where the anticipated period between timing of transfer of services and the timing of payment is one year or less, we have elected to not assess whether a significant financing component exists. For arrangements with terms greater than one year, payments are either received up-front for reasons other than financing, or received according to financing arrangements and contract terms. Revenue is recognized only to the extent that it is probable that a significant reversal of the cumulative amount recognized will not occur in future periods.

Certain of our sales contracts involve the delivery or performance of multiple products and services within contractually binding arrangements. Significant judgment is sometimes required to determine the appropriate accounting for such arrangements, including whether the deliverables specified in a contract with multiple promises should be treated as separate performance obligations for revenue recognition purposes and, if so, how the related sales price should be allocated among the performance obligations, when to recognize revenue for each performance obligation, and the period over which revenue should be recognized. For most of our performance obligations, we have established the stand-alone selling prices (“SSP”) as a range rather than a single value, based on standalone sales of products. We allocate revenue to the performance obligations based on their relative standalone selling prices SSP.

Taxes, such as sales, value-add and other taxes, collected from customers concurrent with revenue generating activities and remitted to governmental authorities are not included in revenue. Shipping and handling costs associated with outbound freight are accounted for as a fulfillment cost and are included in cost of sales.

The following describes the nature of our primary types of revenue and the revenue recognition policies and significant payment terms as they pertain to the types of transactions we enter into with our customers.

Product revenue

Our standard arrangement for sales to end users is generally a purchase order or an executed contract. Product revenue is recognized upon transfer of control of the product to the customer, which, for us, generally occurs at a point in time depending on the shipping terms. Payment terms are generally 30 to 90 days from the date of invoicing.

Our distributor arrangements with our customers include a purchase order. The purchase order is governed by terms and conditions of the distributor agreements. Revenue is recognized upon transfer of control of the products to the distributor, which for us, occurs at a point in time depending on the shipping terms.

Service revenue

Our services are primarily a mix of service contracts, installation services, and time and material-based repair and support. We recognize revenue from the sale of service contracts over the respective period, while revenue on product support is recognized as the services are performed. Service contracts are typically between one and three years. Payment terms are generally 30 days from the date of invoicing. Installation revenue is recognized upon completion of the installation, which, for us, occurs at a point in time.

Inventories

Inventories are stated at the lower of cost and net realizable value. Cost is computed using standard cost, which approximates actual cost on a first-in, first-out basis. We regularly monitor inventory quantities on hand and record write-downs for excess and obsolete inventories based on our estimate of demand for our products, potential obsolescence of technology, product life cycles, and whether pricing trends or forecasts indicate that the carrying value of inventory exceeds its estimated selling price. These factors are impacted by market and economic conditions, technology changes, and new product introductions and require estimates that may include elements that are uncertain. Our estimates of forecasted demand are based upon our analysis and assumptions including, but not limited to, expected product lifecycles,

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product development plans and historical usage by product. If inventory is written down, a new cost basis is established that cannot be increased in future periods.

Contract assets and contract liabilities

Contract assets are recorded when the amount of revenue recognized exceeds the amount invoiced to the customer and the right to payment is not solely subject to the passage of time. As of December 31, 2025 and 2024, we had immaterial amounts of contract assets included within prepaid expenses and other current assets on the consolidated balance sheets.

Contract liabilities consist of fees invoiced or paid by our customers for which the associated services have not been performed and revenue has not been recognized based on our revenue recognition criteria described above. Such amounts are reported as deferred revenue for service and customer deposits for instruments on the consolidated balance sheets. Deferred revenue that is expected to be recognized during the following 12 months is recorded as a current liability and the remaining portion is recorded as noncurrent.

Legal Settlement Liability

In the fourth quarter of 2025, we determined that it was necessary to revise our long-term forecasted net sales subject to royalties under the BD settlement as a result of the current macroeconomic conditions and headwinds. As a result, we remeasured the fair value of the legal settlement liability presented in the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2025. Based on the updated forecast, we recorded a $1.0 million reduction of the legal settlement liability, with a corresponding change to interest income (expense), net in the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss) for the year ended December 31, 2025. See Note 11 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further details.

Stock-based compensation

We maintain an equity incentive compensation plan under which incentive stock options and nonqualified stock options to purchase common stock, and restricted stock units for common stock, are granted primarily to employees and non-employee consultants.

Stock-based compensation cost is measured at the grant date based on the fair value of the award and is recognized as expense over the vesting period. The fair value of stock options is estimated using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. We record forfeitures as they occur.

The Black-Scholes model considers several variables and assumptions in estimating the fair value of stock- based awards. These variables include the per share fair value of the underlying common stock, exercise price, expected term, risk-free interest rate, expected annual dividend yield and expected stock price volatility over the expected term. For all stock options granted, we calculated the expected term using the simplified method for standard stock option awards. After our IPO, the fair value of our common stock is determined by the closing price of our common stock on the date of grant as reported on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. The risk-free interest rate is based on the yield available on U.S. Treasury zero-coupon issues similar in duration to the expected term of the equity-settled award.

The following table summarizes the weighted-average assumptions used in estimating the fair value of stock options granted during each of the periods presented:

Year Ended December 31,
202520242023
Expected term (in years)5.996.005.96
Expected volatility66%73%71%
Risk-free interest rate4%4%4%
Dividend yield

Expected volatility—Expected volatility is estimated by analyzing the Company’s historical market data for the assessment corresponds to the expected term of the awards.

Expected term—Expected term represents the period that our stock-based awards are expected to be outstanding and is determined using the simplified method.

Risk-free interest rate—The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury zero-coupon issued in effect at the time of grant for periods corresponding with the expected term of the option.

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Dividend yield— The expected dividend yield is zero as we have never declared or paid cash dividends and have no current plans to do so in the foreseeable future.

Recently adopted accounting pronouncements

See Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a description of recent accounting pronouncements applicable to our financial statements.

MD&A history

Prior-year 10-K MD&A spans are extracted from SEC filings with the same bounded parser used for the latest filing. The latest 10-K appears above; prior years are below.

FY 2024 10-K MD&A

SEC filing source: 0001628280-25-008780.

Extracted structurally from real Item 7 body heading to real Item 7A/8 boundary. Confidence: high. Filing date: 2025-02-28. Report date: 2024-12-31.

Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. See “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” at the beginning of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Our actual results could differ materially from those contained in these forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed in Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Unless the context requires otherwise, references in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Cytek Biosciences, Inc.

The following is a discussion and year-to-year comparisons of our financial condition and results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023. For a discussion of the results of operations and financial condition for the years ended December 31, 2023 and year-to-year comparisons between 2023 and 2022, please refer to “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” section of our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 13, 2024.

Overview

We are a leading cell analysis solutions company advancing the next generation of research and clinical tools with our novel technical approach of leveraging the full spectrum of fluorescence signatures from multiple lasers to distinguish fluorescent tags on single cells (“Full Spectrum Profiling” or “FSP” technology). Our goal is to become the premier cell analysis company through continued innovation that facilitates scientific advances in biomedical research and clinical applications. Our FSP platform includes instruments, accessories, reagents, software and services to provide a comprehensive and integrated suite of solutions for our customers.

Our FSP cell analyzers, the Cytek Aurora and Northern Lights systems, deliver high-resolution, high-content and high-sensitivity cell analysis and addresses the inherent limitations of other technologies by providing a higher level of multiplexing with exquisite sensitivity, more flexibility and increased efficiency, all at a lower cost for performance. Additionally, our Cytek Aurora cell sorter (“Aurora CS system”) leverages our FSP technology to further broaden our potential applications across cell analysis. Each system is supported by our highly intuitive, proprietary embedded SpectroFlo software, our reagents, and our service offerings to provide a comprehensive, end-to-end platform of solutions for our customers. Since our first U.S. commercial launch in mid-2017 through December 31, 2024, we have sold and deployed our instruments to customers around the world, including pharmaceutical companies, biopharma companies, academic research centers, and clinical research organizations (“CROs”).

On February 28, 2023, we completed the acquisition of certain assets (the “FCI Acquisition”) relating to the flow cytometry and imaging business of Luminex Corporation (“Luminex”), including relating to the business of manufacturing, marketing, selling, servicing and maintaining Amnis- and Guava-branded instruments, and flow cytometry reagent products and services (the “FCI Business”). The acquired FCI Business includes conventional flow and image-based flow cytometry instrumentation and related products and services (the “FCI Products”), which provide insights into all facets of cellular phenotypes and morphology. The acquisition supports our plan to develop new products and capabilities with flow cytometry and imaging technology, expand our reach and offerings into customer segments previously underserved, and increase the efficiency of our operations.

We manufacture our instruments in our facilities in Fremont, California; Wuxi, China; Seattle, Washington; and Singapore. We have designed our operating model to be capital efficient and to scale efficiently as our product volumes grow.

Total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2024 was $200.5 million, representing a 4% increase compared to revenue for the year ended December 31, 2023 of $193.0 million.

To date, we have adopted a direct sales model in North America, Europe, China, and several other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and sell our products through third-party distributors in certain countries in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. Revenue from direct sales represented 75%, 76% and 79% of total revenue for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and revenue from distributors represented 25%, 24% and 21% of total revenue for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

We focus a substantial portion of our resources on developing new products and solutions to meet our customers’ needs. Our research and development efforts focus on developing new and complementary instruments, reagents and reagent kits, and continued operating software development. We incurred research and development expenses of $39.4 million, $44.2 million and $34.9 million for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively. We intend to continue to make significant investments in research and development in the future.

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We expect to continue to invest in our commercial infrastructure through hiring additional employees with strong scientific and technical backgrounds to support growth in our instrument sales as well as our planned expansion of reagents offerings and panel design capabilities. We also plan to continue to invest in sales, marketing and business development across the globe to drive commercialization of our products. We incurred sales and marketing expenses of $49.1 million, $49.1 million and $33.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Since our inception in 2014, we have financed our operations primarily through sales of our securities and revenue from the sale of our products and services.

Our net loss was $6.0 million and $12.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and our net income was $2.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The change for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the year ended December 31, 2023 resulted primarily from an increase in revenues and gross profit and a reduction in operating expenses.

We expect our expenses will increase substantially in connection with our ongoing activities, as we:

•attract, hire and retain qualified personnel;

•invest in processes, commercial infrastructure and supporting functions to scale our business and introduce new products and services;

•support our research and development efforts;

•continue to expand geographically;

•protect and defend our intellectual property; and

•make strategic investments in complementary businesses, services, products or technologies.

Key factors affecting our results of operations and future performance

We believe that our financial performance has been, and in the foreseeable future will continue to be, primarily driven by multiple factors as described below, each of which presents growth opportunities for our business. These factors also pose important challenges that we must successfully address to sustain our growth and improve our results of operations. Our ability to successfully address these challenges is subject to various risk and uncertainties, including those described under the heading “Risk Factors” included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Global customer adoption

Our financial performance has largely been driven by our ability to increase the adoption of our FSP platform, a key factor on which our future success depends. We plan to drive global customer adoption through business development efforts, direct sales and marketing and third-party distributions. We are investing in our direct sales organization and commercial support functions and developing third-party distributor relationships to support global expansion and drive revenue growth.

Recurring revenues

We believe our expanding installed base of instruments to new and existing customers will provide us with greater leverage to drive pull-through for reagent and service revenue, which are recurring by nature. Furthermore, as we develop and identify new applications and products, we expect to further increase pull-through across our installed base. We expect recurring revenue on an absolute basis to increase and become an increasingly important contributor to our revenue as our installed base expands.

Revenue mix and gross margin

Our revenue is primarily derived from sales of our instruments and services with our instruments recognizing higher revenue and gross profit than our services. Although we expect sales of our instruments to continue to represent the largest percentage of our revenue in the future, we expect service revenue to increase as a percentage of our total revenue and our gross margins to experience a corresponding improvement as we grow our installed base and increase our focus on leveraging our fixed manufacturing and service overhead costs. Our sales in certain regions, particularly outside of the United States, are largely realized through third-party distribution partners that typically receive discounted prices, thus resulting in lower gross margins than those recognized by our direct sales organization. Furthermore, our instrument selling prices and gross margins may fluctuate in the future due to the impact of competing products entering the market and fluctuating foreign exchange rates and as we continue to introduce new products and reduce our production costs.

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In the near term, we expect the continued leveraging of fixed manufacturing and service overhead costs, optimization of our manufacturing processes, and material cost fluctuations to have the greatest impact on our gross margin.

Expansion into new markets

We focus our research and development efforts on the greatest value-additive products to meet the growing and unmet needs of the research and clinical markets. We work closely with researchers, clinicians and scientists to optimize and implement new panels and applications to meet their specific needs. We also gain valuable insight on potential new products, new applications and enhancements to existing products, as well as biomarker combinations that would be beneficial in different fields, through collaborations with our customers, academic laboratories, KOLs and industry partners. We plan to continue to invest in new product development and enhancements to support our expansion into new markets.

Our Northern Lights-CLC system received CE Marking under the European Union In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Directive in September 2020 and was registered in the European Union in compliance with Regulation (EU) 2017/746 on In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices in November 2023. The Northern Lights-CLC system was also registered as a Class II In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Device in China. These registrations enable the Northern Lights-CLC system to be marketed for clinical use in China, the European Union and in other countries around the world that accept the Certification of Free Sale issued from an EU Competent Authority.

Key business metrics

We regularly review the following key business metrics to evaluate our business, measure our performance, identify trends affecting our business, formulate financial projections and make strategic decisions. We believe that the following metrics are representative of our current business; however, we anticipate these will change or may be substituted for additional or different metrics as our business grows.

Year ended December 31,2024 vs. 20232023 vs. 2022
(In thousands)202420232022Dollar ChangeDollar Change
Sales channel mix
Direct sales channel$149,874$147,169$129,098$2,705$18,071
Distributor channel50,57945,84634,9384,73310,908
Total revenue, net$200,453$193,015$164,036$7,438$28,979
Customer mix
Academia and government$80,911$82,145$73,706$(1,234)$8,439
Biotechnology, pharmaceutical, distributor and CRO119,542110,87090,3308,67220,540
Total revenue, net$200,453$193,015$164,036$7,438$28,979

Distributors typically sell to end customers identified in other customer categories.

Known Trends, Events and Uncertainties

Recent inflation trends may adversely affect our business and corresponding financial position and cash flows. Inflationary factors, such as increases in the cost of materials and supplies, labor and benefit costs and overhead costs may adversely affect our operating results. Although we do not believe that inflation has had a material impact on our financial position or results of operations to date, we may experience increases in the near future (especially if the rate of inflation increases) on our operating costs, including our labor costs and research and development costs.

Certain of our pharmaceutical and biotech customers based in the United States have been impacted by the difficult fundraising environment for small companies and generally high interest rates. We believe these factors contributed to longer sales cycles, which adversely impacted our operating results for the three months and full year ended December 31, 2024, and may adversely affect our operating results in the future.

The strengthening of the U.S. dollar in late 2024 against the currencies of other countries where we do business had a negative impact on revenue in the fourth quarter of 2024 and may have a continuing negative impact in the near future.

The Trump administration has signaled changes to existing U.S. trade policies, including imposing tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada, and China, announcing plans for reciprocal tariffs on all U.S. trading partners, and renegotiating or potentially terminating existing bilateral and multi-lateral trade agreements. Although we cannot predict the ultimate extent

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to which the United States or other countries will impose quotas, duties, reciprocal tariffs, taxes, or other similar restrictions upon the import or export of our products, nor can we predict future trade policy or the terms of any renegotiated trade agreements and their impact on our business, the Trump administration’s imposition of tariffs as well as threatened and actual retaliatory tariffs against U.S. goods may have a negative impact on our revenue and costs in the future. In addition, the new license and export controls announced by the U.S. government in January 2025 that impact exports of certain products and technology, including high-parameter and spectral flow cytometers and cell sorters and certain mass spectrometry equipment to certain countries, including China, may have a negative impact on our sales, manufacturing and research and development activities. Finally, changes in the National Institute of Health policy with respect to grants for academic research, specifically, the reduction in indirect cost reimbursement, may impact our revenue from academic and government customers in the near term.

Components of our results of operations

Total revenue, net

We currently generate our total revenue, net from product revenue and service revenue.

Product. Our product revenue primarily consists of sales of our instruments, including the Cytek Aurora, Northern Lights, Aurora CS, Amnis and Guava systems, instrument accessories, such as loaders, and consumables, such as reagents. We offer multiple versions of our instruments with different price points based on the number of lasers integrated in the systems. We also derive revenue from sales of our conventional flow cytometry system, which is available for sale in China. We recognize product revenue when control of the instrument is transferred to the customer.

Service. Our service revenue primarily consists of post-warranty service contracts, installations and repairs which are recognized over time. Post-warranty service contracts are recognized ratably over the term of the contract and installations and repair services are recognized as they are delivered to the customer.

We expect our total revenue to increase in absolute dollars as we expand our sales organization and sales territories, broaden our customer base, and expand awareness of our products with new and existing customers. Our revenue was $200.5 million, $193.0 million and $164.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively. A portion of our revenue for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2024, and December 31, 2023, were attributable to the acquired FCI Business.

Total cost of sales, gross profit and gross margin

Our total cost of sales is comprised of product cost of sales and service cost of sales.

Product. Cost of sales associated with our products primarily consists of manufacturing-related costs incurred in the production process, inventory write-downs, warranty costs, third-party royalty costs, personnel and related costs, costs of component materials, overhead, packaging and delivery and depreciation expense.

Service. Cost of sales associated with our services primarily consists of personnel and related costs, expenses related to product replacements, product updates and qualification validation of our products and depreciation expense.

We expect our total cost of sales to increase in absolute dollars in future periods, corresponding to our anticipated growth in revenue and employee headcount to support our manufacturing, operations, field service team and support organizations.

Gross profit is calculated as revenue less total cost of sales. Gross margin is gross profit expressed as a percentage of revenue. Our gross profit in future periods will depend on a variety of factors, including market conditions that may impact our pricing, sales mix changes among our instruments and service agreements, product mix changes between established products and new products, excess and obsolete inventories, our cost structure for manufacturing operations relative to volume and product warranty obligations.

Operating expenses

Our operating expenses are primarily comprised of research and development, sales and marketing, and general and administrative expenses, depreciation and amortization, and related overhead.

Research and development. Our research and development expenses primarily consist of salaries, benefits, and stock-based compensation costs for employees in our research and development department, independent contractor costs, laboratory supplies, equipment maintenance and materials expenses.

We plan to continue to invest in our research and development efforts. Research and development expense may increase in absolute dollars in future periods due to our continuing investment in product development.

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Sales and marketing. Our sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of salaries, benefits, and stock-based compensation costs for employees in our sales and marketing department, sales commissions, marketing material costs, travel expenses and costs related to trade shows, trainings and various workshops. Sales and marketing expense may increase in absolute dollars in future periods.

General and administrative. Our general and administrative expenses primarily consist of salaries, benefits, and stock-based compensation costs for employees in our executive, accounting and finance, legal, and human resource functions, as well as professional services fees, such as consulting, audit, tax, legal, general corporate costs, and allocated overhead expenses. The Company is focused on controlling our general and administrative expenses; however these may increase in absolute dollars in future periods.

We expect our operating expenses to vary from period to period as a percentage of revenue. As a result, our historical results of operations may not be indicative of our results of operations in future periods.

Other income (expense), net

Interest expense. Interest expense consists primarily of accretion of the present value of the litigation settlement liability. See our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further details regarding the settlement.

