By Jared S. Hopkins

Illumina is reducing its forecast for this year's financial performance and cutting $100 million in spending because China barred sales of the company's gene-sequencing machines.

San Diego-based Illumina is lowering its 2025 guidance to $4.50 adjusted earnings per share, at the low end of the range of $4.50 to $4.65 a share given last month, Chief Financial Officer Ankur Dhingra told The Wall Street Journal on Monday.

The company expects to make the $100 million in cost cuts this year.

The moves will help the company offset the impact from China sanctions, Dhingra said. "We will protect our earnings, and we have the levers and the actions to protect our earnings," Dhingra said.

Illumina is a world leader in the manufacture and sale of genetic-sequencing machines and the chemicals the machines use. The company has been caught up in the tariff fight between the U.S. and China.

After President Trump imposed an extra 10% tariff on China exports last month, Beijing added Illumina to a list of "unreliable entities" that China considers untrustworthy or a risk to its security.

Then last week, China's government retaliated against the White House's latest 10% added tariff on all Chinese imports by barring imports of Illumina gene sequencers.

The news has hurt Illumina shares, which have fallen nearly 36% this year to date. The stock on Monday closed down slightly at $85.97 a share.

"China is kind of signaling control, but we also understand this is kind of happening at the same time as the tariff negotiations are happening, too, so it may not entirely be about Illumina alone," Dhingra said.

He said the company has been in contact with both the Trump administration and China's government. "We're trying to navigate it well on both sides, and be able to keep working with the Chinese government," he said.

China accounts for 7% of Illumina's $4.3 billion in yearly revenue. Dhingra said Illumina is focused on its business outside of China and is making "significant progress" to realize the company's goal of revenue growth in the high single-digit percentages by 2027.

The Chinese ban affects Illumina's exports of sequencing machines to the country.

Yet Illumina is still operating a facility in China that assembles its less advanced machines. Illumina will also keep exporting chemicals and other services to customers in China.

Roughly 90% of Illumina's revenue worldwide comes from chemical and services sales, Dhingra said.

Write to Jared S. Hopkins at jared.hopkins@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 10, 2025 17:07 ET (21:07 GMT)

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