908 Devices Raises 2026 Outlook as Handheld Detection Demand Accelerates

908 Devices raised its 2026 revenue outlook to $68 million–$70 million, representing 21%–25% growth, while targeting an adjusted EBITDA loss in the mid-single-digit millions.

Second-quarter revenue rose 23% year over year to $16.1 million, recurring revenue reached 31%, and the adjusted EBITDA loss narrowed 50% to under $2 million.

The company ended the quarter with $101.5 million in cash and no debt.

Demand is expanding across state and local agencies, defense, border security and industrial safety, while the NIRLab acquisition is adding subscription revenue.

The installed base now exceeds 4,100 devices across 700 accounts, with further growth expected from aging-instrument replacements and new handheld products.

908 Devices NASDAQ: MASS outlined its strategy to expand in handheld chemical detection following second-quarter 2026 results that showed revenue growth, a narrower adjusted EBITDA loss and increasing recurring revenue.

Speaking at the Midwest IDEAS Conference, CEO and Co-Founder Kevin Knopp said the company has spent the past 18 months reshaping its operations around portable tools for public health, safety and chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives, or CBRNE, defense applications.

The company reported second-quarter revenue of $16.1 million, up 23% year over year, with recurring revenue accounting for 31% of the total.

Its adjusted gross margin was 57%, while its adjusted EBITDA loss was less than $2 million, a 50% improvement from a year earlier.

908 Devices ended the quarter with $101.5 million in cash and no debt, Knopp said.

Knopp said the company’s installed base has surpassed 4,100 devices across 700 accounts, with more than 18,000 trained users in over 70 countries.

The company shipped 198 devices during the second quarter.

Knopp said 908 Devices has diversified away from reliance on a limited number of large U.S. federal accounts.

State and local customers represented more than 50% of second-quarter revenue and exceeded the company’s internal expectations, he said.

The company cited demand drivers including the opioid and illicit-drug crisis, higher global defense spending, border-security funding and chemical-safety risks.

Knopp said customers use its products for detecting and identifying drugs such as fentanyl, inspecting customs and postal shipments, monitoring air quality and identifying toxic vapors and chemical agents.

As an example of product use, Knopp said Virginia’s Operation FREE program deployed the company’s MX908 devices for trace narcotics detection in correctional facilities.

He said fatal overdoses in the state’s correctional system fell from 24 in 2024 to zero in 2025.

The company also received an initial order for 15 devices from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, he said.

In July, 908 Devices announced a $6 million ProtectIR order from a correctional agency in the Asia-Pacific region, Knopp said.

On industrial hazards, Knopp cited a Wall Street Journal report that found 131 serious chemical accidents in the U.S. during 2025, up 20% year over year.

He said responders used the company’s XplorIR device during an incident involving an overheated chemical tank in Garden Grove, California, that led to the evacuation of more than 40,000 residents.

908 Devices acquired NIRLab in May, adding a near-infrared spectroscopy product designed for frontline law-enforcement screening.

Knopp said NIRLab has more than 100 active customers globally, has completed more than 1 million analyses and derives about 50% of its revenue from recurring sources.