Interest income. Our interest income consists primarily of interest earned on our cash and cash equivalents which are invested in cash deposits and in money market funds.

Other income (expense), net. Our income (expense), net consists primarily of foreign exchange gains and losses.

Income taxes

Our provision for (benefit from) income taxes consists primarily of provision for federal taxes and local taxes in the United States as well as foreign taxes. As we plan to expand the scale and scope of our international business activities, any changes in the United States and foreign taxation of such activities may increase our overall provision for income taxes in the future.

Results of operations

Comparison of the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023

The results of operations presented below should be reviewed in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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The following table sets forth our consolidated results of operations and comprehensive (loss) income data for the periods presented:

Year ended December 31,
(In thousands)20242023
Revenue, net:
Product$153,263$156,717
Service47,19036,298
Total revenue, net200,453193,015
Cost of sales:
Product69,08865,327
Service20,25918,262
Total cost of sales89,34783,589
Gross profit111,106109,426
Operating expenses:
Research and development39,40244,151
Sales and marketing49,11449,148
General and administrative43,11343,972
Total operating expenses131,629137,271
Loss from operations(20,523)(27,845)
Other income (expense):
Interest income (expense), net (Notes 11, 12)5,239(2,071)
Interest income5,1216,413
Other income, net4,4637,794
Total other income, net14,82312,136
Loss before income taxes(5,700)(15,709)
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes320(3,561)
Net loss$(6,020)(12,148)
Foreign currency translation adjustment, net of tax1,193(549)
Unrealized gain (loss) on marketable securities97(29)
Net comprehensive loss$(4,730)$(12,726)

Total revenue, net

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20242023Amount%
Revenue, net
Product$153,263$156,717$(3,454)(2)%
Service47,19036,29810,89230%
Total revenue, net$200,453$193,015$7,4384%

Total revenue, net increased by $7.4 million, or 4%, for the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. Revenue growth was primarily driven by growth in service revenue partially offset by a decline in product revenue.

Product revenue decreased by $3.5 million, or 2%, to $153.3 million, for the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. The decrease was primarily driven by less revenue contribution in 2024 from the FCI Products, upgrades, and loaders. Unit volumes increased 8.5% for spectral and imaging products, including the Aurora and Northern Lights analyzers, Aurora CS cell sorters and Amnis imaging systems. This was offset by lower average selling prices.

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Service revenue increased by $10.9 million, or 30%, to $47.2 million, for the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. The increase in service revenue was mainly driven by continued growth in the instruments installed base with more instruments coming off warranty contributing to greater contract and time and material service revenue.

Total cost of sales, gross profit and gross margin

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20242023Amount%
Cost of sales:
Product$69,088$65,327$3,7616%
Service20,25918,2621,99711%
Total cost of sales$89,347$83,589$5,7587%
Gross profit$111,106$109,426$1,6802%
Gross margin55%57%

Total cost of sales increased by $5.8 million, or 7%, for the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. The increase in cost of sales was driven by increases in product unit volume and service revenue, and was primarily due to increased material costs, increased service and manufacturing headcount and associated personnel cost, partially offset by lower warranty cost.

Total gross margin was 55% and 57% as a percent of total revenue for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Gross margin depends on many factors, including market conditions that might affect our pricing; services; product mix changes between instrument configurations; excess and obsolete inventories; our cost structure for manufacturing operations relative to volume, freight costs and product support.

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20242023Amount%
Product:
Revenue$153,263$156,717$(3,454)(2)%
Cost of sales69,08865,3273,7616%
Product gross profit$84,175$91,390$(7,215)(8)%
Gross margin55%58%
Service:
Revenue$47,190$36,298$10,89230%
Cost of sales20,25918,2621,99711%
Service gross profit$26,931$18,036$8,89549%
Gross margin57%50%

Product revenue for the year ended December 31, 2024 decreased by 2%, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. Product gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2024 decreased by 8%, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. Product cost of sales for the year ended December 31, 2024 increased by 6% as compared to the same period in 2023. The lower product gross margins in the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the year ended December 31, 2023 were driven by higher material costs, less favorable instrument product mix and higher production overhead costs.

Service revenue and service gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2024 increased by 30% and 49%, respectively, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. Service cost of sales for the year ended December 31, 2024 increased by 11% as compared to the same period in 2023. The higher service gross margins in the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the year ended December 31, 2023 were mainly driven by lower overhead costs as a percentage of sales due to higher revenue and greater overhead cost productivity, and lower material costs as a percentage of sales.

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Operating expenses

Research and development

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20242023Amount%
Research and development$39,402$44,151$(4,749)(11)%

Research and development expenses were $39.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to $44.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The decrease of $4.7 million in research and development expenses was primarily due to a decrease in research and development compensation and engineering expense driven by efforts to streamline and focus our research and development efforts.

We expect our research and development expense to increase in absolute dollars going forward as we continue to develop new products and enhance existing instruments and technologies.

Sales and marketing

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20242023Amount%
Sales and marketing$49,114$49,148$(34)%

Sales and marketing expenses were $49.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to $49.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The flat sales and marketing expenses year-over-year was due to re-organization of the commercial team to drive increased revenue with a more focused and efficient sales team.

We expect our sales and marketing expenses to increase in absolute dollars in the future as we hire additional sales and marketing personnel, expand our sales support infrastructure and invest in our brand and product awareness to further penetrate the United States and the international markets.

General and administrative

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20242023Amount%
General and administrative$43,113$43,972$(859)(2)%

General and administrative expenses were $43.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to $44.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The decrease of $0.9 million in general and administrative expenses was primarily due to a one-time benefits of $2.6 million related to change in estimate to the royalty settlement liability, which partially offset by higher stock compensation expense. See Note 11 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further details on the legal settlement liability.

We expect to incur additional general and administrative expenses as a result of operating as a public company and for these expenses to increase in absolute dollars in future periods.

Interest income (expense), net

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20242023Amount%
Interest income (expense), net$5,239$(2,071)$7,310(353)%

Interest income was $5.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to interest expense of $2.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The $7.3 million in interest income was primarily due to a one-time benefit of $6.3 million change in estimate to the royalty settlement liability with Becton, Dickinson and Company, and $1.0 million of lower interest expense in 2024 compared to our debt instruments in China in prior year. See Note 11 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further details on the legal settlement liability.

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Interest income

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20242023Amount%
Interest income$5,121$6,413$(1,292)(20)%

Interest income was $5.1 million and $6.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. The decrease of $1.3 million in interest income was primarily the result of lower cash and cash equivalents and short term investment balances as compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. This was a result of the movement of assets from interest bearing accounts to marketable securities investment accounts which are classified as investment income rather than interest income.

Other income, net

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20242023Amount%
Other income, net$4,463$7,794$(3,331)(43)%

Other income, net was $4.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to other income, net of $7.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, respectively. The decrease of $3.3 million was primarily due to higher realized and unrealized foreign exchange losses in 2024.

Income Taxes

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20242023Amount%
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes$320$(3,561)$3,881(109)%

Provision for income taxes was $0.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2024. The benefit from income taxes was $3.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The net change of $3.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 was the result of a lower loss before income taxes (primarily due to the adjustment to the royalty settlement liability), higher nondeductible stock based compensation, and lower R&D and foreign tax credits and benefits due to prior year true ups and global mix of earnings, offset by lower foreign income inclusion and lower tax rates on higher foreign earnings.

Non-GAAP Financial Measure

To supplement our consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, we use constant currency revenue, which is a financial measure not reported in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). We believe the presentation of revenue on a constant currency basis, in addition to results reported in accordance with GAAP, provides useful information about our operating performance because the constant currency presentation excludes the effects of foreign currency volatility and highlights our core operating results. The presentation of revenue on a constant currency basis should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, measures of financial performance reported in accordance with GAAP. Revenue on a constant currency basis, as we present it, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

The FX Impact is calculated as the difference between the current year amounts and the current year amounts translated at prior period average exchange rates. The FX Impact % represents the percentage change on a period-over-period basis adjusted for foreign currency impacts.

The following table presents a reconciliation of constant currency revenue to our reported net revenue for the periods indicated (in thousands, except percentages):

RevenueTwelve months ended December 31, 2024Twelve months ended December 31, 2023
As reported200,453193,015
Non-GAAP constant currency201,346193,697
FX Impact [$]893682
FX Impact [%]0.4%0.4%

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Liquidity and capital resources

Overview

To date, our primary sources of capital have been through sales of our securities and revenue from the sale of our products and services. As of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, we had approximately $277.9 million and $262.7 million, respectively, in cash and cash equivalents and short term investments, which were primarily held in U.S. short-term bank deposit accounts, money market funds, U.S. Treasury notes, Federal agency security notes, and short term commercial paper.

Funding and material cash requirements

We anticipate continuing to expend significant amounts of cash in the foreseeable future as we continue to invest in research and development of our product offerings, commercialization of new products and services, and expansion into new markets. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors including our revenue, research and development efforts, the timing and extent of additional capital expenditures to invest in existing and new facilities, as well as our manufacturing operations, the expansion of sales and marketing and the introduction of new products. We have entered into, and may in the future enter into, arrangements to acquire or invest in businesses, services and technologies, and any such acquisitions or investments could significantly increase our capital needs.

We currently anticipate making additional capital expenditures during the next 12 months, which is expected to primarily include equipment to be used for manufacturing and investment in research and development.

In addition, we lease certain office facilities under operating lease arrangements that expire on various dates through fiscal year 2029. Under the terms of the leases, we are responsible for certain expenses related to operations, maintenance, repairs and management fees. Future minimum lease payments under non-cancelable operating leases totaled $11.9 million as of December 31, 2024.

Based on our current business plan, we believe our existing cash and cash equivalents and anticipated cash flows from operations will be sufficient to meet our working capital and capital expenditure needs for at least the next 12 months from the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Sources of liquidity

We have financed our operations primarily through sales of our securities. In July 2021, we completed our initial public offering (“IPO”), which resulted in net proceeds to us of approximately $215.7 million. We have also benefited from operating cash flows from the sale of our products and services.

On August 26, 2022, we entered into a sales agreement (the “Sales Agreement”) with Piper Sandler & Co. (“Piper”) as sales agent to sell from time to time up to $150 million of our common stock through an “at the market” offering program. To date, we have not made any sales of common stock pursuant to the Sales Agreement. The securities in this transaction were offered pursuant to an automatic shelf registration statement on Form S-3ASR (File No. 333-267118) that was filed with the SEC on August 26, 2022.

Share repurchases

On May 17, 2023, our board of directors approved a program for the repurchase by the Company of up to an aggregate of $50 million of its outstanding common stock. During the three months ended December 31, 2023, the Company repurchased 5,332,769 shares of its outstanding common stock for a total cost of approximately $34.6 million at an average price per share of $6.49. During the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, the Company repurchased 6,613,780 shares of its outstanding common stock for a total cost of approximately $44.2 million at an average price per share of $6.66. The commission costs related to the repurchases were $0.1 million for both the three months and twelve months ended December 31, 2023. The repurchase program was used to return capital to shareholders and to minimize the dilutive impact of stock options and other stock-based awards. The repurchased shares of common stock were retired. The repurchase program expired on December 31, 2023.

On June 6, 2024, our board of directors approved a program for the repurchase by the Company of up to an aggregate of $50 million of its outstanding common stock. During the three months ended December 31, 2024, the Company repurchased 1,332,950 shares of its outstanding common stock for a total cost of approximately $7.0 million at an average price per share of $5.21. During the twelve months ended December 31, 2024, the Company repurchased 3,971,624 shares of its outstanding common stock for a total cost of approximately $21.6 million at an average price per share of $5.41. The repurchase program was used to return capital to shareholders and to minimize the dilutive impact of stock options and other stock-based awards. The repurchased shares of common stock were retired. The repurchase program expired on December 31, 2024.

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Under these two repurchase programs, the Company has purchased an aggregate of 10,585,404 shares of its outstanding common stock for a total cost of approximately $65.5 million at an average price per share of $6.19.

On December 11, 2024, our board of directors approved a new program for the repurchase by the Company of up to an aggregate of $50 million of its outstanding common stock commencing January 1, 2025, to succeed the expiration of the previous $50 million repurchase program on December 31, 2024.

On August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IRA”) was signed into law. Among other things, the IRA imposes a 15% corporate alternative minimum tax for tax years beginning after December 31, 2022, levies a 1% excise tax on net stock repurchases after December 31, 2022, and provides tax incentives to promote clean energy. Beginning in 2023, net stock repurchases are subject to the excise tax. As of December 31, 2024, we have accrued $0.4 million excise taxes related with our stock repurchases.

Cash flows

The following table summarizes our cash flows for the periods presented:

Year ended December 31,
(In thousands)20242023
Net cash provided by (used in):
Operating activities$25,379$5,281
Investing activities(82,974)(93,894)
Financing activities(15,822)(41,812)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash4,532(1,445)
Net decrease in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash$(68,885)$(131,870)

Operating activities

Net cash provided by operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2024 was $25.4 million including net loss of $6.0 million. We also incurred non-cash stock-based compensation expense, depreciation and amortization, amortization of right-of-use assets, and provision for excess and obsolete inventory of $26.8 million, $7.2 million, $3.3 million, and $1.6 million, respectively. We had gain on investment accretion and amortization of $5.2 million, and interest expenses for accretion of the legal settlement liabilities $7.2 million, and deferred income taxes of $2.9 million. Cash provided included an increase in deferred revenue of $3.7 million, a decrease of inventories of $14.8 million and an increase in trade accounts payable of $2.6 million. This was partially offset by an increase of trade accounts receivable of $5.4 million, an increase in prepaid expenses and other assets of $2.8 million, a decrease in the legal settlement liability of $1.1 million, and a decrease of operating lease liabilities of $3.2 million, and a decrease of accrued expenses and other liabilities of $0.8 million.

Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2023 was $5.3 million including net income of $12.1 million. We also incurred non-cash stock-based compensation expense, depreciation and amortization, amortization of right-of-use assets, and interest expenses for accretion of the legal settlement liabilities and provision for excess and obsolete inventory of $22.0 million, $6.0 million, $3.2 million, $1.6 million, and $1.5 million respectively. We had gain on investment accretion and amortization of $6.7 million. Cash provided included an increase in deferred revenue of $6.5 million, a decrease of inventories of $4.3 million, an increase in accrued expenses and other liabilities of $0.7 million. This was partially offset by an increase of trade accounts receivable of $7.3 million, an increase in prepaid expenses and other assets of $9.5 million, a decrease in the legal settlement of $0.3 million, and a decrease of operating lease liabilities of $3.1 million, and a decrease of trade accounts payables of $1.8 million.

Investing activities

Net cash used in investing activities during the year ended December 31, 2024 was $83.0 million driven by purchases of marketable securities of $274.1 million, the purchase of the Cytometric Engineering Ltd. (d.b.a. FlowCEL) business of $0.5 million, purchases of property and equipment of $3.5 million, purchase of intangible assets of $0.2 million, partially offset by proceeds from maturities of marketable securities of $195.0 million, and proceeds from sales of property and equipment of $0.3 million.

Net cash used in investing activities during the year ended December 31, 2023 was $93.9 million driven by purchases of marketable securities of $175.9 million, the purchase of the FCI business of $44.9 million, purchases of property and equipment of $4.6 million, purchase of intangible assets of $0.2 million, and payment of investments in Japan of $0.2 million, partially offset by proceeds from maturities of marketable securities of $132.0 million.

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Financing activities

Net cash used in financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2024 was $15.8 million driven by $21.6 million of costs related to our share repurchase program, $0.6 million in loan repayment costs and payments for taxes related to net share settlement of equity awards of $0.6 million, partially offset by proceeds from line of credit of $4.2 million, the issuance of our common stock under our equity incentive plans of $1.0 million and the issuance of our common stock under our Employee Stock Purchase Plan of $1.7 million.

Net cash used in financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2023 was $41.8 million driven by $44.2 million of costs related to our share repurchase program, $0.6 million in loan repayment costs and payments for taxes related to net share settlement of equity awards of $0.4 million, partially offset by the issuance of our common stock under our equity incentive plans of $1.5 million and the issuance of our common stock under our Employee Stock Purchase Plan of $1.9 million.

Contractual Obligations and Commitments

During the year ended December 31, 2024, there were no material changes to our contractual obligations and commitments from those described under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition” which is contained in our Form 10-K and filed with the SEC on March 13, 2024.

Off-balance sheet arrangements

We did not have during the periods presented, and we do not currently have, any off-balance sheet financing arrangements or any relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, including entities sometimes referred to as structured finance or special purpose entities, that were established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements or other contractually narrow or limited purposes.

Critical accounting policies, significant judgments and use of estimates

We have prepared our consolidated financial statements in accordance with GAAP. Our preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates, assumptions and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses, and related disclosures. We evaluate our estimates and judgments on an ongoing basis. We based our estimates on our historical experience and on various other factors that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources.

Actual results could therefore differ materially from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. We believe that the accounting policies discussed below are critical to understanding our historical and future performance, as these policies relate to the more significant areas involving management’s judgments and estimates.

While our significant accounting policies are described in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we believe that the following accounting policies are the most critical to understanding and evaluating our reported consolidated financial results.

Revenue recognition

Our product revenue primarily consists of sale of our instruments, instrument accessories, such as loaders and, to a lesser extent, consumables such as reagents. We offer multiple versions of our instruments with different price points based on the number of lasers integrated in the systems. We also derive revenue from sales of our conventional flow cytometry system, which is available for sale in China. We recognize product revenue when control of the instrument is transferred to the customer.

Our service revenue consists of post-warranty service contracts, preventative maintenance plans, repairs, installation and quality check, customer training and other specialized product support services. We recognize service contract revenue ratably over the term of the contract and other service obligations as they are performed. Revenue is recognized when control of promised goods or services is transferred to a customer in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. To determine revenue recognition for its arrangements with customers, we perform the following five steps: (i) identify the contract(s) with a customer; (ii) identify the performance obligations in the contract; (iii) determine the transaction price; (iv) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and (v) recognize revenue when (or as) the entity satisfies a performance obligation.

A performance obligation is a promise in a contract to transfer a distinct good or service to the customer and is defined as the unit of account for revenue recognition under the contract with customers guidance. Performance obligations are considered distinct if they are both capable of being distinct, and distinct within the context of the contract. The

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Company identified the following performance obligations in the contracts: product sales of instrument systems, installation on instrument systems, delivery of instrument accessories such as loaders, consumables, reagents, extended service contracts and professional services revenue for post-warranty service contracts, preventative maintenance plans, repairs, installations, training, time and material services and other specialized support services. A good or service is distinct when the customer can benefit from the good or service either on its own or together with other resources that are readily available from third parties or from the Company, and is distinct in the context of the contract, where the transfer of the good or service is separately identifiable from other promises in the contract.

Payments from customers are in arrears. For arrangements where the anticipated period between timing of transfer of services and the timing of payment is one year or less, we have elected to not assess whether a significant financing component exists. For arrangements with terms greater than one year, payments are either received up-front for reasons other than financing, or received according to financing arrangements and contract terms. Revenue is recognized only to the extent that it is probable that a significant reversal of the cumulative amount recognized will not occur in future periods.

