Operational liquidity is under severe pressure, evidenced by a negative free cash flow margin of -128.4% and a dwindling cash reserve of $56.3 million as of 2026Q1.
| Metric | TTM | Dec'25 | Dec'24 | Dec'23 | Dec'22 | Dec'21 | Dec'20 | Dec'19 | Dec'18 | Dec'17 | Dec'16 | Dec'15 | Dec'14 | Dec'13 | Dec'12 | Dec'11 | Dec'10 | Dec'09 | Dec'08 |
|---|
| Cash from Operations | -111.84M | -111.21M | -206.06M | -266.55M | -263.21M | -111.18M | 19.5M | -78.31M | -66.43M | -67.52M | -67.93M | -47.89M | -51.47M | -29.83M | -76.82M | -102.97M | -122M | -74.84M | -38.3M |
| Operating CF Margin % | - | -69.5% | -133.79% | -132.93% | -205.15% | -85.19% | 24.72% | -86.16% | -84.49% | -72.24% | -74.88% | -51.61% | -84.94% | -105.86% | -295.66% | -304.09% | -7287.69% | -55435.56% | -4251.17% |
| Operating CF Growth % | 141.06% | 46.03% | 22.69% | -1.27% | -136.74% | -670.07% | 124.9% | -17.89% | 1.61% | 0.6% | -41.85% | 6.95% | -72.52% | 61.17% | 25.4% | 15.59% | -63.01% | -95.38% | - |
| Net Income | -128.58M | -546.38M | -309.85M | -306.74M | -314.25M | -181.22M | 29.4M | -84.13M | -102.56M | -92.19M | -74.38M | -31.7M | -66.16M | -79.29M | -94.47M | -109.39M | -140.17M | -87.7M | -43.75M |
| Depreciation & Amortization | 17.69M | 0 | 53.34M | 32.69M | 17.32M | 11.59M | 9.3M | 9.95M | 7.21M | 8.44M | 3.88M | 3.68M | 4.22M | 5.65M | 6.65M | 5.8M | 5.16M | 4.1M | 2.99M |
| Stock-Based Compensation | 9.59M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 78.61M | 80.73M | 17.53M | 16.4M | 23.15M | 20.35M | 19.56M | 13.84M | 9.94M | 9.9M | 9.71M | 12.38M | 9.69M | 3.63M | 2.13M |
| Deferred Taxes | 0 | 0 | -205K | -11.42M | 0 | -93.65M | -107K | -735K | -925K | 653K | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100K | 84K | -9K |
| Other Non-Cash Items | -20.55M | 430.73M | 91.24M | 77.88M | 9.08M | 50.37M | -33.87M | -16.79M | 1.02M | 1.25M | 1.01M | -2.32M | 1.3M | 177K | 287K | 226K | 359K | 110K | 23K |
| Working Capital Changes | 10M | 4.44M | -40.58M | -58.96M | -53.97M | 21M | -2.76M | -3M | 5.67M | -6.03M | -18M | -31.39M | -772K | 33.73M | 1M | -12M | 2.86M | 4.94M | 323K |
| Change in Receivables | 2.29M | -7.92M | 9.09M | -17.83M | 5.46M | -7.17M | -1.6M | -6.67M | 4.84M | -2.01M | -6.18M | -1.74M | -660K | 76K | 1.74M | -4.22M | -341K | 0 | 0 |
| Change in Inventory | -2.09M | -1.42M | -8.32M | -13.84M | -33.91M | -12.43M | -1.1M | 3.92M | 3.62M | -8.44M | -6.15M | -2.47M | -1.28M | -60K | 4.76M | -11.41M | -6.86M | 0 | 0 |
| Change in Payables | -315K | 2.48M | 1.41M | 206K | 1.02M | 6.36M | -5.07M | 1.71M | -2.24M | 764K | 3.4M | -716K | 3.89M | -1.27M | -1.75M | -4.77M | 3.64M | 3.89M | -223K |
| Cash from Investing | 106.07M | 115.45M | 124M | 4.6M | 116.08M | -678.53M | -219.32M | 62.05M | -38.41M | -1.55M | -14.86M | 8.61M | 19.56M | -33.12M | 61.79M | 6.45M | -138.25M | 18.59M | -10.39M |
| Capital Expenditures | -9.37M | -2.71M | -6.19M | -8.84M | -16.93M | -5.93M | -1.04M | -2.84M | -1.85M | -10.43M | -8.21M | -3.01M | -1.61M | -909K | -1.7M | -9.28M | -5.26M | -5.18M | -5.7M |
| CapEx % of Revenue | 5.85% | 1.7% | 4.02% | 4.41% | 13.19% | 4.54% | 1.32% | 3.12% | 2.36% | 11.16% | 9.05% | 3.24% | 2.66% | 3.23% | 6.55% | 27.42% | 314.16% | 3834.81% | 632.96% |
| Acquisitions | 50M | 0 | 0 | -102K | 179K | -319.79M | 0 | -64.88M | 0 | 41K | 10K | 36K | 0 | 0 | -61.79M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Investments | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other Investing | -1.9M | -5M | 0 | 0 | -179K | 0 | 0 | 64.88M | -36.56M | 41K | 10K | -4.5M | 21.17M | -32.21M | 61.79M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cash from Financing | 2.91M | 3.43M | -42.99M | 116.27M | 9.62M | 1.17B | 251.84M | 26.55M | 107.18M | 68.81M | 65.93M | 36.46M | 41.99M | 42.77M | 2.71M | 7.74M | 318.66M | 67.01M | 119.93M |
| Debt Issued (Net) | 0 | 0 | -50.69M | -1.84M | -1.61M | 895.17M | -16M | 0 | 0 | -4.5M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19.77M | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1.3M | -400K |
| Equity Issued (Net) | 2.91M | 3.43M | 7.7M | 204.52M | 11.23M | 294.85M | 187.48M | 8.55M | 97.53M | 64.39M | 58.2M | 29.1M | 38.02M | 19.93M | 2.71M | 7.74M | 316.93M | 68M | 119.83M |
| Dividends Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Share Repurchases | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -8K | 0 |
| Other Financing | 0 | 0 | 0 | -86.41M | 0 | -20.44M | 80.36M | 18M | 9.65M | 8.91M | 7.73M | 7.36M | 3.97M | 3.08M | 0 | 0 | 1.74M | 312K | 496K |
| Net Change in Cash | -2.9M | 7.67M | -124.15M | -145.18M | -137.51M | 379.87M | 52.02M | 10.28M | 2.34M | -258K | -16.86M | -2.82M | 10.09M | -20.18M | -12.32M | -88.78M | 58.42M | 10.77M | 71.23M |
