Ginkgo to cut spending, lay off staff after earnings disappointment

Ginkgo Bioworks is looking to cut expenses and personnel in an effort to return to profitability and break even by the end of 2026.

The company said it is planning to reduce operating expenses — including a 25% reduction in labor spending across both research and development, and general and administrative departments, according to a Thursday afternoon press release.

Jason Kelly

During an investor call on Thursday, Ginkgo CEO Jason Kelly said that the company is working on exact numbers for the layoffs. According to SEC filings, Ginkgo had 1,218 employees at the end of last year.

Ginkgo’s stock $DNA tanked nearly 17% on Friday.

According to an AlphaSense transcript, Kelly said he was “disappointed” in first-quarter revenues at $38 million, down from $81 million the same time last year. The 53% decrease is primarily caused “by the expected ramp down of K-12 testing in Ginkgo’s Biosecurity segment,” according to the company.

Ginkgo is working on reducing operation expenses by another $100 million, to total $200 million by the middle of 2025, Kelly said. “Facilities are a significant cost for us both in terms of rent but also in terms of facilities maintenance and tracking,” he added.

“We have eight sites today and, with Biofab1 coming online in mid-2025, we expect we could reduce our footprint up to 60%. These simplified operations require less ops, G&A, HR, finance facilities, management and other overhead support which will allow us a significantly reduced G&A cost and overall headcount,” he said.

Ginkgo is also cutting costs through a review of external and internal programs, as well as spending in professional services. “We know that many workers will be impacted by these changes,” Kelly said.