Certain of our sales contracts involve the delivery or performance of multiple products and services within contractually binding arrangements. Significant judgment is sometimes required to determine the appropriate accounting for such arrangements, including whether the deliverables specified in a contract with multiple promises should be treated as separate performance obligations for revenue recognition purposes and, if so, how the related sales price should be allocated among the performance obligations, when to recognize revenue for each performance obligation, and the period over which revenue should be recognized. For most of our performance obligations, we have established the stand-alone selling prices (“SSP”) as a range rather than a single value, based on standalone sales of products. We allocate revenue to the performance obligations based on their relative standalone selling prices SSP.

Taxes, such as sales, value-add and other taxes, collected from customers concurrent with revenue generating activities and remitted to governmental authorities are not included in revenue. Shipping and handling costs associated with outbound freight are accounted for as a fulfillment cost and are included in cost of sales.

The following describes the nature of our primary types of revenue and the revenue recognition policies and significant payment terms as they pertain to the types of transactions we enter into with our customers.

Product revenue

Our standard arrangement for sales to end users is generally a purchase order or an executed contract. Product revenue is recognized upon transfer of control of the product to the customer, which, for us, generally occurs at a point in time depending on the shipping terms. Payment terms are generally 30 to 90 days from the date of invoicing.

Our distributor arrangements with our customers include a purchase order. The purchase order is governed by terms and conditions of the distributor agreements. Revenue is recognized upon transfer of control of the products to the distributor, which for us, occurs at a point in time depending on the shipping terms.

Service revenue

Our services are primarily a mix of service contracts, installation services, and time and material-based repair and support. We recognize revenue from the sale of service contracts over the respective period, while revenue on product support is recognized as the services are performed. Service contracts are typically between one and three years. Payment terms are generally 30 days from the date of invoicing. Installation revenue is recognized upon completion of the installation, which, for us, occurs at a point in time.

Inventories

Inventories are stated at the lower of cost and net realizable value. Cost is computed using standard cost, which approximates actual cost on a first-in, first-out basis. We regularly monitor inventory quantities on hand and record write-downs for excess and obsolete inventories based on our estimate of demand for our products, potential obsolescence of technology, product life cycles, and whether pricing trends or forecasts indicate that the carrying value of inventory exceeds its estimated selling price. These factors are impacted by market and economic conditions, technology changes, and new product introductions and require estimates that may include elements that are uncertain. Our estimates of forecasted demand are based upon our analysis and assumptions including, but not limited to, expected product lifecycles, product development plans and historical usage by product. If inventory is written down, a new cost basis is established that cannot be increased in future periods.

Contract assets and contract liabilities

Contract assets are recorded when the amount of revenue recognized exceeds the amount invoiced to the customer and the right to payment is not solely subject to the passage of time. As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, we had

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immaterial amounts of contract assets included within prepaid expenses and other current assets on the consolidated balance sheets.

Contract liabilities consist of fees invoiced or paid by our customers for which the associated services have not been performed and revenue has not been recognized based on our revenue recognition criteria described above. Such amounts are reported as deferred revenue for service and customer deposits for instruments on the consolidated balance sheets. Deferred revenue that is expected to be recognized during the following 12 months is recorded as a current liability and the remaining portion is recorded as noncurrent.

Legal Settlement Liability

In the fourth quarter of 2024, we determined that it was necessary to revise our long-term forecasted net sales subject to royalties under the BD settlement as a result of the current macroeconomic conditions and headwinds. As a result, we remeasured the fair value of the legal settlement liability presented in the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2024. Based on the updated forecast, we recorded a $7.3 million reduction of the legal settlement liability, with a corresponding change to interest income (expense), net in the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss) for the year ended December 31, 2024. See Note 11 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further details.

Stock-based compensation

We maintain an equity incentive compensation plan under which incentive stock options and nonqualified stock options to purchase common stock, and restricted stock units for common stock, are granted primarily to employees and non-employee consultants.

Stock-based compensation cost is measured at the grant date based on the fair value of the award and is recognized as expense over the vesting period. The fair value of stock options is estimated using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. We record forfeitures as they occur.

The Black-Scholes model considers several variables and assumptions in estimating the fair value of stock- based awards. These variables include the per share fair value of the underlying common stock, exercise price, expected term, risk-free interest rate, expected annual dividend yield and expected stock price volatility over the expected term. For all stock options granted, we calculated the expected term using the simplified method for standard stock option awards. After our IPO, the fair value of our common stock is determined by the closing price of our common stock on the date of grant as reported on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. The risk-free interest rate is based on the yield available on U.S. Treasury zero-coupon issues similar in duration to the expected term of the equity-settled award.

The following table summarizes the weighted-average assumptions used in estimating the fair value of stock options granted during each of the periods presented:

Year Ended December 31,
202420232022
Expected term (in years)6.005.965.91
Expected volatility73%71%75%
Risk-free interest rate4%4%2%
Dividend yield

Expected volatility—Expected volatility is estimated by analyzing the historical volatility of selected industry peers, and the Company's historical market data for the assessment corresponds to the expected term of the awards.

Expected term—Expected term represents the period that our stock-based awards are expected to be outstanding and is determined using the simplified method.

Risk-free interest rate—The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury zero-coupon issued in effect at the time of grant for periods corresponding with the expected term of the option.

Dividend yield— The expected dividend yield is zero as we have never declared or paid cash dividends and have no current plans to do so in the foreseeable future.

Recently adopted accounting pronouncements

See Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a description of recent accounting pronouncements applicable to our financial statements.

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FY 2023 10-K MD&A

SEC filing source: 0001628280-24-010933.

Extracted structurally from real Item 7 body heading to real Item 7A/8 boundary. Confidence: high. Filing date: 2024-03-13. Report date: 2023-12-31.

Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. See “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” at the beginning of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Our actual results could differ materially from those contained in these forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed in Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Unless the context requires otherwise, references in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Cytek Biosciences, Inc.

The following is a discussion and year-to-year comparisons of our financial condition and results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022. For a discussion of the results of operations and financial condition for the years ended December 31, 2022 and year-to-year comparisons between 2022 and 2021, please refer to “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” section of our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 1, 2023.

Subsequent to the filing of the Company’s Notification of Late Filing on Form 12b-25, as part of our year-end financial reporting close process, we made adjustments to certain line items in our financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2023, which are reflected in the discussion below and in our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Overview

We are a leading cell analysis solutions company advancing the next generation of cell analysis tools with our novel technical approach of leveraging the full spectrum of fluorescence signatures from multiple lasers to distinguish fluorescent tags on single cells (“Full Spectrum Profiling” or “FSP” technology). Our goal is to become the premier cell analysis company through continued innovation that facilitates scientific advances in biomedical research and clinical applications. Our FSP platform includes instruments, accessories, reagents, software and services to provide a comprehensive and integrated suite of solutions for our customers.

Our core FSP systems, the Cytek Aurora and Northern Lights flow cytometers, deliver high-resolution, high-content and high-sensitivity cell analysis and addresses the inherent limitations of other technologies by providing a higher level of multiplexing with exquisite sensitivity, more flexibility and increased efficiency, all at a lower cost for performance. Additionally, our Cytek Aurora cell sorter (“Aurora CS”) leverages our FSP technology to further broaden our potential applications across cell analysis. Each system is supported by our highly intuitive, proprietary embedded SpectroFlo software, our reagents, and our service offerings to provide a comprehensive, end-to-end platform of solutions for our customers. Since our first U.S. commercial launch in mid-2017 through December 31, 2023, we have sold and deployed our instruments to customers around the world, including pharmaceutical companies, biopharma companies, academic research centers, and clinical research organizations (“CROs”).

On February 28, 2023, we completed the acquisition of certain assets (the “FCI Acquisition”) relating to the flow cytometry and imaging business of Luminex Corporation (“Luminex”), including relating to the business of manufacturing, marketing, selling, servicing and maintaining Amnis- and Guava-branded instruments, and flow cytometry reagent products and services (the “FCI Business”). The acquired FCI Business includes conventional flow and image-based flow cytometry instrumentation and related products and services (the “FCI Products”), which provide insights into all facets of cellular phenotypes and morphology. The acquisition supports our plan to develop new products and capabilities with flow cytometry and imaging technology, expand our reach and offerings into customer segments previously underserved, and increase the efficiency of our operations.

We manufacture our instruments in our facilities in Fremont, California; Wuxi, China; and Seattle, Washington. We have designed our operating model to be capital efficient and to scale efficiently as our product volumes grow.

Total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2023 was $193.0 million, representing a 18% increase compared to revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022 of $164.0 million. Total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2023 included $28.7 million of revenue from the FCI Business. Excluding revenue from the FCI business unit for the year ended December 31, 2023, organic revenue was $164.3 million, a 0.2% increase compared to the same period of the prior year. The 0.2% increase in organic revenue was primarily related to sales to pharmaceutical and biotech customers in the United States, and revenue growth in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (“EMEA”).

To date, we have adopted a direct sales model in North America, Europe, China, and several other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and sell our products through third-party distributors in certain countries in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. Revenue from direct sales represented 76%, 79% and 86% of total

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revenue for the year ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and revenue from distributors represented 24%, 21% and 14% of total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

We focus a substantial portion of our resources on developing new products and solutions to meet our customers’ needs. Our research and development efforts focus on developing new and complementary instruments, reagents and reagent kits, and continued operating software development. We incurred research and development expenses of $44.2 million, $34.9 million and 24.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. We intend to continue to make significant investments in research and development in the future.

We expect to continue to invest in our commercial infrastructure through hiring additional employees with strong scientific and technical backgrounds to support growth in our instrument sales as well as our planned expansion of reagents offerings and panel design capabilities. We also plan to continue to invest in sales, marketing and business development across the globe to drive commercialization of our products. We incurred sales and marketing expenses of $49.1 million, $33.2 million and $24.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Since our inception in 2014, we have financed our operations primarily through sales of our securities and revenue from the sale of our products and services.

Our net loss was $12.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, our net income was $2.5 million and $3.0 million, for the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The change for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022 resulted primarily from expenses driven by an increase in headcount and salaries and efforts in research and development and marketing initiatives.

We expect our expenses will increase substantially in connection with our ongoing activities, as we:

•attract, hire and retain qualified personnel;

•invest in processes, commercial infrastructure and supporting functions to scale our business and introduce new products and services;

•support our research and development efforts;

•continue to expand geographically;

•protect and defend our intellectual property; and

•make strategic investments in complementary businesses, services, products or technologies.

Key factors affecting our results of operations and future performance

We believe that our financial performance has been, and in the foreseeable future will continue to be, primarily driven by multiple factors as described below, each of which presents growth opportunities for our business. These factors also pose important challenges that we must successfully address to sustain our growth and improve our results of operations. Our ability to successfully address these challenges is subject to various risk and uncertainties, including those described under the heading “Risk Factors” included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Global customer adoption

Our financial performance has largely been driven by our ability to increase the adoption of our FSP platform, a key factor on which our future success depends. We plan to drive global customer adoption through business development efforts, direct sales and marketing and third-party distributions. We are investing in our direct sales organization and commercial support functions and developing third-party distributor relationships to support global expansion and drive revenue growth. As part of this effort, we increased our direct sales force by approximately 78% in the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. We intend to continue increasing our workforce in line with our growth.

Recurring revenues

We believe our expanding installed base of instruments to new and existing customers will provide us with greater leverage to drive pull-through for reagent and service revenue, which are recurring by nature. Furthermore, as we develop and identify new applications and products, we expect to further increase pull-through across our installed base. We expect recurring revenue on an absolute basis to increase and become an increasingly important contributor to our revenue as our installed base expands.

Revenue mix and gross margin

Our revenue is primarily derived from sales of our instruments and services with our instruments recognizing higher gross margins than our services. Although we expect sales of our instruments to continue to represent the largest

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percentage of our revenue in the future, we expect reagent sales to increase as a percentage of our total revenue and our gross margins to experience a corresponding improvement as we grow our installed base and increase our focus on commercializing reagents. We also expect a higher gross margin on our instruments as we increase manufacturing efficiency, instrument reliability and training for personnel using our instruments, which we expect to lead to a reduction in warranty claims. Our sales in certain regions, particularly outside of the United States, are realized through third-party distribution partners that typically receive discounted prices, thus resulting in lower gross margins than those recognized by our direct sales organization. Furthermore, our gross margins and instrument selling prices may fluctuate in the future as we continue to grow our volume of third-party distribution partners in geographies outside of the United States, introduce new products and reduce our production costs as a result of variability in the timing of new product introductions.

In the near term, we expect the continued optimization of our manufacturing processes related to our instruments and the expansion of product manufacturing distribution facilities to have the greatest impact on our gross margin. In addition to the impact of competing products entering the market, the future gross margin profiles of our instruments, services and reagents will depend on the outcome of any royalties we are required to pay and the royalty rates and products to which such royalties apply.

Expansion into new markets

We focus our research and development efforts on the greatest value-additive products to meet the growing and unmet needs of the research and clinical markets. We work closely with researchers, clinicians and scientists to optimize and implement new panels and applications to meet their specific needs. We also gain valuable insight on potential new products, new applications and enhancements to existing products, as well as biomarker combinations that would be beneficial in different fields, through collaborations with our customers, academic laboratories, KOLs and industry partners. We plan to continue to invest in new product development and enhancements to support our expansion into new markets.

Our Northern Lights CLC system received CE Marking under the European Union In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Directive in September 2020 and was registered in the European Union in compliance with Regulation (EU) 2017/746 on In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices in November 2023. The Northern Lights CLC system was also registered as a Class II In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Device in China. These registrations enable the Northern Lights CLC system to be marketed for clinical use in China, the European Union and in other countries around the world that accept the Certification of Free Sale issued from an EU Competent Authority.

Key business metrics

We regularly review the following key business metrics to evaluate our business, measure our performance, identify trends affecting our business, formulate financial projections and make strategic decisions. We believe that the following metrics are representative of our current business; however, we anticipate these will change or may be substituted for additional or different metrics as our business grows.

Year ended December 31,2023 vs. 20222022 vs. 2021
(In thousands)202320222021Dollar ChangeDollar Change
Sales channel mix
Direct sales channel$147,169$129,098$110,520$18,071$18,578
Distributor channel45,84634,93817,43010,90817,508
Total revenue, net$193,015$164,036$127,950$28,979$36,086
Customer mix
Academia and government$82,145$73,706$59,415$8,439$14,291
Biotechnology, pharmaceutical, distributor and CRO110,87090,33068,53520,54021,795
Total revenue, net$193,015$164,036$127,950$28,979$36,086

Distributors typically sell to end customers identified in other customer categories.

Known Trends, Events and Uncertainties

The recent trends towards rising inflation may adversely affect our business and corresponding financial position and cash flows. Inflationary factors, such as increases in the cost of materials and supplies, interest rates and overhead costs may adversely affect our operating results. The general consensus among economists suggests that we should expect a higher recession risk to continue over the next year, which could result in further economic uncertainty and volatility in the

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capital markets in the near term, and could negatively affect our operations. Although we do not believe that inflation has had a material impact on our financial position or results of operations to date, we may experience increases in the near future (especially if inflation rates continue to rise) on our operating costs, including our labor costs and research and development costs, due to supply chain constraints, consequences associated with COVID-19 or future public health crises, the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the Israel and Palestine conflict or liquidity concerns at, and failure of, banks and other financial institutions.

Many of our pharmaceutical and biotech customers based in the United States have been impacted by macro-economic uncertainties related to the weakening economy, liquidity concerns in the broader financial services industry, such as those caused by recent banking failures, disruptions to and volatility in the credit and equity markets, and rising interest rates. We believe these factors contributed to longer sales cycles, which adversely impacted our operating results for the three months and full year ended December 31, 2023, and may adversely affect our operating results in the future.

Components of our results of operations

Total revenue, net

We currently generate our total revenue, net from product revenue and service revenue.

Product. Our product revenue primarily consists of sales of our instruments, including the Cytek Aurora, Northern Lights, Aurora CS, Amnis and Guava systems, instrument accessories, such as loaders, and consumables, such as reagents. We offer multiple versions of our instruments with different price points based on the number of lasers integrated in the systems. We also derive revenue from sales of our conventional flow cytometry system, which is available for sale in China. We recognize product revenue when control of the instrument is transferred to the customer.

Service. Our service revenue primarily consists of post-warranty service contracts, installations and repairs which are recognized over time. Post-warranty service contracts are recognized ratably over the term of the contract and installations and repair services are recognized as they are delivered to the customer.

We expect our total revenue to increase in absolute dollars as we expand our sales organization and sales territories, broaden our customer base, and expand awareness of our products with new and existing customers. Our revenue was $193.0 million, $164.0 million and $128.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. A portion of our revenue for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2023 is attributable to the acquired FCI Business.

Total cost of sales, gross profit and gross margin

Our total cost of sales is comprised of product cost of sales and service cost of sales.

Product. Cost of sales associated with our products primarily consist of manufacturing-related costs incurred in the production process, inventory write-downs, warranty costs, third party royalty costs, personnel and related costs, costs of component materials, overhead, packaging and delivery and depreciation expense.

Service. Cost of sales associated with our services primarily consists of personnel and related costs, expenses related to product replacements, product updates and qualification validation of our products and depreciation expense.

We expect our total cost of sales to increase in absolute dollars in future periods, corresponding to our anticipated growth in revenue and employee headcount to support our manufacturing, operations, field service team and support organizations.

Gross profit is calculated as revenue less total cost of sales. Gross margin is gross profit expressed as a percentage of revenue. Our gross profit in future periods will depend on a variety of factors, including market conditions that may impact our pricing, sales mix changes among our instruments and service agreements, product mix changes between established products and new products, excess and obsolete inventories, our cost structure for manufacturing operations relative to volume and product warranty obligations.

Operating expenses

Our operating expenses are primarily comprised of research and development, sales and marketing, and general and administrative expenses, depreciation and amortization, and related overhead.

Research and development. Our research and development expenses primarily consist of salaries, benefits, stock-based compensation costs for employees in our research and development department, independent contractor costs, laboratory supplies, equipment maintenance and materials expenses.

We plan to continue to invest in our research and development efforts, including hiring additional employees to enhance existing products and develop new products. We expect research and development expense will increase in

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absolute dollars in future periods and vary from period to period as a percentage of revenue due to our continuing investment in product development.

Sales and marketing. Our sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of salaries, benefits, and stock-based compensation costs for employees in our sales and marketing department, sales commissions, marketing material costs, travel expenses and costs related to trade shows, trainings and various workshops. We expect our sales and marketing expense to increase in absolute dollars as we expand our commercial sales, marketing, and business development teams, increase our presence globally and increase marketing activities to drive awareness and adoption of our platform.

General and administrative. Our general and administrative expenses primarily consist of salaries, benefits, and stock-based compensation costs for employees in our executive, accounting and finance, legal and human resource functions, as well as professional services fees, such as consulting, audit, tax, legal, general corporate costs, allocated overhead expenses and acquisition costs. We expect our operating expenses to increase as a public company. In particular, we expect our accounting, legal, personnel-related expenses and directors’ and officers’ insurance costs reported within general and administrative expense to increase as we establish more comprehensive compliance and governance functions, maintain IT costs, review internal controls over financial reporting in accordance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and prepare and distribute periodic reports as required by the rules and regulations of the SEC. As a result, our historical results of operations may not be indicative of our results of operations in future periods.

We expect these expenses to vary from period to period as a percentage of revenue.

Other income, net

Interest expense. Interest expense consists primarily of accretion of the present value of the litigation settlement liability. See our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further details regarding the settlement.

Interest income. Our interest income consists primarily of interest earned on our cash and cash equivalents which are invested in cash deposits and in money market funds.

