Harvard Bioscience (HBIO) 2026 KeyBanc Capital Markets Healthcare Forum summary

Leadership and Strategic Direction

• CEO and CFO bring extensive life sciences and financial experience, with recent leadership changes including the appointment of CEO John Duke (July 2025), CFO Mark Frost (March 2026), and four new board directors, all aimed at driving innovation and operational efficiency.

• Strategic focus on high-growth areas such as organoids, bioproduction, and telemetry, with a shift to a pure-play translational science tools company and ongoing portfolio review for potential pruning or expansion.

• Emphasis on recurring revenue streams, with 54% of products being consumables, software, or service agreements, and a goal to increase recurring revenue to over 60%.

• Willingness to pursue acquisitions aligned with growth and recurring revenue criteria, supported by a $7.5M investment via convertible notes.

• Operational improvements and cost reductions through Project Viking and manufacturing consolidation, including phased closure of Holliston, MA plant, targeting $4M in savings and improved adjusted EBITDA by $3M in 2027 and $4M from 2028.

Product Innovation and Market Positioning

• Recent launches include Mesh MEA/MeshMEA™, IncuB8, new implants for the SOHO/SoHo™ telemetry system, and an upcoming cGMP-compliant BTX system, with a differentiated innovation pipeline targeting high-growth adjacencies.

• Holds #1 or #2 position in 7 of 10 product lines, with over 10,000 customers and a blue-chip client base across academia, pharma, and CROs.

• Only provider spanning in vivo telemetry and in vitro organoid platforms, enabling standardized data and cross-selling.

• SOHO telemetry platform enables multi-animal monitoring, improving data quality and cost efficiency for CROs.

• Respiratory and inhalation product lines are seeing increased demand post-COVID.

Financial Performance and Guidance

• FY25 revenue was $86.6M, with 54% recurring revenue and adjusted gross margin of 57.7%; gross margins remain strong at 58%-60%.

• Debt refinanced in late 2024, extending maturity to 2029, reducing annual debt service from $8M to $5M, and freeing up $3M in cash for investment or deleveraging.

• FY25 adjusted EBITDA was $8.1M, with guidance for 2–4% revenue growth and 6–10% adjusted EBITDA growth in FY26.

• Project Viking and cost reductions expected to improve EBITDA margins from under 10% to mid-teens, with a long-term goal of reaching low 20% margins.

• Pruning of non-core businesses since 2021 has removed $5–$8M in revenue but improved gross margins by 2%–3%.