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China Tariffs, Cut Funds Spur Illumina’s Worst Month in 23 Years

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(Bloomberg) -- Illumina Inc. investors suffered back-to-back setbacks each week in February, putting the gene-sequencing company on track to cap off its worst month in nearly 23 years.

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At the heart of the company’s tumult lie concerns about President Donald Trump’s China tariffs, coupled with a disappointing earnings outlook, increasing competition and funding cuts. The four-time whammy is hitting the gene-sequencing firm at a time of slowing revenue growth, especially in its China business.

That’s led investors to flee the stock in droves, causing a 33% plunge this month and setting it on course for the worst drop since July 2002. February’s declines have also erased roughly $7 billion from the San Diego, California-based company’s market value.

“The way forward for Illumina is just going to be more challenging than it has been historically,” said Jonathan Palmer, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst. “All these things temper the outlook for Illumina, on their ability to return to growth.”

Shares took their first drubbing earlier in the month after China blacklisted the company as part of a series of retaliatory actions for tariffs ordered by Trump. A couple of days later, the company maintained its revenue outlook for the year without accounting for the impact of the blacklisting, sending shares into a tailspin.

The following week, the National Institutes of Health announced plans to cut billions of dollars in reimbursements to medical researchers, wreaking havoc on stocks of lab-tool equipment makers like Illumina.

Later in the month, competitor Roche Holding AG unveiled its new sequencing technology, which looks to directly compete with Illumina’s portfolio. The latest setback came this Thursday when Trump announced additional China tariffs, risking Illumina’s ongoing talks and the possibility of getting removed from the country’s blacklist.

Wall Street has responded to the barrage of bad news by slashing price targets on the stock, with at least three analysts downgrading their ratings on the shares. Analysts see the blacklisting as damaging Illumina’s ability to operate and sell into China, resulting in a 7% headwind to its 2025 revenue growth. Effects from the funding cuts are anticipated to be more immediate, with expectations for material impacts to first-quarter sales as researchers pause equipment purchases.