PacBio Stock Dips Despite Announcing Expanded Partnership With seqWell

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. PACB, popularly known as PacBio, announced an expanded partnership with seqWell yesterday. Under the new agreement, PacBio will distribute seqWell’s LongPlex Multiplexing Kit, which is already available, with global availability expected in 2026.

The kit is a scalable, easy-to-use sample preparation solution designed for use with PacBio’s HiFi sequencing and optimized for efficient transposase-based DNA fragmentation and multiplexing. The availability of the kit adds a scalable sample prep option to PacBio’s portfolio of sequencing solutions.

It is worth mentioning that seqWell is a global provider of genomic library and multiplexing workflow solutions.

The latest expansion of the collaboration is expected to significantly boost PacBio’s sequencing solutions business and strengthen its foothold in the niche space.

Trend in PACB Stock Following the News

Following the announcement, shares of the company lost nearly 7.9% till yesterday’s close.

Historically, the company has gained a high level of synergies from its various deals. Although the latest announcement is likely to be beneficial for PACB’s top-line growth in the future, the stock declined overall.

PacBio currently has a market capitalization of $420.5 million. It has an estimated growth rate of 27.7% for 2025. In the last reported quarter, PACB delivered an earnings surprise of 27.8%.

Rationale Behind PacBio’s Expanded Partnership

Per PacBio, the collaboration is expected to expand the portfolio of workflow options available to its customers, complementing its long-read technology with an additional flexible, high-throughput sample prep solution. The LongPlex Multiplexing Kit uses tagmentation to simultaneously fragment and index DNA for up to hundreds of samples in a single run, making it suitable for large-scale screening and targeted resequencing efforts.

PacBio’s management believes that by offering LongPlex alongside the company’s existing workflows, customers will have more choice across high-throughput applications, especially where rapid, economical data generation is essential.

Per seqWell’s management, the agreement will likely make innovative, practical sample prep tools widely available to genomic researchers.

Industry Prospects in Favor of PACB

Per a report by Grand View Research, the global sequencing market was estimated at $15,540.0 million in 2023 and is anticipated to reach $62,478.8 million by 2030 at a CAGR of 22.2%. Factors like the growing demand for gene therapy and a significant increase in demand for consumer genomics in recent years are likely to drive the market.

Given the market potential, the latest expanded partnership is expected to provide a significant boost to PacBio’s business.

PacBio’s Notable Developments

Last month, PacBio entered the high-throughput carrier screening market with a significantly expanded and enhanced suite of PureTarget products.

In August, PacBio announced its second-quarter 2025 results, wherein it witnessed strength in its top-line results and Consumable and Service and other revenues. During the quarter, the company expanded distribution in China through a new agreement with Haorui Gene, providing access to clinical lab networks and supporting the use of PacBio HiFi sequencing in clinical and research settings, with a focus on transfusion medicine and hematology.

PACB’s Share Price Performance

Shares of the company have lost 9.4% in the past year compared with the industry’s 13.8% decline. The S&P 500 has gained 18.1% in the same time frame.

PacBio’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Currently, PACB carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are Solventum Corporation SOLV, ResMed Inc. RMD and Masimo Corporation MASI.

Solventum, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present, has an estimated long-term growth rate of 4.1%. SOLV’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 13.9%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Solventum’s shares have gained 4.3% against the industry’s 15.3% decline in the past year.

ResMed, carrying a Zacks Rank of 2 at present, has an estimated long-term growth rate of 13.8%. RMD’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 4.5%.

ResMed has rallied 18.1% against the industry’s 0.6% decline in the past year.

Masimo, carrying a Zacks Rank of 2 at present, has an estimated growth rate of 20.5% for 2025. MASI’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 13.8%.

Masimo’s shares have gained 5.4% against the industry’s 13.8% decline in the past year.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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