Deutsche Bank analyst Dan Leonard says he learned at a recent genetics conference that PerkinElmer (PKI) placed a "surprise" order with Illumina (ILMN) for 10 NovaSeq's to support its planned offering in clinical nextgen sequencing. The analyst finds the size of the order, not PerkinElmer being a customer, as a surprise. Ten NovaSeq's is equivalent to the order placed by the Broad Institute, one of the largest genome centers in the world, the analyst points out. He believes demand for newborn sequencing is growing rapidly, "albeit off a small base." The order challenges, but does not change, the analyst's view that the NovaSeq product cycle is not as rapid as HiSeq's. Leonard keeps a Hold rating on Illumina shares with a $175 price target. The stock in early trading is up 44c to $174.77.