Maravai LifeSciences (NASDAQ:MRVI) raised its 2026 revenue and adjusted EBITDA forecasts after reporting third-quarter sales growth of 10%, driven by demand for mRNA products and continued growth at its Cygnus business.
The life sciences company reported revenue of $45.9 million for the quarter. Its net loss before non-controlling interests narrowed to $24 million from $45.1 million a year earlier, while adjusted EBITDA improved by $16.6 million to $5.8 million.
CEO Bernd Brust said the results reflected higher revenue, a favorable product mix and benefits from changes to the company’s operating model. Adjusted gross margin expanded by more than 1,700 basis points from a year earlier to 57.7%.
mRNA demand drives growth
Revenue at TriLink, which represented 62% of company sales, rose 12%. Within the segment, mRNA revenue increased 28% to $15.3 million, with good manufacturing practice, or GMP, consumables up 30% and discovery mRNA up 27%.
Specialty chemistry revenue declined 4% to $11 million because some large orders from the prior-year quarter did not recur. Contract development and manufacturing, or CDMO, revenue rose 8% to $2 million. Maravai had no high-volume CleanCap revenue from commercial-phase COVID-19 vaccine programs during the quarter.
Cygnus revenue grew 8%, marking its sixth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth. The segment generated $12.5 million in adjusted EBITDA, with a margin of 71%, CFO Raj Asarpota said. He cited steady demand for host-cell protein and ELISA kits and strength in China, Korea and India.
Maravai reported a basic and diluted loss of $0.09 per share, compared with a loss of $0.18 a year earlier. Its adjusted loss narrowed to $0.03 per share from $0.08. The company ended the quarter with $73 million in cash and $147.2 million in debt.
Higher outlook, with order timing in focus
Management raised its full-year revenue guidance to $212 million to $216 million from $205 million to $215 million. It also lifted its adjusted EBITDA forecast to $40 million to $42 million from $33 million to $35 million and expects adjusted gross margin to expand by more than 1,600 basis points for the year.
Asarpota cautioned that revenue and adjusted EBITDA can vary from quarter to quarter because large GMP consumables and CDMO orders depend on customer program timing. He said the guidance range allows for variability in when expected orders convert to revenue.
Brust said the company expects fourth-quarter GMP volumes to be substantially higher than in the third quarter, though growth against a strong fourth quarter in 2025 may not be material. He expects full-year GMP growth of more than 20% and said the GMP pipeline for 2027 could be weighted toward the second half because of customer program timing.
Product launches and customer pipeline
Maravai expects to launch GMP-grade ModTail before year-end. More than 180 customers were actively using the technology at the end of the third quarter, up from 125 at the end of the second quarter, Brust said.
In response to an analyst’s question, Brust said he expects some ModTail customers to enter early-stage clinical studies in 2027 but would not expect “massive dollars” from GMP ModTail next year. He said customers are working through drug discovery and want GMP material available if their programs reach the clinic.
The company added more than 70 discovery mRNA customers in the quarter. Four discovery customers moved to clinical-stage GMP work, bringing year-to-date conversions to 10 and exceeding Maravai’s initial full-year target of nine. Brust said the company was supporting more than 50 GMP customers in 2026, with an estimated two to three clinical programs per customer on average.
Maravai also recently established an in-country sales presence in China. Brust said the company is reassessing its approach to TriLink in the country after receiving additional patent protection there. Cygnus has already seen strong growth in China this year, he said, and the new presence is intended in part to support dealers and improve customer interactions.
About Maravai LifeSciences (NASDAQ:MRVI)
Maravai LifeSciences Holdings, Inc is a life sciences company that provides products and services used in the development, manufacture and quality testing of biopharmaceuticals, vaccines and diagnostic products. The company serves pharmaceutical, biotechnology, academic and other research organizations involved in nucleic acid and biologics development.
Through its TriLink BioTechnologies business, Maravai supplies specialized nucleic acid products and services, including modified nucleotides, messenger RNA-related materials, enzymes and other components used in research and biomanufacturing.