Other income, net. Our income (expense), net consists primarily of foreign exchange gains and losses.

Income taxes

Our provision for (benefit from) income taxes consists primarily of provision for federal taxes and local taxes in the United States as well as foreign taxes. As we plan to expand the scale and scope of our international business activities, any changes in the United States and foreign taxation of such activities may increase our overall provision for income taxes in the future.

Results of operations

Comparison of the year ended December 31, 2023 and 2022

The results of operations presented below should be reviewed in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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The following table sets forth our consolidated results of operations and comprehensive (loss) income data for the periods presented:

Year ended December 31,
(In thousands)20232022
Revenue, net:
Product$156,717$148,600
Service36,29815,436
Total revenue, net193,015164,036
Cost of sales:
Product65,32749,955
Service18,26213,107
Total cost of sales83,58963,062
Gross profit109,426100,974
Operating expenses:
Research and development44,15134,858
Sales and marketing49,14833,230
General and administrative43,97234,690
Total operating expenses137,271102,778
Loss from operations(27,845)(1,804)
Other income, net
Interest expense(2,071)(2,573)
Interest income6,4134,619
Other income, net7,7941,018
Total other income, net12,1363,064
(Loss) income before income taxes(15,709)1,260
Benefit from income taxes(3,561)(1,224)
Net (loss) income(12,148)2,484
Foreign currency translation adjustment, net of tax(549)(1,611)
Unrealized (loss) gain on marketable securities(29)17
Net comprehensive (loss) income$(12,726)$890

Total revenue, net

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20232022Amount%
Revenue, net
Product$156,717$148,600$8,1175%
Service36,29815,43620,862135%
Total revenue, net$193,015$164,036$28,97918%

Total revenue, net increased by $29.0 million, or 18%, for the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. Revenue growth reflects steady revenue from sales of the Cytek Aurora and Cytek Northern Lights systems, an increase in revenue from sales of the Aurora CS system and revenue from the acquired FCI Business. Revenue from the acquired FCI Business was $28.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2023.

Product revenue increased by $8.1 million, or 5%, to $156.7 million, for the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase was driven by revenue contribution from the FCI Products, along with steady demand for the Cytek Aurora and Northern Lights systems and an increase in sales of the Aurora CS system.

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Service revenue increased by $20.9 million, or 135%, to $36.3 million, for the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase in service revenue was mainly driven by continued growth in the instruments installed base with more instruments coming off warranty and the addition of the FCI Business.

Total cost of sales, gross profit and gross margin

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20232022Amount%
Cost of sales:
Product$65,327$49,955$15,37231%
Service18,26213,1075,15539%
Total cost of sales$83,589$63,062$20,52733%
Gross profit$109,426$100,974$8,4528%
Gross margin57%62%

Total cost of sales increased by $20.5 million, or 33%, for the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase in cost of sales was driven by increases in product and service revenue, primarily due to more instruments shipped, increased material costs, and increased service and manufacturing headcount and associated personnel cost.

Total gross profit margin was 57% and 62% as a percent of total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Gross profit margin depends on many factors, including market conditions that might affect our pricing; services; product mix changes between instrument configurations; excess and obsolete inventories; our cost structure for manufacturing operations relative to volume, freight costs and product support.

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20232022Amount%
Product:
Revenue$156,717$148,600$8,1175%
Cost of sales65,32749,95515,37231%
Product gross profit$91,390$98,645$(7,255)(7)%
Gross margin58%66%
Service:
Revenue$36,298$15,436$20,862135%
Cost of sales18,26213,1075,15539%
Service gross profit$18,036$2,329$15,707674%
Gross margin50%15%

Product revenue for the year ended December 31, 2023 increased by 5%, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. Product gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2023 decreased by 7%, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. Product cost of sales for the year ended December 31, 2023 increased by 31% as compared to the same period in 2022. The lower product gross margins in the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022 were driven primarily by higher material costs and by less favorable instrument product mix following the FCI Acquisition.

Service revenue and service gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2023 increased by 135% and 674%, respectively, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. Service cost of sales for the year ended December 31, 2023 increased by 39% as compared to the same period in 2022. The higher service gross margins in the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022 were mainly driven by continued growth in the instruments installed base with more instrument coming off warranty and the addition of the FCI Business.

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Operating expenses

Research and development

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20232022Amount%
Research and development$44,151$34,858$9,29327%

Research and development expenses were $44.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to $34.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase of $9.3 million in research and development expenses was primarily due to an increase of $8.8 million in headcount and personnel-related expenses, including stock-based compensation increase of $1.6 million. This was primarily due to increased headcount from the FCI Acquisition.

The increase in research and development expenses for the year ended December 31, 2023 was primarily driven by costs relating to the FCI Business. We expect our research and development expense to increase in absolute dollars as we continue to develop new products and enhance existing instruments and technologies.

Sales and marketing

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20232022Amount%
Sales and marketing$49,148$33,230$15,91848%

Sales and marketing expenses were $49.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to $33.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase of $15.9 million in sales and marketing expenses was primarily due to an increase in headcount, commissions, and personnel-related expenses of $11.6 million, including $0.9 million stock-based compensation, an increase of $3.0 million in trade shows and other sales and marketing costs, and an increase of $1.5 million in fixed assets and intangible asset amortization costs. This was primarily due to increased headcount from the FCI Acquisition.

We expect our sales and marketing expenses to increase in absolute dollars as we hire additional sales and marketing personnel, expand our sales support infrastructure and invest in our brand and product awareness to further penetrate the United States and the international markets.

General and administrative

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20232022Amount%
General and administrative$43,972$34,690$9,28227%

General and administrative expenses were $44.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to $34.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase of $9.3 million in general and administrative expenses was primarily due to an increase of $5.7 million in general corporate personnel-related costs, including an increase of $2.6 million in stock-based compensation and other payroll costs, and $3.0 million of other outside service increase and related acquisition expense.

We expect to continue to incur additional general and administrative expenses as a result of operating as a public company, including expenses related to compliance with the rules and regulations of the SEC and the Nasdaq Stock Market, additional insurance costs, investor relations activities and other administrative and professional services. As a result, we expect general and administrative expenses to increase in absolute dollars in future periods.

Interest expense

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20232022Amount%
Interest expense$(2,071)$(2,573)$502(20)%

Interest expense was $2.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to $2.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The decrease was mainly due to the accretion of the present value discount related to the settlement agreement with Becton, Dickinson and Company (“BD”). See Note 11 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further details.

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Interest income

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20232022Amount%
Interest income$6,413$4,619$1,79439%

Interest income was $6.4 million and $4.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The increase of $1.8 million in interest income was the result of higher interest earned on our cash and cash equivalents and short term investment due to an increase in interest rates, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022.

Other income, net

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20232022Amount%
Other income, net$7,794$1,018$6,776666%

Other income, net was $7.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to other income, net of $1.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, respectively. The increase of $6.8 million was primarily from short-term investment income increase during the year ended December 31, 2023.

Income Taxes

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20232022Amount%
Benefit from income taxes$(3,561)$(1,224)$(2,337)191%

Benefit from income tax was $3.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The benefit for income tax was $1.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The net change of $2.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 was the result of a loss in 2023 compared to profit in 2022.

Non-GAAP Financial Measure

To supplement our consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, we use constant currency revenue, which is a non-GAAP financial measure. We believe the presentation of revenue on a constant currency basis, in addition to results reported in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”), provides useful information about our operating performance because the constant currency presentation excludes the effects of foreign currency volatility and highlights our core operating results. The presentation of revenue on a constant currency basis should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, measures of financial performance reported in accordance with GAAP. Revenue on a constant currency basis, as we present it, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

The FX Impact is calculated as the difference between the current year amounts and the current year amounts translated at prior period average exchange rates. The FX Impact % represents the percentage change on a period-over-period basis adjusted for foreign currency impacts.

The following table presents a reconciliation of constant currency revenue to our reported net revenue for the periods indicated (in thousands, except percentages):

RevenueYear ended December 31, 2023Year ended December 31, 2022
As reported193,015164,036
Non-GAAP constant currency193,697171,793
FX Impact [$]6827,757
FX Impact [%]0.4%4.7%

Liquidity and capital resources

Overview

To date, our primary sources of capital have been through sales of our securities and revenue from the sale of our products and services. As of December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, we had approximately $262.7 million and $344.0

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million, respectively, in cash and cash equivalents and short term investments, which were primarily held in U.S. short-term bank deposit accounts, money market funds, U.S. Treasury notes, Federal agency security notes, and short term commercial paper.

Funding and material cash requirements

We anticipate continuing to expend significant amounts of cash in the foreseeable future as we continue to invest in research and development of our product offerings, commercialization of new products and services, and expansion into new markets. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors including our revenue, research and development efforts, the timing and extent of additional capital expenditures to invest in existing and new facilities, as well as our manufacturing operations, the expansion of sales and marketing and the introduction of new products. We have entered into, and may in the future enter into, arrangements to acquire or invest in businesses, services and technologies, and any such acquisitions or investments could significantly increase our capital needs.

We currently anticipate making additional capital expenditures during the next 12 months, which is expected to primarily include equipment to be used for manufacturing and investment in research and development.

In addition, we lease certain office facilities under operating lease arrangements that expire on various dates through fiscal year 2029. Under the terms of the leases, we are responsible for certain expenses related to operations, maintenance, repairs and management fees. Future minimum lease payments under non-cancelable operating leases totaled $12.7 million as of December 31, 2023.

Based on our current business plan, we believe our existing cash and cash equivalents and anticipated cash flows from operations will be sufficient to meet our working capital and capital expenditure needs for at least the next 12 months from the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Sources of liquidity

We have financed our operations primarily through sales of our securities. In July 2021, we completed our IPO, which resulted in net proceeds to us of approximately $215.7 million. We have also benefited from operating cash flows from the sale of our products and services.

On August 26, 2022, we entered into a sales agreement (the “Sales Agreement”) with Piper Sandler & Co. (“Piper”) as sales agent to sell from time to time up to $150 million of our common stock through an “at the market” offering program. To date, we have not made any sales of common stock pursuant to the Sales Agreement. The securities in this transaction were offered pursuant to an automatic shelf registration statement on Form S-3ASR (File No. 333-267118) that was filed with the SEC on August 26, 2022.

Share repurchases

On May 17, 2023, the Board approved a program for our repurchase of up to an aggregate of $50 million of our outstanding common stock. During the three months ended December 31, 2023, we repurchased 5,332,769 shares of our outstanding common stock for a total cost of approximately $34.6 million at an average price per share of $6.49. During the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, we repurchased 6,613,780 shares of our outstanding common stock for a total cost of approximately $44.0 million at an average price per share of $6.66. The repurchase program was used to return capital to shareholders and to minimize the dilutive impact of stock options and other share-based awards. The repurchased shares of common stock were retired. The repurchase program expired on December 31, 2023. The commissions costs related with the share repurchases were $0.1 million for both the three months and twelve months ended December 31, 2023.

On August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IRA”) was signed into law. Among other things, the IRA imposes a 15% corporate alternative minimum tax for tax years beginning after December 31, 2022, levies a 1% excise tax on net stock repurchases after December 31, 2022, and provides tax incentives to promote clean energy. Beginning in 2023, net stock repurchases are subject to the excise tax. As of December 31, 2023, we have accrued $0.3 million excise taxes related with our stock repurchases.

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Cash flows

The following table summarizes our cash flows for the periods presented:

Year ended December 31,
(In thousands)20232022
Net cash provided by (used in):
Operating activities$5,281$(12,231)
Investing activities(93,894)(55,909)
Financing activities(41,812)5,513
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash(1,445)(2,491)
Net decrease in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash$(131,870)$(65,118)

Operating activities

Net cash provided by operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2023 was $5.3 million including net loss of $12.1 million. We also incurred non-cash stock-based compensation expense, depreciation and amortization, amortization of right-of-use assets, interest expenses for accretion of the legal settlement liabilities and provision for excess and obsolete inventory of $22.0 million, $6.0 million, $3.2 million, $1.6 million, and $1.5 million, respectively. We had gain on investment accretion and amortization of $6.7 million. Cash provided included an increase in deferred revenue of $6.5 million, a decrease of inventories of $4.3 million and an increase in accrued expenses and other liabilities of $0.7 million. This was partially offset by an increase of trade accounts receivable of $7.3 million, an increase in prepaid expenses and other assets of $9.5 million, a decrease in the legal settlement liability of $0.3 million, and a decrease of operating lease liabilities of $3.1 million, and a decrease of trade accounts payables of $1.8 million.

Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $12.2 million including net income of $2.5 million. We also incurred non-cash stock-based compensation expense, depreciation and amortization, amortization of right-of-use assets, and interest expenses for accretion of the legal settlement liabilities of $16.6 million, $2.5 million, $3.2 million, and $2.2 million, respectively. Usage of cash included an increase of inventories of $17.7 million, an increase of trade accounts receivable of $19.7 million due to an increase in sales, and an increase in prepaid expenses and other assets of $19.4 million. This was partially offset by an increase of trade accounts payables of $1.9 million, an increase in deferred revenue of $9.4 million, an increase in accrued expenses and other liabilities of $7.5 million and an increase in the legal settlement liability of $0.4 million.

Investing activities

Net cash used in investing activities during the year ended December 31, 2023 was $93.9 million driven by purchases of marketable securities of $175.9 million, the purchase of the FCI Business of $44.9 million, purchases of property and equipment of $4.6 million, purchase of intangible assets of $0.2 million, and payment of investments in Japan of $0.2 million, partially offset by proceeds from maturities of marketable securities of $132.0 million.

Net cash used in investing activities during the year ended December 31, 2022 was $55.9 million driven by purchases of marketable securities of $44.5 million, purchases of property and equipment of $9.9 million, and payment of investments of $1.6 million.

Financing activities

Net cash used in financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2023 was $41.8 million driven by $44.2 million of costs related to our share repurchase program, $0.6 million in loan repayment costs and payments for taxes related to net share settlement of equity awards of $0.4 million, partially offset by the issuance of our common stock under our equity incentive plans of $1.5 million and the issuance of our common stock under our Employee Stock Purchase Plan of $1.9 million.

Net cash provided by financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2022 was $5.5 million driven by proceeds from a loan of $2.9 million and issuance of our common stock under our equity incentive plans.

Contractual Obligations and Commitments

During the year ended December 31, 2023, there were no material changes to our contractual obligations and commitments from those described under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition” which is contained in our Form 10-K and filed with the SEC on March 1, 2023.

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Off-balance sheet arrangements

We did not have during the periods presented, and we do not currently have, any off-balance sheet financing arrangements or any relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, including entities sometimes referred to as structured finance or special purpose entities, that were established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements or other contractually narrow or limited purposes.

Critical accounting policies, significant judgments and use of estimates

We have prepared our consolidated financial statements in accordance with GAAP. Our preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates, assumptions and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses, and related disclosures. We evaluate our estimates and judgments on an ongoing basis. We based our estimates on our historical experience and on various other factors that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources.

Actual results could therefore differ materially from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. We believe that the accounting policies discussed below are critical to understanding our historical and future performance, as these policies relate to the more significant areas involving management’s judgments and estimates.

While our significant accounting policies are described in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we believe that the following accounting policies are the most critical to understanding and evaluating our reported consolidated financial results.

Revenue recognition

Our product revenue primarily consists of sale of our instruments, instrument accessories, such as loaders and, to a lesser extent, consumables such as reagents. We offer multiple versions of our instruments with different price points based on the number of lasers integrated in the systems. We also derive revenue from sales of our conventional flow cytometry system, which is available for sale in China. We recognize product revenue when control of the instrument is transferred to the customer.

Our service revenue consists of post-warranty service contracts, preventative maintenance plans, repairs, installation and quality check, customer training and other specialized product support services. We recognize service contract revenue ratably over the term of the contract and other service obligations as they are performed. Revenue is recognized when control of promised goods or services is transferred to a customer in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. To determine revenue recognition for its arrangements with customers, we perform the following five steps: (i) identify the contract(s) with a customer; (ii) identify the performance obligations in the contract; (iii) determine the transaction price; (iv) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and (v) recognize revenue when (or as) the entity satisfies a performance obligation.

A performance obligation is a promise in a contract to transfer a distinct good or service to the customer and is defined as the unit of account for revenue recognition under the contract with customers guidance. Performance obligations are considered distinct if they are both capable of being distinct, and distinct within the context of the contract. The Company identified the following performance obligations in the contracts: product sales of instrument systems, installation on instrument systems, delivery of instrument accessories such as loaders, consumables, reagents, extended service contracts and professional services revenue for post-warranty service contracts, preventative maintenance plans, repairs, installations, training, time and material services and other specialized support services. A good or service is distinct when the customer can benefit from the good or service either on its own or together with other resources that are readily available from third parties or from the Company, and is distinct in the context of the contract, where the transfer of the good or service is separately identifiable from other promises in the contract.

Payments from customers are in arrears. For arrangements where the anticipated period between timing of transfer of services and the timing of payment is one year or less, we have elected to not assess whether a significant financing component exists. For arrangements with terms greater than one year, payments are received up-front and are for reasons other than financing. Revenue is recognized only to the extent that it is probable that a significant reversal of the cumulative amount recognized will not occur in future periods.

Certain of our sales contracts involve the delivery or performance of multiple products and services within contractually binding arrangements. Significant judgment is sometimes required to determine the appropriate accounting for such arrangements, including whether the deliverables specified in a contract with multiple promises should be treated as separate performance obligations for revenue recognition purposes and, if so, how the related sales price should be allocated among the performance obligations, when to recognize revenue for each performance obligation, and the period

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over which revenue should be recognized. For most of our performance obligations, we have established the stand-alone selling prices (“SSP”) as a range rather than a single value, based on standalone sales of products. We allocate revenue to the performance obligations based on their relative standalone selling prices SSP.

Taxes, such as sales, value-add and other taxes, collected from customers concurrent with revenue generating activities and remitted to governmental authorities are not included in revenue. Shipping and handling costs associated with outbound freight are accounted for as a fulfillment cost and are included in cost of sales.

The following describes the nature of our primary types of revenue and the revenue recognition policies and significant payment terms as they pertain to the types of transactions we enter into with our customers.

Product revenue

Our standard arrangement for sales to end users is generally a purchase order or an executed contract. Product revenue is recognized upon transfer of control of the product to the customer, which, for us, generally occurs at a point in time depending on the shipping terms. Payment terms are generally 30 to 45 days from the date of invoicing.

Our distributor arrangements with our customers include a purchase order. The purchase order is governed by terms and conditions of the distributor agreements. Revenue is recognized upon transfer of control of the products to the distributor, which for us, occurs at a point in time depending on the shipping terms.

Service revenue

Our services are primarily a mix of service contracts, installation services, and time and material-based repair and support. We recognize revenue from the sale of service contracts over the respective period, while revenue on product support is recognized as the services are performed. Service contracts are typically between one and three years. Payment terms are generally 30 days from the date of invoicing. Installation revenue is recognized upon completion of the installation, which, for us, occurs at a point in time.

Inventories

Inventories are stated at the lower of cost and net realizable value. Cost is computed using standard cost, which approximates actual cost on a first-in, first-out basis. We regularly monitor inventory quantities on hand and record write-downs for excess and obsolete inventories based on our estimate of demand for our products, potential obsolescence of technology, product life cycles, and whether pricing trends or forecasts indicate that the carrying value of inventory exceeds its estimated selling price. These factors are impacted by market and economic conditions, technology changes, and new product introductions and require estimates that may include elements that are uncertain. Our estimates of forecasted demand are based upon our analysis and assumptions including, but not limited to, expected product lifecycles, product development plans and historical usage by product. If inventory is written down, a new cost basis is established that cannot be increased in future periods.

