Saying “the strategy is working” feels almost like a joke. Illumina’s board has made a string of questionable decisions — approving the Grail acquisition despite clear EU regulatory risks, then later giving in to activist pressure and spinning it off at the lowest possible value. They brought in a CEO from a company with a decade-long track record of minimal innovation and stagnant growth. Now the focus has shifted to aggressive cuts in both capex and opex, trying to make margin expansion the only story to sell in the absence of real growth. RIFs have practically become an annual event.
Given all this, calling the current strategy a success is hard to take seriously.