| Free Cash Flow | -116.21M | -113.92M | -212.25M | -275.39M | -280.14M | -117.11M | 18.46M | -81.15M | -68.28M | -77.95M | -76.14M | -50.9M | -53.08M | -30.74M | -78.53M | -112.26M | -127.25M | -80.02M | -44.01M |
| FCF Margin % | -72.62% | -71.2% | -137.81% | -137.34% | -218.34% | -89.73% | 23.4% | -89.28% | -86.85% | -83.4% | -83.93% | -54.86% | -87.59% | -109.09% | -302.22% | -331.51% | -7601.85% | -59270.37% | -4884.13% |
| FCF Growth % | 36.54% | 46.33% | 22.93% | 1.7% | -139.21% | -734.27% | 122.75% | -18.84% | 12.4% | -2.38% | -49.59% | 4.11% | -72.65% | 60.85% | 30.05% | 11.79% | -59.04% | -81.83% | - |
| FCF per Share | -0.38 | -0.38 | -0.74 | -1.09 | -1.25 | -0.57 | 0.11 | -0.53 | -0.51 | -0.74 | -0.85 | -0.67 | -0.75 | -0.49 | -1.41 | -2.08 | -4.73 | -103.40 | -56.87 |
| FCF Conversion (FCF/Net Income) | 0.90x | 0.20x | 0.67x | 0.87x | 0.84x | 0.61x | 0.66x | 0.93x | 0.65x | 0.73x | 0.91x | 1.51x | 0.78x | 0.38x | 0.81x | 0.94x | 0.87x | 0.85x | 0.88x |
| Interest Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Taxes Paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Liquidity and solvency constraints
As reported in recent financial statements, PACB exhibits a chronic inability to convert net income into operating cash flow, with the OCF/NI ratio fluctuating wildly and frequently failing to provide a positive signal of earnings quality for the underlying sequencing business model.
The wide variance between net income and operating cash flow suggests that accounting accruals and non-cash charges are significantly distorting the company's true economic performance. Investors should monitor this divergence, as it indicates that the reported losses may actually understate the true cash-burn intensity required to maintain current operations.
Based on the company's reported figures, free cash flow margins remain deeply negative, consistently trailing net income and highlighting a structural inability to fund operations through internal cash generation despite the ongoing transition to the Revio sequencing platform.
The persistent negative FCF trajectory suggests that the company is trapped in a cycle of high capital intensity without the corresponding revenue scale to achieve self-sufficiency. This trend warrants further investigation into whether the current product roadmap can ever reach a cash-flow-positive state without further dilutive financing.
According to quarterly filings, PACB's working capital dynamics show significant volatility, with inconsistent cash flow impacts from inventory and receivables that suggest challenges in managing the supply chain during the critical rollout of new sequencing hardware.
The erratic nature of working capital changes implies that the company may be struggling to optimize its cash conversion cycle as it scales. This instability in cash management may indicate operational friction in balancing inventory levels with the actual pace of system installations and consumable pull-through.
As evidenced by the cash flow data, the company's capital deployment is almost entirely consumed by operational deficits, with no capacity for dividends or buybacks and a reliance on external capital to offset the significant cash drain from core activities.
The absence of discretionary capital allocation highlights the company's precarious financial position, where every dollar of liquidity is prioritized for survival rather than growth or shareholder returns. This reality suggests that management's ability to pivot or invest in new opportunities is severely limited by the current cash-burn profile.
Based on the provided data, the cash flow statement appears to obscure the true extent of operational costs by relying on significant stock-based compensation add-backs, which mask the dilutive impact of funding the company's ongoing research and development intensity.
The reliance on non-cash adjustments to reconcile operating cash flow suggests that the headline figures may not fully capture the economic cost of talent retention and R&D. Investors should be wary of these adjustments, as they may be artificially inflating the perceived sustainability of the company's cash position.
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying PACB stock.
Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (PACB) generated $-111.2M in net cash from operating activities in 2025. This reflects the cash generated directly from core business operations.
Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (PACB) reported negative free cash flow of $113.9M in 2025, indicating capital requirements exceeded cash from operations.
Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (PACB) spent $2.7M on capital expenditures in 2025. CapEx represents the cash invested in physical assets like property, plant, and equipment to maintain or grow the business.