Contract assets and contract liabilities

Contract assets are recorded when the amount of revenue recognized exceeds the amount invoiced to the customer and the right to payment is not solely subject to the passage of time. As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, we had immaterial amounts of contract assets included within prepaid expenses and other current assets on the consolidated balance sheets.

Contract liabilities consist of fees invoiced or paid by our customers for which the associated services have not been performed and revenue has not been recognized based on our revenue recognition criteria described above. Such amounts are reported as deferred revenue for service and customer deposits for instruments on the consolidated balance sheets. Deferred revenue that is expected to be recognized during the following 12 months is recorded as a current liability and the remaining portion is recorded as noncurrent.

Business Combinations

The Company uses the acquisition method of accounting under ASC 805, Business Combinations. Each acquired company’s operating results are included in the Company's consolidated financial statements starting on the date of acquisition. The purchase price is equivalent to the fair value of consideration transferred. Tangible and identifiable intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed as of the date of acquisition are recorded at the acquisition date fair value. Goodwill is recognized for the excess of purchase price over the net fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed.

Amounts allocated to assets and liabilities are based upon their fair values. Such valuations require management to make significant estimates and assumptions, especially with respect to the identifiable intangible assets. Management makes estimates of fair value based upon assumptions believed to be reasonable and that of a market participant. These estimates are based on historical experience and information obtained from the management of the acquired companies and

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the estimates are inherently uncertain. The separately identifiable intangible assets generally include developed technology, customer relationships, trade names, and reagent licenses.

Goodwill and intangible assets

We recognize goodwill in accounting for business combinations based on the amount by which the total consideration transferred, exceeds the fair value of identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed. Identifiable intangible assets other than goodwill are primarily comprised of patents and trademarks which amortize on a straight-line basis over an assigned useful life based on management’s estimate of the period the asset is expected to contribute to future cash flows.

We assess our goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment at least annually in the fourth quarter, or more frequently if factors indicate impairment may exist. Our qualitative goodwill impairment analysis consists of assessing whether any events or circumstances listed in ASC 350-20-35-3A (“triggering events”) existed or occurred in the year under review to the date of the financial statements. The qualitative analysis assesses macroeconomic conditions, market, and industry considerations, change in cost factors, overall company financial performance, and any events affecting the reporting unit. Based on the qualitative analysis results, we determined that it is more likely than not that the fair values of the reporting unit exceed the carrying value and that no triggering events were noted that would require a quantitative impairment assessment in the fiscal year.

Stock-based compensation

We maintain an equity incentive compensation plan under which incentive stock options and nonqualified stock options to purchase common stock, and restricted stock units for common stock, are granted primarily to employees and non-employee consultants.

Stock-based compensation cost is measured at the grant date based on the fair value of the award and is recognized as expense over the vesting period. The fair value of stock options is estimated using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. We record forfeitures as they occur.

The Black-Scholes model considers several variables and assumptions in estimating the fair value of stock- based awards. These variables include the per share fair value of the underlying common stock, exercise price, expected term, risk-free interest rate, expected annual dividend yield and expected stock price volatility over the expected term. For all stock options granted, we calculated the expected term using the simplified method for standard stock option awards. After our IPO, the fair value of our common stock is determined by the closing price of our common stock on the date of grant as reported on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. The risk-free interest rate is based on the yield available on U.S. Treasury zero-coupon issues similar in duration to the expected term of the equity-settled award.

The following table summarizes the weighted-average assumptions used in estimating the fair value of stock options granted during each of the periods presented:

Year Ended December 31,
202320222021
Expected term (in years)5.965.916.05
Expected volatility71%75%90%
Risk-free interest rate4%2%1%
Dividend yield

Expected volatility—Expected volatility is estimated by studying the volatility of selected industry peers deemed to be comparable to our business corresponding to the expected term of the awards.

Expected term—Expected term represents the period that our stock-based awards are expected to be outstanding and is determined using the simplified method.

Risk-free interest rate—The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury zero-coupon issued in effect at the time of grant for periods corresponding with the expected term of the option.

Dividend yield— The expected dividend yield is zero as we have never declared or paid cash dividends and have no current plans to do so in the foreseeable future.

Recently adopted accounting pronouncements

See Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a description of recent accounting pronouncements applicable to our financial statements.

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FY 2022 10-K MD&A

SEC filing source: 0000950170-23-005610.

Extracted structurally from real Item 7 body heading to real Item 7A/8 boundary. Published MD&A gate trimmed front/tail over-capture. Confidence: high. Filing date: 2023-03-01. Report date: 2022-12-31.

Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. See “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” at the beginning of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Our actual results could differ materially from those contained in these forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed in Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Unless the context requires otherwise, references in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Cytek Biosciences, Inc.

The following is a discussion and year-to-year comparisons of our financial condition and results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021. For a discussion of the results of operations and financial condition for the years ended December 31, 2020 and year-to-year comparisons between 2021 and 2020, please refer to “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" section of fiscal 2021 Annual Report on Part II, Item 7 of Form 10-K, filed on March 17, 2022.

Overview

We are a leading cell analysis solutions company advancing the next generation of cell analysis tools by leveraging novel technical approaches. Our goal is to become the premier cell analysis company through continued innovation that facilitates scientific advances in biomedical research and clinical applications. We believe our core instruments, the Aurora and Northern Lights systems, are the first full spectrum flow cytometers able to deliver high-resolution, high-content and high-sensitivity cell analysis by utilizing the full spectrum of fluorescence signatures from multiple lasers to distinguish fluorescent tags on single cells (“Full Spectrum Profiling” or “FSP”). Our novel approach harnesses the power of information within the entire spectrum of a fluorescent signal to achieve a higher level of multiplexing with exquisite sensitivity. Our patented FSP technology optimizes sensitivity and accuracy through its novel optical and electronic designs that utilize an innovative method of light detection and distribution. Our FSP platform includes instruments, reagents, software and services to provide a comprehensive and integrated suite of solutions for our customers. Since our first U.S. commercial launch in mid-2017, we have sold and deployed over 1,670 instruments—primarily comprised of our Aurora and Northern Lights systems—to customers around the world, including the largest pharmaceutical companies, over 200 biopharma companies, leading academic research centers, and clinical research organizations (“CROs”). In June 2021, we began shipping the Aurora cell sorter (“Aurora CS”), which uses our FSP technology to further broaden our potential applications across cell analysis.

We manufacture our instruments in our facilities in Fremont, California and in Wuxi, China. We have designed our operating model to be capital efficient and to scale efficiently as our product volumes grow.

Our total revenue was $164.0 million and $128.0 million in the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The increase was primarily due to continued demand across our full portfolio of product offerings and an increase in the average blended selling price due to product mix.

To date, we have adopted a direct sales model in North America, Europe, China, and several other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and sell our products through third-party distributors in certain countries in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. Revenue from direct sales represented 79% and 86% of total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and revenue from distributors represented 21% and 14% of total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

We focus a substantial portion of our resources on developing new products and solutions to meet our customers’ needs. Our research and development efforts focus on developing new and complementary instruments, reagents and reagent kits, and continued operating software development. We incurred research and development expenses of $34.9 million and $24.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, and 2021, respectively. We intend to continue to make significant investments in research and development in the future.

We expect to continue to invest in our commercial infrastructure through hiring additional employees with strong scientific and technical backgrounds to support growth in sales of our Aurora, Northern Lights and Aurora CS systems, as well as our planned expansion of reagents offerings and panel design capabilities. We also plan to continue to invest in sales, marketing and business development across the globe to drive commercialization of our products. We incurred sales and marketing expenses of $33.2 million and $24.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Since our inception in 2014, we have financed our operations primarily through sales of our securities and revenue from the sale of our products and services.

Our net income was $2.5 million and $3.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The change for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021 resulted primarily from expenses driven by an increase in headcount and salaries and efforts in research and development and marketing initiatives.

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We expect our expenses will increase substantially in connection with our ongoing activities, as we:


attract, hire and retain qualified personnel;


invest in processes, commercial infrastructure and supporting functions to scale our business and introduce new products and services;


support our research and development efforts;


continue to expand geographically;


protect and defend our intellectual property; and


make strategic investments in complementary businesses, services, products or technologies.

On November 2, 2021, we completed the acquisition of the reagents business of Tonbo Biotechnologies Corporation ("Tonbo") as detailed in Note 9, Acquisition, to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The acquired assets include a portfolio of life science research reagents related to cell preparation, flow cytometry, molecular immunology/polymerase chain reaction and cell culture covering application areas across immunology, apoptosis and immunoprofiling.

Key factors affecting our results of operations and future performance

We believe that our financial performance has been, and in the foreseeable future will continue to be, primarily driven by multiple factors as described below, each of which presents growth opportunities for our business. These factors also pose important challenges that we must successfully address to sustain our growth and improve our results of operations. Our ability to successfully address these challenges is subject to various risk and uncertainties, including those described under the heading “Risk Factors” included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Global customer adoption

Our financial performance has largely been driven by our ability to increase the adoption of our FSP platform, a key factor on which our future success depends. We plan to drive global customer adoption through business development efforts, direct sales and marketing and third-party distributions. We are investing in our direct sales organization and commercial support functions and developing third-party distributor relationships to support global expansion and drive revenue growth. As part of this effort, we increased our direct sales force by 60% in the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. We intend to continue increasing our workforce in line with our growth.

Recurring revenues

We believe our expanding installed base of instruments to new and existing customers will provide us with greater leverage to drive pull-through for reagent and service revenue, which are recurring by nature. Furthermore, as we develop and identify new applications and products, we expect to further increase pull-through across our installed base. We expect recurring revenue on an absolute basis to increase and become an increasingly important contributor to our revenue as our installed base expands.

Revenue mix and gross margin

Our revenue is primarily derived from sales of our instruments and services with our instruments recognizing higher gross margins than our services. Although we expect sales of our instruments to continue to represent the largest percentage of our revenue in the future, we expect reagent sales to increase as a percentage of our total revenue and our gross margins to experience a corresponding improvement as we grow our installed base and increase our focus on commercializing reagents. We also expect a higher gross margin on our instruments as we increase manufacturing efficiency, instrument reliability and training for personnel using our instruments, which we expect to lead to a reduction in warranty claims. Our sales in certain regions, particularly outside of the United States, are realized through third-party distribution partners that typically receive discounted prices, thus resulting in lower gross margins than those recognized by our direct sales organization. Furthermore, our gross margins and instrument selling prices may fluctuate in the future as we continue to grow our volume of third-party distribution partners in geographies outside of the United States, introduce new products and reduce our production costs as a result of variability in the timing of new product introductions.

In the near term, we expect the continued optimization of our manufacturing processes related to our instruments and the expansion of product manufacturing distribution facilities to have the greatest impact on our gross margin. In addition to the impact of competing products entering the market, the future gross margin profiles of our instruments, services and reagents will depend on the outcome of any royalties we are required to pay and the royalty rates and products to which such royalties apply.

Expansion into new markets

We focus our research and development efforts on the greatest value-additive FSP products to meet the growing and unmet needs of the research and clinical markets. We work closely with researchers and clinicians to optimize and implement new panels and applications to meet their specific needs. We also gain valuable insight on potential new products, new applications and enhancements to existing products, as well as biomarker combinations that would be beneficial in different fields, through collaborations with our

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customers, academic laboratories, KOLs and industry partners. We plan to continue to invest in new product development and enhancements to support our expansion into new markets.

Our Northern Lights system obtained clinical certification in China in 2019 and received CE Marking under the European Union In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Directive in September 2020. With these achievements, our Northern Lights system is available for clinical diagnostic use in hospitals, laboratories, and clinics in China and the European Union.

Key business metrics

We regularly review the following key business metrics to evaluate our business, measure our performance, identify trends affecting our business, formulate financial projections and make strategic decisions. We believe that the following metrics are representative of our current business; however, we anticipate these will change or may be substituted for additional or different metrics as our business grows.

Year ended December 31,
20222021Dollar Change
(In thousands)
Sales channel mix
Direct sales channel$129,098$110,520$18,578
Distributor channel34,93817,43017,508
Total revenue, net$164,036$127,950$36,086
Customer mix
Academia and government$73,706$59,415$14,291
Biotechnology, pharmaceutical, distributor and CRO90,33068,53521,795
Total revenue, net$164,036$127,950$36,086

Distributors typically sell to end customers identified in other customer categories.

The table below sets forth our cumulative instruments shipped as of the dates presented:

December 31September 30June 30,March 31,
2022202220222022
Instruments shipped1,6701,5011,3591,226

Known Trends, Events and Uncertainties

The recent trends towards rising inflation may adversely affect our business and corresponding financial position and cash flows. Inflationary factors, such as increases in the cost of materials and supplies, interest rates and overhead costs may adversely affect our operating results. The general consensus among economists suggests that we should expect a higher recession risk to continue over the next year, which could result in further economic uncertainty and volatility in the capital markets in the near term, and could negatively affect our operations. Although we do not believe that inflation has had a material impact on our financial position or results of operations to date, we may experience increases in the near future (especially if inflation rates continue to rise) on our operating costs, including our labor costs and research and development costs, due to supply chain constraints, consequences associated with COVID-19 and the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Components of our results of operations

Total revenue, net

We currently generate our total revenue, net from product revenue and service revenue.

Product. Our product revenue primarily consists of sales of our instruments, including the Aurora, Northern Lights and Aurora CS systems, instrument accessories, such as loaders, and consumables, such as reagents. We offer multiple versions of our Aurora and Northern Lights systems with different price points based on the number of lasers integrated in the systems. We also derive revenue from sales of our conventional flow cytometry system, which is available for sale in China. We recognize product revenue when control of the instrument is transferred to the customer.

Service. Our service revenue primarily consists of post-warranty service contracts, installations and repairs which are recognized over time. Post-warranty service contracts are recognized ratably over the term of the contract and installations and repair services are recognized as they are delivered to the customer.

We expect our revenue to increase in absolute dollars as we expand our sales organization and sales territories, broaden our customer base, and expand awareness of our products with new and existing customers. Our revenue was $164.0 million and $128.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

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Total cost of sales, gross profit and gross margin

Our total cost of sales is comprised of product cost of sales and service cost of sales.

Product. Cost of sales associated with our products primarily consist of manufacturing-related costs incurred in the production process, inventory write-downs, warranty costs, third party royalty costs, personnel and related costs, costs of component materials, overhead, packaging and delivery and depreciation expense.

Service. Cost of sales associated with our services primarily consists of personnel and related costs, expenses related to product replacements, product updates and qualification validation of our products and depreciation expense.

We expect our total cost of sales to increase in absolute dollars in future periods, corresponding to our anticipated growth in revenue and employee headcount to support our manufacturing, operations, field service team and support organizations.

Gross profit is calculated as revenue less total cost of sales. Gross margin is gross profit expressed as a percentage of revenue. Our gross profit in future periods will depend on a variety of factors, including market conditions that may impact our pricing, sales mix changes among our instruments and service agreements, product mix changes between established products and new products, excess and obsolete inventories, our cost structure for manufacturing operations relative to volume and product warranty obligations.

Operating expenses

Our operating expenses are primarily comprised of research and development, sales and marketing, and general and administrative expenses, depreciation and amortization, and related overhead.

Research and development. Our research and development expenses primarily consist of salaries, benefits, stock-based compensation costs for employees in our research and development department, independent contractor costs, laboratory supplies, equipment maintenance and materials expenses.

We plan to continue to invest in our research and development efforts, including hiring additional employees to enhance existing products and develop new products. We expect research and development expense will increase in absolute dollars in future periods and vary from period to period as a percentage of revenue due to our continuing investment in product development.

Sales and marketing. Our sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of salaries, benefits, and stock-based compensation costs for employees in our sales and marketing department, sales commissions, marketing material costs, travel expenses and costs related to trade shows, trainings and various workshops. We expect our sales and marketing expense to increase in absolute dollars as we expand our commercial sales, marketing, and business development teams, increase our presence globally and increase marketing activities to drive awareness and adoption of our platform. While these expenses may vary from period to period as a percentage of revenue, we expect these expenses to increase as a percentage of sales in the short-term as we continue to grow our commercial organization to support anticipated growth of the business.

General and administrative. Our general and administrative expenses primarily consist of salaries, benefits, and stock-based compensation costs for employees in our executive, accounting and finance, legal and human resource functions, as well as professional services fees, such as consulting, audit, tax, legal, general corporate costs and allocated overhead expenses. We expect our operating expenses to increase as a public company. In particular, we expect our accounting, legal, personnel-related expenses and directors’ and officers’ insurance costs reported within general and administrative expense to increase as we establish more comprehensive compliance and governance functions, maintain IT costs, review internal controls over financial reporting in accordance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and prepare and distribute periodic reports as required by the rules and regulations of the SEC. As a result, our historical results of operations may not be indicative of our results of operations in future periods.

We expect these expenses to vary from period to period as a percentage of revenue.

Other income (expense), net

Interest expense. Interest expense consists primarily of accretion of the present value of the litigation settlement liability. See Note 11 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further details regarding the settlement.

Interest income. Our interest income consists primarily of interest earned on our cash and cash equivalents which are invested in cash deposits and in money market funds.

Other expense, net. Our other expense, net consists primarily of foreign exchange gains and losses.

Income taxes

Our provision for (benefit from) income taxes consists primarily of provision for federal taxes and local taxes in the United States as well as foreign taxes. As we plan to expand the scale and scope of our international business activities, any changes in the United States and foreign taxation of such activities may increase our overall provision for income taxes in the future.

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Results of operations

Comparison of the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021

The results of operations presented below should be reviewed in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

The following table sets forth our consolidated results of operations and comprehensive income data for the periods presented:

Year ended December 31,
(In thousands)20222021
Revenue, net:
Product$148,600$119,519
Service15,4368,431
Total revenue, net164,036127,950
Cost of sales:
Product49,95537,377
Service13,10711,429
Total cost of sales63,06248,806
Gross profit100,97479,144
Operating expenses:
Research and development34,85824,442
Sales and marketing33,23024,710
General and administrative34,69020,835
Total operating expenses102,77869,987
Income (loss) from operations(1,804)9,157
Other income (expense):
Interest expense(2,573)(1,741)
Interest income4,61949
Other expense, net1,018(1,527)
Income before income taxes1,2605,938
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes(1,224)2,911
Net income$2,484$3,027
Foreign currency translation adjustment, net of tax(1,611)832
Unrealized gain (loss) on marketable securities17-
Net comprehensive income$890$3,859

Total revenue, net

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20222021Amount%
Revenue, net
Product$148,600$119,519$29,08124%
Service15,4368,4317,00583%
Total revenue, net$164,036$127,950$36,08628%

Total revenue, net increased by $36.1 million, or 28%, for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase in revenue was primarily driven by continued sales of the Aurora and Northern Lights systems and an increase in sales of our Aurora CS system, which was commercially launched in June 2021.

Product revenue increased by $29.1 million or 24%, to $148.6 million, for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase was primarily driven by an increase in sales of the Aurora and Northern Lights systems and an increase in sales of our Aurora CS system, which commercially launched in June 2021, and recently launched reagents and consumables.

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Service revenue increased by $7.0 million, or 83%, to $15.4 million, for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase in service revenue was mainly driven by continued growth in the instruments installed base with more instruments coming off warranty.

