This story has been updated from a previous version to include comments made by Fluidigm President and CEO Chris Linthwaite on an earnings call.
NEW YORK – Fluidigm reported after the close of the market on Monday that its fourth quarter revenues were essentially flat year over year, in line with preliminary revenues reported by the company in mid-January.
Separately on Monday, Fluidigm said that its CyTOF technology and Maxpar Direct Immune Profiling Assay are being used by Covance, the drug development business of Laboratory Corporation of America, to develop highly multiplexed immune profiling services. The firm also said that it has established a Center of Excellence for imaging mass cytometry at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Washington, DC.
For the three months ended Dec. 31, 2019, Fluidigm tallied revenues of $32.4 million compared to $32.3 million a year ago and ahead of analysts' consensus estimate of $30.8 million.
Total Q4 product revenue was $26.7 million, down 2 percent from $27.2 million a year ago. Instrument revenue rose 15 percent to $15.8 million from $13.7 million, while consumables revenue dipped 19 percent to $10.9 million from $13.5 million.
Fluidigm reported total Q4 service revenue of $5.4 million, up slightly from $5.2 million a year ago.
By market, mass cytometry revenue increased 13 percent to $21.5 million from $19.1 million in Q4, while microfluidics revenue decreased 18 percent to $10.9 million from $13.2 million a year ago. The company said that its mass cytometry active installed instrument base increased to 292 at the end of Q4 and included 85 imaging-enabled instruments.
On a conference call recapping the earnings, Fluidigm President and CEO Chris Linthwaite said that he is "pleased with the progress we made in delivering broader adoption of mass cytometry across multiple customer segments."
He also noted that mass cytometry weakness reported in Q3 seemed to be a blip on the radar caused by an improper allocation of sales and marketing resources.
"Starting late in Q3, we conducted a review of our market assumptions, competitive positioning, and commercial effectiveness," Linthwaite said. "We concluded that end market health and competitive dynamics were not the prime drivers of our underperformance."
Instead, he noted that Fluidigm's "coverage model had not scaled with the accelerating growth of our mass cytometry installed base from the last two years" and that the company had "poor coverage of high-value microfluidics accounts and prospects."
"Simply put, we were spread too thin on both [mass cytometry and microfluidics] business lines with a single-selling team," Linthwaite said.
As such, Fluidigm "began a series of commercial investments starting in Q4 and continuing into Q1 aimed at addressing this situation," he said. "We anticipate reaching our target commercial footprint in Q2 and we are on track with our hiring plans."
Fluidigm narrowed its Q4 net loss to $12.7 million, or $.18 per share, from $14.8 million, or $.36 per share, a year ago. The company used approximately 69.7 million shares to calculate per-share loss in the recently completed quarter compared to about 41.5 million shares a year ago. On an adjusted basis, Q4 loss per share was $.03, besting analysts' average expectation for a loss per share of $.19.
The company's Q4 R&D spending rose 4 percent to $8.3 million from $8.0 million, while its SG&A expenses dropped 15 percent to $18.8 million from $22.0 million.
For full-year 2019, Fluidigm's revenues rose 4 percent to $117.2 million from $113.0 million, besting analysts' consensus estimate of $115.6 million.
Full-year product revenue rose 2 percent to $95.4 million from $93.7 million in 2018, while service revenue rose 10 percent to $21.3 million from $19.3 million.
By market, 2019 mass cytometry revenue increased 23 percent to $73.3 million from $59.6 million a year ago, while microfluidics revenue fell 18 percent to $43.9 million from $53.4 million.
Fluidigm's 2019 net loss was $64.8 million, or $.97 per share, compared to $59.0 million, or $1.49 per share, in 2018. The company used about 66.8 million shares to calculate per-share loss in 2019 compared to about 39.7 million shares in 2018. On an adjusted basis, loss per share was $.36, ahead of analysts' expectation of a loss per share of $.98.
Fluidigm's 2019 R&D spending grew 5 percent to $31.6 million from $30.0 million, while SG&A spending jumped 6 percent to $84.5 million from $79.8 million.
Fluidigm finished the year with $21.7 million in cash and cash equivalents and $37.0 million in short-term investments.
For full-year 2020, Fluidigm said it is expecting revenues of $126 million to $130 million, representing growth of 8 percent to 11 percent, with a GAAP operating loss of $51 million to $54 million and a non-GAAP operating loss of $21 million to $24 million.