NEW YORK – Bruker reported on Wednesday morning that its first quarter revenues increased 31 percent year over year.
For the three months ended March 31, revenues rose to $554.7 million from $424.0 million in the first quarter of 2020, beating analysts' consensus estimate of $513.1 million.
Bruker's organic revenues were up 24 percent year over year, with growth from acquisitions of 1 percent and a 6 percent positive effect from changes in foreign currency exchange rates.
On a conference call following the release of the results, Frank Laukien, Bruker's president, chairman, and CEO, said that the company had seen a "significant recovery in many of our businesses previously impacted by the pandemic."
He noted that Bruker saw "robust order and revenue growth" for its timsTOF mass spectrometry platform as well as improving demand for its other mass spec products.
The company's microbiology and molecular diagnostics revenues were also up year over year, largely due to SARS-CoV-2 molecular testing, which contributed roughly $7 million, Laukien said, though he noted that this figure was down sequentially from Q4 2020.
Laukien also highlighted the launch during the quarter of spatial genomics firm Acuity Spatial Genomics, which aims to commercialize technology developed in the lab of Harvard University professor Ting Wu that allows for spatial analysis of various genomic elements in single cells. Bruker is the primary backer and majority owner of the company. Laukien called it "an important addition to our emerging spatial and single-cell biology portfolio."
Also on the single-cell front, Laukien said that Bruker aims to launch a new timsTOF platform in early 2022 that will be focused on single-cell proteomics based on research done in collaboration with the lab of Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry researcher Matthias Mann.
He said the company had begun receiving inquiries and orders for the instrument, which will cost around $1 million.
Revenues for Bruker's CALID group, which houses its life science mass spec business, were up 37 percent during the quarter to $192.4 million. Revenues for its BioSpin division rose 32 percent to $159.4 million, while revenues increased 29 percent to $154.4 million for its Nano group and 13 percent to $52.4 million for its BEST group.
Bruker's Q1 net income rose to $56.7 million, or $.37 per share, from $10.5 million, or $.07 per share, in Q1 of 2020. On an adjusted basis, EPS was $.44, up from $.14 and above the average Wall Street estimate of $.32.
The firm's Q1 R&D spending rose 13 percent to $54.8 million from $48.5 million, while its SG&A expenses rose 9 percent to $131.8 million from $121.2 million.
Bruker finished the quarter with $696.8 million in cash and cash equivalents and $50.0 million in short-term investments.
The company increased its 2021 guidance, projecting revenue growth of 14 percent to 16 percent and organic revenue growth between 11 percent and 13 percent, an increase from a previous projection of 4 percent. It expects adjusted EPS of $1.82 to $1.87, up $.10 from its previous guidance.
In Wednesday morning trading on Nasdaq, Bruker shares were down 2 percent to $67.38.