AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Astrotech Corporation (Nasdaq: ASTC) (the “Company” or “Astrotech”) reported its financial results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2026, which ended December 31, 2025.

Financial Highlights & Recent Developments

• Research and development expense was $1,832 thousand, a decline of 25% from the second quarter of fiscal year 2025 as the Company transitions from development stage to saleable products for its EN-SCAN Handheld GC and 1^st Detect Tracer 1000 product lines.
• Through December 31, 2025, the Company has deployed the TRACER 1000 trace detection system in approximately 35 locations in 16 countries across the United States, Europe and Asia.
  

“We continue to see positive momentum in our sales pipeline across our global markets year-to-date in fiscal year 2026. Customers in our end markets are increasingly recognizing the value of our mass spectrometry and gas chromatography solutions, which offer real-time operational results and extensive reference libraries that can be tailored to specific end market applications. We believe our library capabilities are of particular interest in the explosives and narcotics trace detection markets, as new narcotics and explosives are being discovered, leading to an urgent need for the ability to expand screening capabilities for both public safety and law enforcement in particular,” said Thomas B. Pickens, III, Astrotech’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Additionally, we have strengthened our team with the appointment of Scott Bartley as Interim Chief Financial Officer and David Spada as Director of Global Sales in our 1^st Detect subsidiary as we move toward sustained revenue growth and global scale.”

About Astrotech Corporation

Astrotech Corporation (Nasdaq: ASTC) is an instrumentation company that creates, operates, and scales innovative businesses through its wholly owned subsidiaries. Each subsidiary leverages Astrotech’s core technology to serve specialized markets:

• 1st Detect develops, manufactures, and markets trace detection systems for security and narcotics screening.
• AgLAB designs process analyzers tailored to the processing of agriculture products.
• Pro-Control produces solutions for in-situ chemical process control in industrial manufacturing.
• BreathTech is advancing a breath analysis platform to detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) associated with infections and critical health conditions.
• EN-SCAN, Inc. delivers portable, ruggedized environmental GC-MS for on-site testing of air, water and soil.
  

Astrotech is headquartered in Austin, Texas. For more information, visit www.astrotechcorp.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, trends, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from the forward-looking statement. These statements may be identified by terms such as “aims,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “contemplates,” “continue,” “could,” “estimates,” “expect,” “forecast,” “guidance,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “possible,” “potential,” “predicts,” “preliminary,” “projects,” “seeks,” “should,” “targets,” “will” or “would,” or the negatives of these terms, variations of these terms or other similar expressions. These factors include, but are not limited to, the adverse impact of inflationary pressures, including significant increases in fuel costs, global economic conditions and events related to these conditions, including the ongoing wars in Ukraine and the middle east, the Company’s use of proceeds from the common stock offerings, whether we can successfully complete the development of our new products and proprietary technologies, whether we can obtain the FDA and other regulatory approvals required to market our products under development in the United States or abroad, whether the market will accept our products and services and whether we are successful in identifying, completing and integrating acquisitions, as well as other risk factors and business considerations described in the Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings including the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Any forward-looking statements in this document should be evaluated in light of these important risk factors. While we do not intend to directly harvest, manufacture, distribute or sell cannabis or cannabis products, we may be detrimentally affected by a change in enforcement by federal or state governments and we may be subject to additional risks in connection with the evolving regulatory area and associated uncertainties. Any such effects may give rise to risks and uncertainties that are currently unknown or amplify others mentioned herein. Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in its forward-looking statements are reasonable and are based on reasonable assumptions, no assurance can be given that these assumptions are accurate or that any of these expectations will be achieved (in full or at all) or will prove to have been correct. Moreover, such statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, which may cause actual results to differ materially from those implied or expressed by the forward-looking statements. In addition, any forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company’s views only as of the date of its publication and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. The Company assumes no obligation to correct or update these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

Company Contact: 
Scott Bartley
Interim Chief Financial Officer, Astrotech Corporation
(512) 485-9530

Investor Contact: 
Matt Kreps
Managing Director, Darrow Associates
(214) 597-8200 mkreps@darrowir.com

Note: The balance sheet at June 30, 2025 has been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements at that date but does not include all of the information and footnotes required by the United States generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial statements.