Total cost of sales, gross profit and gross margin

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20222021Amount%
Cost of sales:
Product$49,955$37,377$12,57834%
Service13,10711,4291,67815%
Total cost of sales$63,062$48,806$14,25629%
Gross profit$100,974$79,144$21,83028%
Gross margin62%62%

Total cost of sales increased by $14.3 million, or 29%, for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase in cost of sales was driven by increases in product and service revenue, primarily due to more instruments shipped, increased material costs, and increased service and manufacturing headcount and associated personnel cost, including an increase of $1.3 million in stock-based compensation for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021.

Total gross profit margin was 62% and 62% as a percent of total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Gross profit margin depends on many factors, including market conditions that might affect our pricing; services; product mix changes between instrument configurations; excess and obsolete inventories; our cost structure for manufacturing operations relative to volume, freight costs and product support.

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20222021Amount%
Product:
Revenue$148,600$119,519$29,08124%
Cost of sales49,95537,37712,57834%
Product gross profit$98,645$82,142$16,50320%
Gross margin66%69%
Service:
Revenue$15,436$8,431$7,00583%
Cost of sales13,10711,4291,67815%
Service gross profit$2,329$(2,998)$5,327178%
Gross margin15%-36%

Product gross profit and product revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022 increased 20% and 24%, respectively, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. Product cost of sales for the year ended December 31, 2022 increased by 34% as compared to the same period in 2021. The lower product gross margins in the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021 were driven primarily by higher material costs and by less favorable instrument product mix.

Service gross profit and service revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022 increased 178% and 83%, respectively, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. Service cost of sales for the year ended December 31, 2022 increased by 15% as compared to the same period in 2021. The higher service gross margins in the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021 were mainly driven by continued growth in the instruments installed base with more instrument coming off warranty.

Operating expenses

Research and development

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20222021Amount%
Research and development$34,858$24,442$10,41643%

Research and development expenses were $34.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to $24.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase of $10.4 million in research and development expenses was primarily due to an increase in headcount and personnel-related expenses, including stock-based compensation of $3.2 million.

We expect our research and development expense to increase in absolute dollars as we continue to develop new products and enhance existing instruments and technologies.

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Sales and marketing

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20222021Amount%
Sales and marketing$33,230$24,710$8,52034%

Sales and marketing expenses were $33.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to $24.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase of $8.5 million in sales and marketing expenses was primarily due to an increase in headcount, commissions, and personnel-related expenses of $7.0 million, including stock-based compensation of $2.0 million.

We expect our sales and marketing expenses to increase in absolute dollars as we hire additional sales and marketing personnel, expand our sales support infrastructure and invest in our brand and product awareness to further penetrate the United States and the international markets.

General and administrative

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20222021Amount%
General and administrative$34,690$20,835$13,85566%

General and administrative expenses were $34.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to $20.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase of $13.9 million in general and administrative expenses was primarily due to an increase in general corporate personnel-related costs and infrastructure services to support the growth of our overall operations. The increase in personnel-related costs was primarily due to increased headcount and stock-based compensation of $3.5 million.

We expect to continue to incur additional general and administrative expenses as a result of operating as a public company, including expenses related to compliance with the rules and regulations of the SEC and the Nasdaq Stock Market, additional insurance costs, investor relations activities and other administrative and professional services. As a result, we expect general and administrative expenses to increase in absolute dollars in future periods.

Interest expense

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20222021Amount%
Interest expense$(2,573)$(1,741)(832)48%

Interest expense was $2.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to $1.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase was mainly due to the accretion of the present value discount related to the settlement agreement with Becton, Dickinson and Company (“BD”). See Note 11 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further details.

Interest income

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20222021Amount%
Interest income$4,619$494,5709327%

Interest income was $4.6 million and $0.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The increase in interest income was the result of higher interest earned on our cash and cash equivalents due to an increase in interest rates as compared to 2021.

Other expense, net

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20222021Amount%
Other expense, net$1,018$(1,527)2,545-167%

Other expense, net was $1.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to other expense, net of $1.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, respectively. The decrease of $2.5 million was primarily the result of the net impact of foreign exchange gains and losses during the year ended December 31, 2022.

Income Taxes

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20222021Amount%
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes$(1,224)$2,911(4,135)-142%

Benefit from income tax was $1.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The provision for income tax was $2.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. The net change of $4.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 was the result of lower earnings in 2022 combined with an increase in research and development credits claimed. Income tax benefit from research credits

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exceeded 2022 earnings before income tax and accordingly income tax benefit was recorded despite other items which increased the effective tax rate on earnings.

Non-GAAP Financial Measure

To supplement our consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, we use constant currency revenue, which is a non-GAAP financial measure. We believe the presentation of revenue on a constant currency basis, in addition to results reported in accordance with U.S. GAAP, provides useful information about our operating performance because the constant currency presentation excludes the effects of foreign currency volatility and highlights our core operating results. The presentation of revenue on a constant currency basis should be considered in addition to, but not as a substitute for, measures of financial performance reported in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Revenue on a constant currency basis, as we present it, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

The FX Impact is calculated as the difference between the current year amounts and the current year amounts translated at prior period average exchange rates. The FX Impact % represents the percentage change on a period-over-period basis adjusted for foreign currency impacts.

The following table presents a reconciliation of constant currency revenue to our reported net revenue for the periods indicated (in thousands, except percentages):

RevenueYear ended December 31,2022Three months ended December 31,2022
As reported164,03648,336
Non-GAAP constant currency171,79351,184
FX Impact [$]7,7572,848
FX Impact [%]4.7%5.9%

Liquidity and capital resources

Overview

To date, our primary sources of capital have been through sales of our securities and revenue from the sale of our products and services. As of December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, we had approximately $296.6 million and $364.6 million, respectively, in cash and cash equivalents, which were primarily held in U.S. short-term bank deposit accounts and money market funds.

Funding and material cash requirements

We anticipate continuing to expend significant amounts of cash in the foreseeable future as we continue to invest in research and development of our product offerings, commercialization of new products and services, and expansion into new markets. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors including our revenue, research and development efforts, the timing and extent of additional capital expenditures to invest in existing and new facilities, as well as our manufacturing operations, the expansion of sales and marketing and the introduction of new products. We have entered into, and may in the future enter into, arrangements to acquire or invest in businesses, services and technologies, and any such acquisitions or investments could significantly increase our capital needs.

We currently anticipate making additional capital expenditures during the next 12 months, which is expected to primarily include equipment to be used for manufacturing and investment in research and development, as well as spend associated with the expansion of our facilities in Wuxi, China.

In addition, we lease certain office facilities under operating lease arrangements that expire on various dates through fiscal year 2027. Under the terms of the leases, we are responsible for certain expenses related to operations, maintenance, repairs and management fees. Future minimum lease payments under non-cancelable operating leases totaled $16.4 million as of December 31, 2022.

Based on our current business plan, we believe our existing cash and cash equivalents and anticipated cash flows from operations will be sufficient to meet our working capital and capital expenditure needs for at least the next 12 months from the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Sources of liquidity

We have financed our operations primarily through sales of our securities. In July 2021, we completed our IPO, which resulted in net proceeds to us of approximately $215.7 million. We have also benefited from operating cash flows from the sale of our products and services.

On May 7, 2020, we received loan proceeds in the amount of approximately $4.1 million under the PPP. The PPP, established as part of the CARES Act, provides for loans to qualifying businesses for amounts up to 2.5 times of the average monthly payroll expenses of the qualifying business. On May 4, 2021, we fully repaid the PPP loan.

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On August 26, 2022, we entered into a sales agreement (the “Sales Agreement”) with Piper Sandler & Co. (“Piper”) as sales agent to sell from time to time up to $150 million of our common stock through an “at the market” offering program. To date, we have not made any sales of common stock pursuant to the Sales Agreement. The securities in this transaction were offered pursuant to an automatic shelf registration statement on Form S-3ASR (File No. 333-267118) that was filed with the SEC on August 26, 2022.

Cash flows

The following table summarizes our cash flows for the periods presented:

Year ended December 31,
(In thousands)20222021
Net cash (used in) provided by:
Operating activities$(12,231)$4,630
Investing activities(55,909)(20,993)
Financing activities5,513213,559
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash(2,491)1,303
Net (decrease) increase in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash$(65,118)$198,499

Operating activities

Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $12.2 million including net income of $2.5 million. We also incurred non-cash stock-based compensation expense, depreciation and amortization, amortization of right-of-use assets, and interest expenses for accretion of the legal settlement liabilities of $16.6 million, $2.5 million, $3.2 million, and $2.2 million, respectively. Usage of cash included an increase of inventories of $17.7 million, an increase of trade accounts receivable of $19.7 million due to an increase in sales, and an increase in prepaid expenses and other assets of $19.4 million. This was partially offset by an increase of trade accounts payables of $1.9 million, an increase in deferred revenue of $9.4 million, an increase in accrued expenses and other liabilities of $7.5 million and an increase in the legal settlement liability of $0.4 million.

Net cash provided by operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $4.6 million, including net income of $3.0 million. We also incurred non-cash stock-based compensation expense, interest expenses for accretion of the legal settlement liabilities, and depreciation and amortization of $6.6 million, $1.7 million, and $1.2 million, respectively. Usage of cash included an increase of trade accounts receivable of $12.4 million due to an increase in sales, an increase in inventories of $7.1 million, an increase in prepaid expenses and other assets of $6.3 million, and a decrease in the legal settlement liability of $3.7 million due to payment to BD of $6.0 million, which is offset by increased royalty accrual. This was partially offset by an increase in deferred revenue of $10.0 million and an increase in accrued expenses and other liabilities of $11.0 million.

Investing activities

Net cash used in investing activities during the year ended December 31, 2022 was $55.9 million driven by purchases of marketable securities of $44.5 million, purchases of property and equipment of $9.9 million, and payment of investments of $1.6 million.

Net cash used in investing activities during the year ended December 31, 2021 was $21.0 million driven by our acquisition of Tonbo's reagents business for $17.0 million, an increase in purchases of property and equipment of $4.4 million partially offset by the payment for the additional investment in Cytek Japan Kabushiki Kaisha (“Cytek Japan”), net of cash acquired of $371,000. See Note 18 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Financing activities

Net cash provided by financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2022 was $5.5 million driven by proceeds from a loan of $2.9 million and issuance of our common stock under our equity incentive plans.

Net cash provided by financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2021 was $213.6 million primarily driven by our IPO, which resulted in net proceeds to us of approximately $215.7 million.

Contractual Obligations and Commitments

During the year ended December 31, 2022, there were no material changes to our contractual obligations and commitments from those described under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition” which is contained in our 10-K and filed with the SEC on March 17, 2022.

Off-balance sheet arrangements

We did not have during the periods presented, and we do not currently have, any off-balance sheet financing arrangements or any relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, including entities sometimes referred to as structured finance or

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special purpose entities, that were established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements or other contractually narrow or limited purposes.

Critical accounting policies, significant judgments and use of estimates

We have prepared our consolidated financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("U.S. GAAP"). Our preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates, assumptions and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses, and related disclosures. We evaluate our estimates and judgments on an ongoing basis. We based our estimates on our historical experience and on various other factors that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources.

Actual results could therefore differ materially from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. We believe that the accounting policies discussed below are critical to understanding our historical and future performance, as these policies relate to the more significant areas involving management’s judgments and estimates.

While our significant accounting policies are described in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we believe that the following accounting policies are the most critical to understanding and evaluating our reported consolidated financial results.

Revenue recognition

Our product revenue primarily consists of sale of our Aurora, Aurora CS and Northern Lights systems, instrument accessories, such as loaders and, to a lesser extent, consumables such as reagents. We offer multiple versions of our Aurora and Northern Lights systems with different price points based on the number of lasers integrated in the systems. We also derive revenue from sales of our conventional flow cytometry system, which is available for sale in China. We recognize product revenue when control of the instrument is transferred to the customer.

Our service revenue consists of post-warranty service contracts, preventative maintenance plans, repairs, installation and quality check, customer training and other specialized product support services. We recognize service contract revenue ratably over the term of the contract and other service obligations as they are performed. Revenue is recognized when control of promised goods or services is transferred to a customer in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. To determine revenue recognition for its arrangements with customers, we perform the following five steps: (i) identify the contract(s) with a customer; (ii) identify the performance obligations in the contract; (iii) determine the transaction price; (iv) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and (v) recognize revenue when (or as) the entity satisfies a performance obligation.

A performance obligation is a promise in a contract to transfer a distinct good or service to the customer and is defined as the unit of account for revenue recognition under the contract with customers guidance. Performance obligations are considered distinct if they are both capable of being distinct, and distinct within the context of the contract. The Company identified the following performance obligations in the contracts: product sales of instrument systems, installation on instrument systems, delivery of instrument accessories such as loaders, consumables, reagents, extended service contracts and professional services revenue for post-warranty service contracts, preventative maintenance plans, repairs, installations, training, time and material services and other specialized support services. A good or service is distinct when the customer can benefit from the good or service either on its own or together with other resources that are readily available from third parties or from the Company, and is distinct in the context of the contract, where the transfer of the good or service is separately identifiable from other promises in the contract.

Payments from customers are in arrears. For arrangements where the anticipated period between timing of transfer of services and the timing of payment is one year or less, we have elected to not assess whether a significant financing component exists. For arrangements with terms greater than one year, payments are received up-front and are for reasons other than financing. Revenue is recognized only to the extent that it is probable that a significant reversal of the cumulative amount recognized will not occur in future periods.

Certain of our sales contracts involve the delivery or performance of multiple products and services within contractually binding arrangements. Significant judgment is sometimes required to determine the appropriate accounting for such arrangements, including whether the deliverables specified in a contract with multiple promises should be treated as separate performance obligations for revenue recognition purposes and, if so, how the related sales price should be allocated among the performance obligations, when to recognize

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revenue for each performance obligation, and the period over which revenue should be recognized. For most of our performance obligations, we have established the stand-alone selling prices (“SSP”) as a range rather than a single value, based on standalone sales of products. We allocate revenue to the performance obligations based on their relative standalone selling prices SSP.

Taxes, such as sales, value-add and other taxes, collected from customers concurrent with revenue generating activities and remitted to governmental authorities are not included in revenue. Shipping and handling costs associated with outbound freight are accounted for as a fulfillment cost and are included in cost of sales.

The following describes the nature of our primary types of revenue and the revenue recognition policies and significant payment terms as they pertain to the types of transactions we enter into with our customers.

Product revenue

Our standard arrangement for sales to end users is generally a purchase order or an executed contract. Product revenue is recognized upon transfer of control of the product to the customer, which, for us, generally occurs at a point in time depending on the shipping terms. Payment terms are generally 30 to 90 days from the date of invoicing.

Our distributor arrangements with our customers include a purchase order. The purchase order is governed by terms and conditions of the distributor agreements. Revenue is recognized upon transfer of control of the products to the distributor, which for us, occurs at a point in time depending on the shipping terms.

Service revenue

Our services are primarily a mix of service contracts, installation services, and time and material-based repair and support. We recognize revenue from the sale of service contracts over the respective period, while revenue on product support is recognized as the services are performed. Service contracts are typically between one and three years. Payment terms are generally 30 days from the date of invoicing. Installation revenue is recognized upon completion of the installation, which, for us, occurs at a point in time.

Inventories

Inventories are stated at the lower of cost and net realizable value. Cost is computed using standard cost, which approximates actual cost on a first-in, first-out basis. We regularly monitor inventory quantities on hand and record write-downs for excess and obsolete inventories based on our estimate of demand for our products, potential obsolescence of technology, product life cycles, and whether pricing trends or forecasts indicate that the carrying value of inventory exceeds its estimated selling price. These factors are impacted by market and economic conditions, technology changes, and new product introductions and require estimates that may include elements that are uncertain. Our estimates of forecasted demand are based upon our analysis and assumptions including, but not limited to, expected product lifecycles, product development plans and historical usage by product. If inventory is written down, a new cost basis is established that cannot be increased in future periods.

Contract assets and contract liabilities

Contract assets are recorded when the amount of revenue recognized exceeds the amount invoiced to the customer and the right to payment is not solely subject to the passage of time. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, we had immaterial amounts of contract assets included within prepaid expenses and other current assets on the consolidated balance sheets.

Contract liabilities consist of fees invoiced or paid by our customers for which the associated services have not been performed and revenue has not been recognized based on our revenue recognition criteria described above. Such amounts are reported as deferred revenue for service and customer deposits for instruments on the consolidated balance sheets. Deferred revenue that is expected to be recognized during the following 12 months is recorded as a current liability and the remaining portion is recorded as noncurrent.

Goodwill and intangible assets

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-04, Intangibles – Goodwill and Other: Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment, to simplify the subsequent measurement of goodwill by eliminating Step 2 from the goodwill impairment test. We adopted this guidance during the year ended December 31, 2019, and the adoption did not have a material impact on the consolidated financial

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statements.

We recognize goodwill in accounting for business combinations based on the amount by which the total consideration transferred, exceeds the fair value of identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed. Identifiable intangible assets other than goodwill are primarily comprised of patents and trademarks which amortize on a straight-line basis over an assigned useful life based on management’s estimate of the period the asset is expected to contribute to future cash flows.

We assess our goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment at least annually in the fourth quarter, or more frequently if factors indicate impairment may exist. Our qualitative goodwill impairment analysis consists of assessing whether any events or circumstances listed in ASC 350-20-35-3A (“triggering events”) existed or occurred in the year under review to the date of the financial statements. The qualitative analysis assesses macroeconomic conditions, market, and industry considerations, change in cost factors, overall company financial performance, and any events affecting the reporting unit. Based on the qualitative analysis results, we determined that it is more likely than not that the fair values of the reporting unit exceed the carrying value and that no triggering events were noted that would require a quantitative impairment assessment in the fiscal year.

Stock-based compensation

We maintain an equity incentive compensation plan under which incentive stock options and nonqualified stock options to purchase common stock, and restricted stock units for common stock, are granted primarily to employees and non-employee consultants.

Stock-based compensation cost is measured at the grant date based on the fair value of the award and is recognized as expense over the vesting period. The fair value of stock options is estimated using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. We record forfeitures as they occur.

The Black-Scholes model considers several variables and assumptions in estimating the fair value of stock- based awards. These variables include the per share fair value of the underlying common stock, exercise price, expected term, risk-free interest rate, expected annual dividend yield and expected stock price volatility over the expected term. For all stock options granted, we calculated the expected term using the simplified method for standard stock option awards. After our IPO, the fair value of our common stock is determined by the closing price of our common stock on the date of grant as reported on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. The risk-free interest rate is based on the yield available on U.S. Treasury zero-coupon issues similar in duration to the expected term of the equity-settled award.

The following table summarizes the weighted-average assumptions used in estimating the fair value of stock options granted during each of the periods presented:

Year Ended December 31,
202220212020
Expected term (in years)5.916.055.96
Expected volatility75%90%83%
Risk-free interest rate2%1%1%
Dividend yield

Expected volatility—Expected volatility is estimated by studying the volatility of selected industry peers deemed to be comparable to our business corresponding to the expected term of the awards.

Expected term—Expected term represents the period that our stock-based awards are expected to be outstanding and is determined using the simplified method.

Risk-free interest rate—The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury zero-coupon issued in effect at the time of grant for periods corresponding with the expected term of the option.

