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what it is
It makes the reagents labs use to grow cells and test therapies.
how it gets paid
Last year Alpha Teknova made $41M in revenue. Pre-poured media plates was the main engine at $18.0M, or 44% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew about 7% last year. The latest reported quarter (Q3 2025) was up roughly 9% vs. prior year, but the company still lost money.
what just happened
Q3 2025 revenue was about $10.5M while EPS stayed negative and gross margin was near 31%.
At a glance
B balance sheet — gets the job done, barely
-$0.33 fy2025 eps est
$42M–$44M fy2026 rev guide
~-42% operating margin
1.65 beta
xvary composite: 47/100 — below average
What they do
It makes the reagents labs use to grow cells and test therapies.
You have 2,500 active customers across pharma, biotech, diagnostics, and labs. That is 2,500 chances for your reagent to become the default, not a one-time trial. Gross margin → money left after making the product → so what: gross margin in the low-30% range says the core product works, even while operating margin stays sharply negative (on the order of -40%).
How they make money
$41M
annual revenue · their business grew +7.4% last year
Pre-poured media plates
$18.0M
Liquid cell culture media and supplements
$13.0M
Molecular biology reagents
$10.0M
The products that matter
custom reagents and media
Lab Essentials
$41M company revenue · Q3 2025 core growth +16%
this is the business. management pointed to 16% growth in core reagents and media in Q3 2025, and the company still only produced $41M of annual revenue overall. that tells you both the demand signal and the scale problem.
current engine
Key numbers
$41M
annual sales
That is the full-year top line, so every 1% shift is about $0.41M.
~31%
gross margin (Q3 2025)
It keeps roughly 30 cents of each sales dollar before overhead, which looks better than operating margin still deep in negative territory.
~-42%
operating margin
After payroll, rent, and admin, the business still loses a large fraction of each dollar — typical for a sub-scale tools company investing through losses.
$27M
long debt
Debt equals 15% of capital, so the balance sheet is not broken, but it is not free.
Financial health
B
strength
- balance sheet grade B — adequate — nothing special
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 5 / 100
- long-term debt $27M (15% of capital)
B — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
Return history isn't available for TKNO right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
mixed vs. estimates
Q3 2025 revenue was about $10.5M, up ~9% vs. prior year, with EPS still negative and gross margin near 31%.
Full-year revenue is still on a ~$40M scale — not billions. Gross margin repair is real, but operating losses mean overhead still absorbs the improvement.
$10.5M
q3 2025 revenue
negative
eps
~31%
gross margin
gross margin
Gross margin near 30% matters because it says the product economics are improving; deeply negative operating margin says the company is still paying for scale it does not yet have.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is cash burn on a $42M–$44M revenue base.
med
Growth is still too small to hide mistakes
Management is guiding to $42M–$44M of 2026 revenue after reporting $41M. That midpoint is roughly 6% growth. If demand slips even a little, the path to profitability gets pushed out again.
A miss against a $41M revenue base matters more here than it would at a larger tools company.
med
Cash discipline is still part of the thesis
The company wants free cash outflow below $10M in 2026. That is not a footnote. It means the business still has to prove that better margin can translate into less cash leaving the door.
If burn stays near or above that level, equity holders keep funding patience.
med
Volatility is part of the package
Price stability is 5 out of 100 and beta is 1.65. The stock also sits far below its $7.48 high. That combination tells you sentiment can swing faster than the underlying business changes.
You are exposed to both execution risk and a stock that already moves harder than the market.
At ~$41M of revenue and gross margin only back to the low-30% range, there is not much room for a second miss if free cash outflow is still approaching $10M.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
earnings date
Q1 2026 earnings report
Expected on May 13, 2026. Analysts are looking for -$0.09 EPS on $10.68M of revenue. For a $41M business, that print matters.
margin
Can gross margin stay in the mid-30s
Management expects mid-30% gross margin in 2026. If ~31% was a one-quarter improvement rather than a trend, the turnaround case gets thinner fast.
growth
Whether 6% guidance starts accelerating
The current outlook is $42M–$44M after a $41M year. You want to see the core business keep building on that 16% Q3 2025 reagents and media growth signal.
cash
Free cash outflow against the <$10M target
This is the operational scoreboard. Revenue can improve and the stock can still struggle if cash burn refuses to cooperate.
Analyst rankings
risk profile
average
risk rank 3 — typical risk profile — neither especially safe nor risky.
chart momentum
below average
momentum rank 4 — analysts see underperformance risk in the near term.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutional ownership data for TKNO is being compiled.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
n/a
n/a
$2
current price
n/a
target midpoint · n/a from current
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