MGI Tech
Chinese DNA sequencer maker, BGI spinoff, direct rival to Illumina in genomics hardware.
On the record
Checkpoint: OMB expected to publish formal 'biotech company of concern' list, which could trigger US procurement bans
The call
MGI's chemistry and China distribution still work, but Illumina's return and US blacklisting are closing in from both sides at once.
MGI Tech is a Chinese company that builds machines for reading DNA sequences. The company once had an advantage because it owned special technology and customers who bought its supplies from them, plus China mostly kept out its American rival Illumina. But that protection is falling apart: Illumina got permission to sell in China again in November 2025, and the U.S. government blocked MGI from selling to American federal agencies starting in 2027, treating it as a national security risk. MGI's revenue dropped from 3.01 billion Chinese yuan to 2.78 billion between 2024 and 2025, it cut research staff by about 30 percent, and its newest machine has only 27 units sold worldwide. The one thing that could save the company is if it can prove its newer technologies, like STOmics and CycloneSEQ, are so valuable that customers will still buy them even with the U.S. ban in place and Illumina competing freely in China again.
Why
01
AI pressure: None apparent. AI mostly drives demand for sequencing data rather than replacing MGI's hardware business today. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.
02
Bigger players: Illumina. Illumina's China export ban lifted Nov 2025, letting it re-enter MGI's home turf just as MGI hits US procurement blacklists. Could a giant copy it? Probably.
03
What protects it. Patented DNBSEQ chemistry and an installed reagent base give MGI pricing and switching-cost leverage inside China.
What would change this call
OMB publishes its formal 'biotech company of concern' list in December 2026. Would confirm US procurement bans on MGI move from risk to enforced reality.
Illumina reports China revenue or unit share gains in FY2026 results. Would show Illumina reclaiming ground in MGI's protected home market.
MGI discloses T7+ global installed-unit count in Q3-Q4 2026 filings. Would show whether MGI's flagship sequencer is gaining or stalling in adoption.
Illumina reports China revenue or unit share gains in FY2026 results. Would show Illumina reclaiming ground in MGI's protected home market.
MGI discloses T7+ global installed-unit count in Q3-Q4 2026 filings. Would show whether MGI's flagship sequencer is gaining or stalling in adoption.
Key numbers
- FY2025 revenue fell to RMB 2.78bn from RMB 3.01bn
- T7+ flagship sequencer: only 27 units installed worldwide
- China revenue RMB 1.87bn, down 8% year over year
Named risks
- US BIOSECURE/1260H listing could trigger formal biotech company of concern designation by OMB Dec 2026.
- Illumina re-entering China post export-ban lift (Nov 2025) threatens MGI's core domestic revenue base.
- FY2025 revenue decline plus 30% R&D headcount cut signal contracting innovation capacity.
- T7+ flagship product adoption stalled at only 27 units installed globally as of end-2025.
- Unproven integration outcomes from March 2026 STOmics/CycloneSEQ acquisition.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Illumina | contesting | China lifted Illumina's export ban 2025-11-10 while MGI holds $333.8M patent verdict against Illumina since 2022 |
| Ultima Genomics | contesting | MGI's T7+ (Sept 2025) explicitly benchmarked against Ultima's UG 100 in same high-throughput segment |
| Oxford Nanopore Technologies | contesting | Oxford Nanopore reportedly objected to MGI's overseas CycloneSeq nanopore distribution per GenomeWeb, 2025-09-09 |
| Element Biosciences | gaining on | Won German patent case against Illumina 2026-07-14, signaling a more contested sequencing IP landscape |
Questions people ask
- Is MGI Tech profitable in 2026?
- No. MGI reported a net loss of RMB -257.01M on a trailing-twelve-month basis as of April 2026, and full-year 2025 revenue fell to RMB 2.78bn from RMB 3.01bn in 2024, though Q1 2026 revenue rebounded 29% year-over-year per company disclosure.
- Is MGI Tech facing layoffs?
- Yes. Headcount dropped from 2,604 at end-2024 to 2,195 at end-2025, a 16% cut, with R&D staff falling from 812 to 572, a 30% reduction, as reported by GenomeWeb on 2026-04-27.
- Could AI replace MGI Tech's sequencing business?
- Unlikely for hardware. Sequencing is a physical chemical process (DNBSEQ nanoball chemistry), so AI mainly threatens downstream bioinformatics and variant-calling layers, not the reagent and instrument manufacturing MGI's revenue depends on.
- Who is MGI Tech's biggest competitor?
- Illumina is MGI's chief rival and litigation adversary; MGI/Complete Genomics won a $333.8M Delaware jury verdict against Illumina in 2022 over two-channel chemistry patents, and China lifted Illumina's export ban on 2025-11-10, reopening MGI's home turf.
- Who owns MGI Tech?
- MGI Tech is publicly traded on Shanghai's STAR Market under ticker 688114 since its September 2022 IPO; it was founded in 2016 as a BGI Group subsidiary and later spun out, with Complete Genomics as its US subsidiary.
- Is MGI Tech banned from the US market?
- Not yet fully banned, but at serious risk. The BIOSECURE Act became law 2025-12-18, MGI landed on the DoD's June 2026 Section 1260H list, and OMB must publish a formal 'biotech company of concern' list by December 2026 with procurement bans phasing in 2027-2028.
Timeline
- 2026-06-08DoD updated Section 1260H list names MGI Tech, BGI Group, Complete Genomics as Chinese military companies
- 2026-04-27GenomeWeb reports FY2025 revenue decline to RMB 2.78bn and Q1 2026 rebound of 29% YoY
- 2026-03-04MGI acquires STOmics spatial omics and CycloneSEQ long-read nanopore units
- 2026-01-19BIOSECURE Act formally enacted as part of FY2026 NDAA
- 2025-12-18BIOSECURE Act signed into law within FY2026 NDAA
- 2025-11-10China lifts Illumina export ban, reopening competition in MGI's home market
- 2025-09-09MGI launches DNBSEQ-T7+ flagship high-throughput sequencer
- 2025-02-01MGI launches DNBSEQ-T1+ mid-throughput sequencer at AGBT 2025
- 2022-09-08MGI IPO on Shanghai STAR Market under ticker 688114
- 2020-05-31MGI raises $1B Series B led by IDG Capital and CPE China Fund at ~$4B valuation
Revision history
24 July 2026
First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- MGI (company) (2026-06-16)
- MGI Tech Co Ltd, 688114:SHH profile (2026-04-09)
- Week In Review: Shenzhen's MGI Tech Raises $1 Billion (2020-05-31)
- MGI Tech Stock Price, Funding, Valuation, Revenue & Financial Statements (2022-09-08)
- gurufocus.com (2026-07-24)
- MGI Tech Announces Acquisition of STOmics and CycloneSEQ (2026-03-04)
- MGI Q1 Revenue Grows 29 Percent After 2025 Decline (2026-04-27)
- MGI ESHG 2026 release (2026-06-13)
- MGI Tech Showcases Comprehensive Multi-Omics Solutions (2025-05-26)
- MGI Tech's T7+ Sequencer Promises to Churn out 35K Human Genomes per Year (2025-09-09)
- United States: The BIOSECURE Act Becomes Law (2026-01-19)
- DoD Releases Updated 1260H List (2026-06-09)