Dividend yield— The expected dividend yield is zero as we have never declared or paid cash dividends and have no current plans to do so in the foreseeable future.

Recently adopted accounting pronouncements

See Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a description of recent accounting pronouncements applicable to our financial statements.

FY 2021 10-K MD&A

SEC filing source: 0000950170-22-004106.

Extracted structurally from real Item 7 body heading to real Item 7A/8 boundary. Confidence: high. Filing date: 2022-03-17. Report date: 2021-12-31.

Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. See “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” at the beginning of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Our actual results could differ materially from those contained in these forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed in Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Unless the context requires otherwise, references in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Cytek Biosciences, Inc.

The following is a discussion and year-to-year comparisons of our financial condition and results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020. For a discussion of the results of operations and financial condition for the years ended December 31, 2019 and year-to-year comparisons between 2020 and 2019, please refer to “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in the final prospectus for our IPO dated July 22, 2021 and filed with the SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b)(4) of the Securities Act on July 23, 2021, which item is incorporated herein by reference.

Overview

We are a leading cell analysis solutions company advancing the next generation of cell analysis tools by leveraging novel technical approaches. Our goal is to become the premier cell analysis company through continued innovation that facilitates scientific advances in biomedical research and clinical applications. We believe our core instruments, the Aurora and Northern Lights systems, are the first full spectrum flow cytometers able to deliver high-resolution, high-content and high-sensitivity cell analysis by utilizing the full spectrum of fluorescence signatures from multiple lasers to distinguish fluorescent tags on single cells (“Full Spectrum Profiling” or “FSP”). Our novel approach harnesses the power of information within the entire spectrum of a fluorescent signal to achieve a higher level of multiplexing with exquisite sensitivity. Our patented FSP technology optimizes sensitivity and accuracy through its novel optical and electronic designs that utilize an innovative method of light detection and distribution. Our FSP platform includes instruments, reagents, software and services to provide a comprehensive and integrated suite of solutions for our customers. Since our first U.S. commercial launch in mid-2017, we have sold and deployed over 1,000 instruments—primarily comprised of our Aurora and Northern Lights systems—to over 840 customers around the world, including the largest pharmaceutical companies, over 150 biopharma companies, leading academic research centers, and clinical research organizations (“CROs”). In June 2021, we began shipping the Aurora cell sorter (“Aurora CS”), which uses our FSP technology to further broaden our potential applications across cell analysis.

We manufacture our instruments in our facilities in Fremont, California and in Wuxi, China. We have designed our operating model to be capital efficient and to scale efficiently as our product volumes grow.

Our total revenue was $128.0 million and $92.8 million in the year ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The increase was primarily due to sales of our Aurora, Aurora CS, and Northern Lights systems.

To date, we have adopted a direct sales model in North America, Europe and China, and sell our products through third-party distributors in certain countries in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region. Revenue from direct sales represented 86% and 83% of total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and revenue from distributors represented 14% and 17% of total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

We focus a substantial portion of our resources on developing new products and solutions to meet our customers’ needs. Our research and development efforts focus on developing new and complementary instruments, reagents and reagent kits, and continued operating software development. We incurred research and development expenses of $24.4 million and $13.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. We intend to continue to make significant investments in research and development in the future.

We expect to continue to invest in our commercial infrastructure through hiring additional employees with strong scientific and technical backgrounds to support growth in sales of our Aurora, Northern Lights and Aurora CS systems, as well as our planned expansion of reagents offerings and panel design capabilities. We also plan to continue to invest in sales, marketing and business development across the globe to drive commercialization of our products. We incurred sales and marketing expenses of $24.7 million and $15.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Since our inception in 2014, we have financed our operations primarily through sales of our securities and revenue from the sale of our products and services.

Our net income was $3.0 million and $19.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The change for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2020 resulted primarily from expenses driven by an increase in headcount and salaries, expenses related to our IPO, and efforts in research and development and marketing initiatives. Net

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income of $3.0 million as disclosed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K differs from net income of $4.4 million previously reported in our earnings press release issued on February 23, 2022 due to a $1.4 million tax adjustment made prior to the filing of this Form 10-K and omitted from the net income amount included in our earnings press release.

We expect our expenses will increase substantially in connection with our on-going activities, as we:


attract, hire and retain qualified personnel;


invest in processes, commercial infrastructure and supporting functions to scale our business and introduce new products and services;


support our research and development efforts;


continue to expand geographically;


protect and defend our intellectual property; and


make strategic investments in complementary businesses, services, products or technologies.

On November 2, 2021, we completed the acquisition of the reagents business of Tonbo Biotechnologies Corporation as detailed in Note 8, Acquisition, to consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The acquired assets include a portfolio of life science research reagents related to cell preparation, flow cytometry, molecular immunology/polymerase chain reaction and cell culture covering application areas across immunology, apoptosis and immunoprofiling.

Key factors affecting our results of operations and future performance

We believe that our financial performance has been, and in the foreseeable future will continue to be, primarily driven by multiple factors as described below, each of which presents growth opportunities for our business. These factors also pose important challenges that we must successfully address to sustain our growth and improve our results of operations. Our ability to successfully address these challenges is subject to various risk and uncertainties, including those described under the heading “Risk Factors” included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Global customer adoption

Our financial performance has largely been driven by our ability to increase the adoption of our FSP platform, a key factor on which our future success depends. We plan to drive global customer adoption through business development efforts, direct sales and marketing and third-party distributions. We are investing in our direct sales organization and commercial support functions and developing third-party distributor relationships to support global expansion and drive revenue growth. As part of this effort, we increased our direct sales force by 55% in the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2020. We intend to continue increasing our workforce in line with our growth.

Recurring revenues

We believe our expanding installed base of instruments to new and existing customers will provide us with greater leverage to drive pull-through for reagent and service revenue, which are recurring by nature. Furthermore, as we develop and identify new applications and products, we expect to further increase pull-through across our installed base. We expect recurring revenue on an absolute basis to increase and become an increasingly important contributor to our revenue as our installed base expands.

Revenue mix and gross margin

Our revenue is primarily derived from sales of our instruments and services with our instruments recognizing higher gross margins than our services. Although we expect sales of our instruments to continue to represent the largest percentage of our revenue in the future, we expect reagent sales to increase as a percentage of our total revenue and our gross margins to experience a corresponding improvement as we grow our installed base and increase our focus on commercializing reagents. We also expect a higher gross margin on our instruments as we increase manufacturing efficiency, instrument reliability and training for personnel using our instruments, which we expect to lead to a reduction in warranty claims. Our sales in certain regions, particularly outside of the United States, are realized through third-party distribution partners that typically receive discounted prices, thus resulting in lower gross margins than those recognized by our direct sales organization. Furthermore, our gross margins and instrument selling prices may fluctuate in the future as we continue to grow our volume of third-party distribution partners in geographies outside of the United States, introduce new products and reduce our production costs as a result of variability in the timing of new product introductions.

In the near term, we expect the continued optimization of our manufacturing processes related to our instruments and the expansion of product manufacturing distribution facilities to have the greatest impact on our gross margin. In addition to the impact of competing

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products entering the market, the future gross margin profiles of our instruments, services and reagents will depend on the outcome of any royalties we are required to pay and the royalty rates and products to which such royalties apply.

Expansion into new markets

We focus our research and development efforts on the greatest value-additive FSP products to meet the growing and unmet needs of the research and clinical markets. We work closely with researchers and clinicians to optimize and implement new panels and applications to meet their specific needs. We also gain valuable insight on potential new products, new applications and enhancements to existing products, as well as biomarker combinations that would be beneficial in different fields, through collaborations with our customers, academic laboratories, KOLs and industry partners. We plan to continue to invest in new product development and enhancements to support our expansion into new markets.

Our Northern Lights system obtained clinical certification in China in 2019 and received CE Marking under the European Union In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Directive in September 2020. With these achievements, our Northern Lights system is available for clinical diagnostic use in hospitals, laboratories, and clinics in China and the European Union.

Key business metrics

We regularly review the following key business metrics to evaluate our business, measure our performance, identify trends affecting our business, formulate financial projections and make strategic decisions. We believe that the following metrics are representative of our current business; however, we anticipate these will change or may be substituted for additional or different metrics as our business grows.

Year ended December 31,
20212020Dollar Change
( In thousands)
Sales channel mix
Direct sales channel$110,520$77,106$33,414
Distributor channel17,43015,7331,697
Total revenue, net$127,950$92,839$35,111
Customer mix
Academia and government$59,415$45,674$13,741
Biotechnology, pharmaceutical, distributor and CRO68,53547,16521,370
Total revenue, net$127,950$92,839$35,111

Distributors typically sell to end customers identified in other customer categories.

The table below sets forth our cumulative instruments shipped as of the dates presented:

March 31,June 30,September 30,December 31,
2021202120212021
Instruments shipped7518559701,110

COVID-19

The global COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve and we intend to continue to monitor it closely. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and various resulting government directives, we took proactive measures to protect the health and safety of our employees, contractors, customers and visiting vendors and suppliers, including implementing social distancing and other protective measures, restricting business travel and limiting access to our facilities to vendors, suppliers and partners who are critical to our business operations. We communicate regularly with our suppliers so that our supply chain remains intact, and we have not experienced any material supply issues. We also developed, and continue to develop, remote learning capabilities to help our customers and partners operate and reduce the number of required customer/partner on-site visits for our field application scientists and field support engineers to comply with travel restrictions and country-specific quarantine requirements. While the COVID-19 pandemic has not had a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or the operation of financial reporting systems, internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures, given the considerable uncertainty around the duration and extent of the pandemic, the related financial and operational impact cannot be reasonably estimated. We continue to monitor the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, as well as our customers’ and suppliers’ business. Potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, some of which we have already experienced, include those described throughout the “Risk Factors” section, including “A pandemic, epidemic

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or outbreak of an infectious disease in the United States or worldwide could adversely affect our business. The COVID-19 pandemic has had and could continue to have an adverse impact on our business, operations, and the markets and communities in which we, our partners, and customers operate.”

Components of our results of operations

Total revenue, net

We currently generate our total revenue, net from product revenue and service revenue.

Product. Our product revenue primarily consists of sales of our instruments, including the Aurora, Northern Lights and Aurora CS systems, instrument accessories, such as loaders and, to a lesser extent, consumables, such as reagents. We offer multiple versions of our Aurora and Northern Lights systems with different price points based on the number of lasers integrated in the systems. We also derive revenue from sales of our conventional flow cytometry system, which is available for sale in China. We recognize product revenue when control of the instrument is transferred to the customer.

Service. Our service revenue primarily consists of post-warranty service contracts, installations and repairs which are recognized over time. Post-warranty service contracts are recognized ratably over the term of the contract and installations and repair services are recognized as they are delivered to the customer.

We expect our revenue to increase in absolute dollars as we expand our sales organization and sales territories, broaden our customer base, and expand awareness of our products with new and existing customers. Our revenue was $128.0 million and $92.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Total cost of sales, gross profit and gross margin

Our total cost of sales is comprised of product cost of sales and service cost of sales.

Product. Cost of sales associated with our products primarily consist of manufacturing-related costs incurred in the production process, inventory write-downs, warranty costs, third party royalty costs, personnel and related costs, costs of component materials, overhead, packaging and delivery and depreciation expense.

Service. Cost of sales associated with our services primarily consists of personnel and related costs, expenses related to product replacements, product updates and qualification validation of our products and depreciation expense.

We expect our total cost of sales to increase in absolute dollars in future periods, corresponding to our anticipated growth in revenue and employee headcount to support our manufacturing, operations, field service team and support organizations.

Gross profit is calculated as revenue less total cost of sales. Gross margin is gross profit expressed as a percentage of revenue. Our gross profit in future periods will depend on a variety of factors, including market conditions that may impact our pricing, sales mix changes among our instruments and service agreements, product mix changes between established products and new products, excess and obsolete inventories, our cost structure for manufacturing operations relative to volume and product warranty obligations.

Operating expenses

Our operating expenses are primarily comprised of research and development, sales and marketing, and general and administrative expenses, depreciation and amortization, and related overhead.

Research and development. Our research and development expenses primarily consist of salaries, benefits, stock-based compensation costs for employees in our research and development department, independent contractor costs, laboratory supplies, equipment maintenance and materials expenses.

We plan to continue to invest in our research and development efforts, including hiring additional employees to enhance existing products and develop new products. We expect research and development expense will increase in absolute dollars in future periods and vary from period to period as a percentage of revenue due to our continuing investment in product development.

Sales and marketing. Our sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of salaries, benefits, and stock-based compensation costs for employees in our sales and marketing department, sales commissions, marketing material costs, travel expenses and costs related to trade shows, trainings and various workshops. We expect our sales and marketing expense to increase in absolute dollars as we expand our commercial sales, marketing, and business development teams, increase our presence globally and increase marketing activities to drive awareness and adoption of our platform. While these expenses may vary from period to period as a percentage of revenue, we

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expect these expenses to increase as a percentage of sales in the short-term as we continue to grow our commercial organization to support anticipated growth of the business.

General and administrative. Our general and administrative expenses primarily consist of salaries, benefits, and stock-based compensation costs for employees in our executive, accounting and finance, legal and human resource functions, as well as professional services fees, such as consulting, audit, tax, legal, general corporate costs and allocated overhead expenses. We expect our operating expenses to increase as a public company. In particular, we expect our accounting, legal, personnel-related expenses and directors’ and officers’ insurance costs reported within general and administrative expense to increase as we establish more comprehensive compliance and governance functions, maintain IT costs, review internal controls over financial reporting in accordance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and prepare and distribute periodic reports as required by the rules and regulations of the SEC. As a result, our historical results of operations may not be indicative of our results of operations in future periods.

We expect these expenses to vary from period to period as a percentage of revenue.

Other income (expense), net

Interest expense. Interest expense consists primarily of accretion of the present value of the litigation settlement liability. See Note 10 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further details regarding the settlement.

Interest income. Our interest income consists primarily of interest earned on our cash and cash equivalents which are invested in cash deposits and in money market funds.

Other income (expense), net. Our other income (expense), net consists primarily of foreign exchange gains and losses.

Income taxes

Our provision for (benefit from) income taxes consists primarily of provision for federal taxes, local taxes and state minimum taxes in the United States as well as foreign taxes. As we plan to expand the scale and scope of our international business activities, any changes in the United States and foreign taxation of such activities may increase our overall provision for income taxes in the future.

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Results of operations

Comparison of the year ended December 31, 2021 and 2020

The results of operations presented below should be reviewed in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

The following table sets forth our consolidated results of operations and comprehensive income data for the periods presented:

Year ended December 31,
(In thousands, except share and per share data)20212020
Revenue, net:
Product$119,519$85,283
Service8,4317,556
Total revenue, net127,95092,839
Cost of sales:
Product37,37732,277
Service11,4298,852
Total cost of sales48,80641,129
Gross profit79,14451,710
Operating expenses:
Research and development24,44213,693
Sales and marketing24,71014,988
General and administrative20,8359,370
Total operating expenses69,98738,051
Income from operations9,15713,659
Other income (expense):
Interest expense(1,741)(333)
Interest income49110
Other income (expense), net(1,527)994
Income before income taxes5,93814,430
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes2,911(4,981)
Net income$3,027$19,411
Foreign currency translation adjustment, net of tax832212
Net comprehensive income$3,859$19,623

Total revenue, net

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20212020Amount%
Revenue, net
Product$119,519$85,283$34,23640%
Service8,4317,55687512%
Total revenue, net$127,950$92,839$35,11138%

Total revenue, net increased by $35.1 million, or 38%, for the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase in revenue was primarily driven by an increase in product revenue due to higher unit sales of our Aurora and Northern Lights systems, sales of our Aurora CS system, which commercially launched in June 2021, and an increase in the average blended selling price due to product mix.

Product revenue increased by $34.2 million, or 40%, to $119.5 million, for the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase was primarily driven by an increase in our instrument sales due to higher unit sales of our Aurora and Northern Lights systems, sales of our Aurora CS system, which commercially launched in June 2021, and an increase in the average blended selling price due to product mix.

Service revenue increased by $0.9 million, or 12%, to $8.4 million, for the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase in service revenue was driven by more instruments coming off warranty, offset by reduced service contract revenue associated with non-Cytek instruments. While we have historically performed maintenance services and support functions for non-Cytek instruments, we ceased sales of service contracts for non-Cytek instruments as of January 1, 2021 while continuing to honor pre-existing multi-year service contracts. We perform on-demand professional services to support non-Cytek

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instruments provided that resources are available. As a result of our decision to no longer service non-Cytek instruments, revenue associated with service contracts for non-Cytek instruments decreased in the year ended December 31, 2021. Our strategy was to shift resources in anticipation of the increasing demand for our Aurora and Northern Lights instruments, and to allow us to fully support our instruments when they come out of warranty.

Total cost of sales, gross profit and gross margin

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20212020Amount%
Cost of sales:
Product$37,377$32,277$5,10016%
Service11,4298,8522,57729%
Total cost of sales$48,806$41,129$7,67719%
Gross profit$79,144$51,710$27,43453%
Gross margin62%56%

Total cost of sales increased by $7.7 million, or 19%, for the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2020. This is primarily due to more instruments shipped and increased service and manufacturing headcount and associated personnel cost, including $1.3 million stock-based compensation; offset by lower inventory write-downs as a result of operational efficiencies.

Gross profit margin was 62% and 56% as a percent of total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The increase is primarily due to an increase of instruments delivered to customers, an increase in the average blended selling price due to product mix, and lower inventory write-downs for the year ended December 31, 2021.

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20212020Amount%
Product:
Revenue$119,519$85,283$34,23640%
Cost of sales37,37732,2775,10016%
Product gross profit$82,142$53,006$29,13655%
Gross margin69%62%
Service:
Revenue$8,431$7,556$87512%
Cost of sales11,4298,8522,57729%
Service gross profit$(2,998)$(1,296)$(1,702)131%
Gross margin-36%-17%

While we have seen an increase in total gross profit margin, the gross profit margin of our service revenue has decreased from (17)% in the year ended December 31, 2020, to (36)% in the year ended December 31, 2021. This was due to an increase in headcount and personnel-related expenses. The decrease was also driven by reduced service contract revenue on non-Cytek instruments consistent with our expectations after not renewing these contracts.

Operating expenses

Research and development

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20212020Amount%
Research and development$24,442$13,693$10,74978%

Research and development expenses were $24.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to $13.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase of $10.7 million in research and development expenses was primarily due to an increase in headcount and personnel-related expenses, including stock-based compensation of $1.8 million.

We expect our research and development expense to increase in absolute dollars as we continue to develop new products and enhance existing instruments and technologies.

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Sales and marketing

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20212020Amount%
Sales and marketing$24,710$14,988$9,72265%

Sales and marketing expenses were $24.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to $15.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase of $9.7 million in sales and marketing expenses was primarily due to an increase in headcount, commissions, and personnel-related expenses of $7.0 million, including stock-based compensation of $1.2 million. There was also an increase in advertising and marketing activities of $0.8 million.

We expect our sales and marketing expenses to increase in absolute dollars as we hire additional sales and marketing personnel, expand our sales support infrastructure and invest in our brand and product awareness to further penetrate the United States and the international markets.

General and administrative

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20212020Amount%
General and administrative$20,835$9,370$11,465122%

General and administrative expenses were $20.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to $9.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase of $11.5 million in general and administrative expenses was primarily due to an increase in general corporate personnel-related costs, professional fees relating to our IPO, and infrastructure services to support the growth of our overall operations. The increase in personnel-related costs was primarily due to increased headcount and stock-based compensation of $1.7 million.

We expect to continue to incur additional general and administrative expenses as a result of operating as a public company, including expenses related to compliance with the rules and regulations of the SEC and the Nasdaq Stock Market, additional insurance costs, investor relations activities and other administrative and professional services. As a result, we expect general and administrative expenses to increase in absolute dollars in future periods.

Interest expense

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20212020Amount%
Interest expense$(1,741)$(333)(1,408)n/m

Interest expense was $1.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to $333,000 for the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase of $1.4 million was due to the accretion of the present value discount related to the settlement agreement with Becton, Dickinson and Company (“BD”). See Note 10 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further details.

Interest income

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20212020Amount%
Interest income$49$110(61)-55%

Interest income was $49,000 for the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to $110,000 for the year ended December 31, 2020. The decrease of $61,000 in interest income was the result of lower interest earned on our cash and short-term deposits due to a decline in interest rates as compared to year ended December 31, 2020.

Other income (expense), net

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20212020Amount%
Other income (expense), net$(1,527)$994(2,521)-254%

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Other expense, net was $1.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to other income, net of $1.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. The net change of $2.5 million was primarily the result of the net impact of foreign exchange gains and losses during the year ended December 31, 2021.

Income Taxes

Year ended December 31,Change
(In thousands, except percentages)20212020Amount%
Provision for (benefit from) income tax$2,911$(4,981)7,892-158%

Provision for income tax was $2.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to an income tax benefit of $5.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2020.

The net change of $7.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 was the result of a United States income tax valuation allowance release of $8.1 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2020 and an increase in income tax from higher earnings in the year ended December 31, 2021.

Liquidity and capital resources

Overview

To date, our primary sources of capital have been through sales of our securities and revenue from the sale of our products and services. As of December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, we had approximately $364.6 million and $165.2 million, respectively, in cash and cash equivalents, which were primarily held in U.S. short-term bank deposit accounts and money market funds.

Funding requirements

We anticipate continuing to expend significant amounts of cash in the foreseeable future as we continue to invest in research and development of our product offerings, commercialization of new products and services, and expansion into new markets. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors including our revenue, research and development efforts, the new and continued impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the timing and extent of additional capital expenditures to invest in existing and new facilities, as well as our manufacturing operations, the expansion of sales and marketing and the introduction of new products. We have entered into, and may in the future enter into, arrangements to acquire or invest in businesses, services and technologies, and any such acquisitions or investments could significantly increase our capital needs.

We currently anticipate making additional capital expenditures during the next 12 months, which is expected to primarily include equipment to be used for manufacturing and investment in research and development, as well as spend associated with the expansion of our facilities in Wuxi, China.

Based on our current business plan, we believe our existing cash and cash equivalents and anticipated cash flows from operations will be sufficient to meet our working capital and capital expenditure needs for at least the next 12 months from the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Sources of liquidity

We have financed our operations primarily through sales of our securities. In July 2021, we completed our IPO, which resulted in net proceeds to us of approximately $215.7 million. We have also benefited from operating cash flows from the sale of our products and services.

On May 7, 2020, we received loan proceeds in the amount of approximately $4.1 million under the PPP. The PPP, established as part of the CARES Act, provides for loans to qualifying businesses for amounts up to 2.5 times of the average monthly payroll expenses of the qualifying business. On May 4, 2021, we fully repaid the PPP loan.

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Cash flows

The following table summarizes our cash flows for the periods presented:

Year ended December 31,
(In thousands)20212020
Net cash (used in) provided by:
Operating activities$4,630$15,156
Investing activities(20,993)(1,547)
Financing activities213,559122,607
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash1,303(587)
Net increase in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash$198,499$135,629

Operating activities

Net cash provided by operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $4.6 million, including net income of $3.0 million. We also incurred non-cash stock-based compensation expense, interest expenses for accretion of the legal settlement liabilities, and depreciation and amortization of $6.6 million, $1.7 million, and $1.2 million, respectively. Usage of cash included an increase of trade accounts receivable of $12.4 million due to an increase in sales, an increase in inventories of $7.1 million, an increase in prepaid expenses and other assets of $6.3 million, and a decrease in the legal settlement liability of $3.7 million due to payment to BD of $6.0 million, which is offset by increased royalty accrual. This was partially offset by an increase in deferred revenue of $10.0 million and an increase in accrued expenses and other liabilities of $11.0 million.

Net cash provided by operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2020 was $15.2 million, consisting primarily of net income of $19.4 million, an increase in accrued expenses and other liabilities of $8.2 million directly attributable to an increase in headcount and the corresponding personnel-related costs, and an increase in inventories of $5.7 million to accommodate increase in sales volume.

Investing activities

Net cash used in investing activities during the year ended December 31, 2021 was $21.0 million driven by our acquisition of Tonbo's reagents business for $17.0 million, an increase in purchases of property and equipment of $4.4 million partially offset by the payment for the additional investment in Cytek Japan, net of cash acquired of $371,000. See Note 17 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Net cash used in investing activities during the year ended December 31, 2020 was $1.5 million primarily driven by an increase in capital expenditures for laboratory equipment of $1.1 million and an increase in leasehold improvements of $344,000.

Financing activities

Net cash provided by financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2021 was $213.6 million primarily driven by our IPO, which resulted in net proceeds to us of approximately $215.7 million.

Net cash provided by financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2020 was $122.6 million primarily driven by the issuance of our Series D redeemable convertible preferred stock in October 2020 for net proceeds of $119.7 million, net proceeds from the PPP loan of $2.8 million and $169,000 from the issuance of common stock upon option exercises.

Contractual Obligations and Commitments

During the year ended December 31, 2021, there were no material changes to our contractual obligations and commitments from those described under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition” which is contained in our final prospectus dated July 22, 2021 and filed with the SEC on July 23, 2021 pursuant to Rule 424(b)(4) under the Securities Act in connection with our IPO.

Off-balance sheet arrangements

We did not have during the periods presented, and we do not currently have, any off-balance sheet financing arrangements or any relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, including entities sometimes referred to as structured finance or special purpose entities, that were established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements or other contractually narrow or limited purposes.

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Critical accounting policies, significant judgments and use of estimates

We have prepared our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Our preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates, assumptions and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses, and related disclosures. We evaluate our estimates and judgments on an ongoing basis. We based our estimates on our historical experience and on various other factors that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The economic uncertainty in the current environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic could limit our ability to accurately make and evaluate our estimates and judgments.

Actual results could therefore differ materially from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. We believe that the accounting policies discussed below are critical to understanding our historical and future performance, as these policies relate to the more significant areas involving management’s judgments and estimates.

While our significant accounting policies are described in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we believe that the following accounting policies are the most critical to understanding and evaluating our reported consolidated financial results.

Revenue recognition

Our product revenue primarily consists of sale of our Aurora, Aurora CS and Northern Lights systems, instrument accessories, such as loaders and, to a lesser extent, consumables such as reagents. We offer multiple versions of our Aurora and Northern Lights systems with different price points based on the number of lasers integrated in the systems. We also derive revenue from sales of our conventional flow cytometry system, which is available for sale in China. We recognize product revenue when control of the instrument is transferred to the customer.

Our service revenue consists of post-warranty service contracts, preventative maintenance plans, repairs, installation and quality check, customer training and other specialized product support services. We recognize service contract revenue ratably over the term of the contract and other service obligations as they are performed. Revenue is recognized when control of promised goods or services is transferred to a customer in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. To determine revenue recognition for its arrangements with customers, we perform the following five steps: (i) identify the contract(s) with a customer; (ii) identify the performance obligations in the contract; (iii) determine the transaction price; (iv) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and (v) recognize revenue when (or as) the entity satisfies a performance obligation.

A performance obligation is a promise in a contract to transfer a distinct good or service to the customer and is defined as the unit of account for revenue recognition under the contract with customers guidance. Performance obligations are considered distinct if they are both capable of being distinct, and distinct within the context of the contract. The Company identified the following performance obligations in the contracts: product sales of instrument systems, installation on instrument systems, delivery of instrument accessories such as loaders, consumables, reagents, extended service contracts and professional services revenue for post-warranty service contracts, preventative maintenance plans, repairs, installations, training, time and material services and other specialized support services. A good or service is distinct when the customer can benefit from the good or service either on its own or together with other resources that are readily available from third parties or from the Company, and is distinct in the context of the contract, where the transfer of the good or service is separately identifiable from other promises in the contract.

Payments from customers are in arrears. For arrangements where the anticipated period between timing of transfer of services and the timing of payment is one year or less, we have elected to not assess whether a significant financing component exists. For arrangements with terms greater than one year, payments are received up-front and are for reasons other than financing. Revenue is recognized only to the extent that it is probable that a significant reversal of the cumulative amount recognized will not occur in future periods.

Certain of our sales contracts involve the delivery or performance of multiple products and services within contractually binding arrangements. Significant judgment is sometimes required to determine the appropriate accounting for such arrangements, including whether the deliverables specified in a contract with multiple promises should be treated as separate performance obligations for revenue recognition purposes and, if so, how the related sales price should be allocated among the performance obligations, when to recognize revenue for each performance obligation, and the period over which revenue should be recognized. For most of our performance obligations, we have established the stand-alone selling prices (“SSP”) as a range rather than a single value, based on standalone sales of products. We allocate revenue to the performance obligations based on their relative standalone selling prices SSP.

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Taxes, such as sales, value-add and other taxes, collected from customers concurrent with revenue generating activities and remitted to governmental authorities are not included in revenue. Shipping and handling costs associated with outbound freight are accounted for as a fulfillment cost and are included in cost of sales.

The following describes the nature of our primary types of revenue and the revenue recognition policies and significant payment terms as they pertain to the types of transactions we enter into with our customers.

Product revenue

Our standard arrangement for sales to end users is generally a purchase order or an executed contract. Product revenue is recognized upon transfer of control of the product to the customer, which, for us, generally occurs at a point in time depending on the shipping terms. Payment terms are generally 30 to 90 days from the date of invoicing.

Our distributor arrangements with our customers include a purchase order. The purchase order is governed by terms and conditions of the distributor agreements. Revenue is recognized upon transfer of control of the products to the distributor, which for us, occurs at a point in time depending on the shipping terms.

Service revenue

Our services are primarily a mix of service contracts, installation services, and time and material-based repair and support. We recognize revenue from the sale of service contracts over the respective period, while revenue on product support is recognized as the services are performed. Service contracts are typically between one and three years. Payment terms are generally 30 days from the date of invoicing. Installation revenue is recognized upon completion of the installation, which, for us, occurs at a point in time.

Contract assets and contract liabilities

Contract assets are recorded when the amount of revenue recognized exceeds the amount invoiced to the customer and the right to payment is not solely subject to the passage of time. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, we had immaterial amounts of contract assets included within prepaid expenses and other current assets on the consolidated balance sheets.

Contract liabilities consist of fees invoiced or paid by our customers for which the associated services have not been performed and revenue has not been recognized based on our revenue recognition criteria described above. Such amounts are reported as deferred revenue for service and customer deposits for instruments on the consolidated balance sheets. Deferred revenue that is expected to be recognized during the following 12 months is recorded as a current liability and the remaining portion is recorded as noncurrent.

Assurance-type product warranties

We provide a one-year assurance-type warranty that is included with the sale of our instruments. At the time revenue is recognized for the products, we establish an accrual for estimated warranty expense based on historical data and trends of product reliability and costs of repairing and replacing defective products. We exercise judgment in estimating the expected product warranty costs, using data such as the historical repair costs. While we believe that historical experience provides a reliable basis for estimating such warranty cost, unforeseen quality issues or component failure rates could result in future costs in excess of such estimates, or alternatively, improved quality and reliability in our products could result in actual expenses that are below those currently estimated.

Goodwill and intangible assets

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-04, Intangibles – Goodwill and Other: Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment, to simplify the subsequent measurement of goodwill by eliminating Step 2 from the goodwill impairment test. We adopted this guidance during the year ended December 31, 2019, and the adoption did not have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

We recognize goodwill in accounting for business combinations based on the amount by which the total consideration transferred, exceeds the fair value of identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed. Identifiable intangible assets other than goodwill are primarily comprised of patents and trademarks which amortize on a straight-line basis over an assigned useful life based on

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management’s estimate of the period the asset is expected to contribute to future cash flows.

We assess our goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment at least annually in the fourth quarter, or more frequently if factors indicate impairment may exist. Our qualitative goodwill impairment analysis consists of assessing whether any events or circumstances listed in ASC 350-20-35-3A (“triggering events”) existed or occurred in the year under review to the date of the financial statements. The qualitative analysis assesses macroeconomic conditions, market, and industry considerations, change in cost factors, overall company financial performance, and any events affecting the reporting unit. Based on the qualitative analysis results, we determined that it is more likely than not that the fair values of the reporting unit exceed the carrying value and that no triggering events were noted that would require a quantitative impairment assessment in the fiscal year.

Stock-based compensation

We maintain an equity incentive compensation plan under which incentive stock options and nonqualified stock options to purchase common stock, and restricted stock units for common stock, are granted primarily to employees and non-employee consultants.

Stock-based compensation cost is measured at the grant date based on the fair value of the award and is recognized as expense over the vesting period. The fair value of stock options is estimated using the Black- Scholes option pricing model. We record forfeitures as they occur.

The Black-Scholes model considers several variables and assumptions in estimating the fair value of stock- based awards. These variables include the per share fair value of the underlying common stock, exercise price, expected term, risk-free interest rate, expected annual dividend yield and expected stock price volatility over the expected term. For all stock options granted, we calculated the expected term using the simplified method for standard stock option awards. After our IPO, the fair value of our common stock is determined by the closing price of our common stock on the date of grant as reported on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. The risk-free interest rate is based on the yield available on U.S. Treasury zero-coupon issues similar in duration to the expected term of the equity-settled award.

The following table summarizes the weighted-average assumptions used in estimating the fair value of stock options granted during each of the periods presented:

Year ended December 31,
20212020
Expected term (in years)6.055.96
Expected volatility90%83%
Risk-free interest rate1%1%
Dividend yield

Expected volatility—Expected volatility is estimated by studying the volatility of selected industry peers deemed to be comparable to our business corresponding to the expected term of the awards.

Expected term—Expected term represents the period that our stock-based awards are expected to be outstanding and is determined using the simplified method.

Risk-free interest rate—The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury zero-coupon issued in effect at the time of grant for periods corresponding with the expected term of the option.

Dividend yield— The expected dividend yield is zero as we have never declared or paid cash dividends and have no current plans to do so in the foreseeable future.

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Common stock valuation

There was no public market for our common stock prior to our IPO. As such, the estimated fair value of our common stock was determined at each grant date by our board of directors, with input from management, based on the information known to us on the grant date and upon review of any recent events and their potential impact on the estimated per share fair value of our common stock. As part of these fair value determinations, our Board of Directors obtained and considered valuation reports prepared by third-party valuation firms in accordance with the guidance outlined in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Technical Practice Aid, Valuation of Privately-Held-Company Equity Securities Issued as Compensation.

In contemplation of an IPO, we began using a hybrid approach in determining the fair value of our common stock that includes a probability-weighted expected return method, or PWERM, and an option pricing method, or OPM. Under a PWERM, the fair market value of the common stock is estimated based upon an analysis of future values for the enterprise assuming various future outcomes. Within one of those potential outcomes, we utilized the OPM. The OPM treats the rights of the holders of redeemable convertible preferred stock and common stock as equivalent to that of call options on any value of the enterprise above certain break points of value based upon the liquidation preferences of the holders of redeemable convertible preferred stock, as well as their rights to participation and conversion. Based on the timing and nature of an assumed liquidity event in each scenario, a discount for lack of marketability either was or was not applied to each scenario, as appropriate. We then probability-weighted the value of each expected outcome to arrive at an estimate of fair value per share of common stock.

In addition to considering the results of these third-party valuation reports, our board of directors used assumptions based on various objective and subjective factors, combined with management judgment, to determine the fair value of our common stock as of each grant date, including:


the prices at which we sold shares of redeemable convertible preferred stock and the superior rights and preferences of the redeemable convertible preferred stock relative to our common stock at the time of each grant;


external market conditions affecting the life sciences research and development industry and trends within the industry;


our stage of development and business strategy;


our financial condition and operating results, including our levels of available capital resources, and forecasted results;


developments in our business;


the progress of our research and development efforts;


equity market conditions affecting comparable public companies; and


general United States market conditions and the lack of marketability of our common stock.

Application of these approaches involves the use of estimates, judgment and assumptions that are subjective, such as those regarding our expected future revenue, expenses and future cash flows, discount rates, market multiples, the selection of comparable companies and the probability of possible future events. Changes in any or all of these estimates and assumptions or the relationships between those assumptions impact our valuations as of each valuation date and may have a material impact on the valuation of our common stock.

Litigation settlement liability

We are not currently involved in legal proceedings as December 31, 2021. In case we will be involved in legal proceedings, we are required to assess the probability of loss and amount of such loss, if any, in preparing our consolidated financial statements. We evaluate the likelihood of a potential loss from legal proceedings to which we are a party. We record a liability for such claims when a loss is deemed probable, and the amount can be reasonably estimated. Significant judgment may be required in the determination of both probability and whether an exposure is reasonably estimable. Our judgments are subjective based on the status of the legal proceedings, the merits of our defenses and consultation with in-house and outside legal counsel. As additional information becomes

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available, we reassess the potential liability related to pending claims and may revise our estimates. Due to the inherent uncertainties of the legal processes in the multiple jurisdictions in which we operate, our judgments may be materially different than the actual outcomes, which could have material adverse effects on our business, financial conditions, and results of operations.

Recently adopted accounting pronouncements

See Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a description of recent accounting pronouncements applicable to our financial statements.

Emerging growth company and smaller reporting company status

In April 2012, the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”) was enacted. Section 107 of the JOBS Act provides that an “emerging growth company” may take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. Therefore, an emerging growth company can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have irrevocably elected to avail ourselves of this extended transition period and, as a result, we will not adopt new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for other public companies. In addition, as an emerging growth company, we may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure and other requirements that are otherwise applicable generally to public companies.

We may take advantage of these exemptions until such earlier time that we are no longer an emerging growth company. We would cease to be an emerging growth company on the date that is the earliest of (i) the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the date of the completion of our IPO; (ii) the last day of the fiscal year in which our total annual gross revenue is equal to or more than $1.07 billion; (iii) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in nonconvertible debt during the previous three years; or (iv) the date on which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer under the rules of the SEC.

We are also a “smaller reporting company,” as defined in the Exchange Act. We may continue to be a smaller reporting company even after we are no longer an emerging growth company. We may take advantage of certain of the scaled disclosures available to smaller reporting companies and will be able to take advantage of these scaled disclosures for so long as our voting and non-voting common stock held by non-affiliates is less than $250.0 million measured on the last business day of our second fiscal quarter, or our annual revenue is less than $100.0 million during the most recently completed fiscal year and our voting and non-voting common stock held by non-affiliates is less than $700.0 million measured on the last business day of our second fiscal quarter. If we are a smaller reporting company at the time, we cease to be an emerging growth company, we may continue to rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements that are available to smaller reporting companies. Specifically, as a smaller reporting company we may choose to present only the two most recent fiscal years of audited consolidated financial statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and, similar to emerging growth companies, smaller reporting companies have reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation.

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