NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) - Luminex reported after the close of the market Monday a 6 percent rise in its second quarter revenues, driven by a 22 percent jump in assay revenues.
For the three-month period ended June 30, Luminex's revenues rose to $58.9 million from $55.6 million in the same period a year earlier, topping the consensus Wall Street estimate of $57 million.
Second quarter revenues from assays jumped to $24.2 million from $19.9 million in the prior-year period. During a conference call following the release of the results, Luminex CFO Harriss Currie said that infectious disease assays accounted for about two-thirds of assay sales and genetic testing assays comprised the remainder.
Royalty revenue also increased 17 percent to $11.1 million from $9.5 million in the prior-year period. Currie said that sales through the firm's partnership with Thermo Fisher Scientific were the primary driver of royalty revenue.
Sales of consumables fell to $11.9 million from $12.6 million, and system sales dropped 21 percent to $6.5 million from $8.3 million in Q2 2014, though the company placed 234 instruments during the quarter.
Luminex officials noted that the firm settled litigation with Enzo Life Sciences resulting in an expense of $7.1 million, a negative impact on earnings of about $.12 per diluted share, but noted that it would no longer be a "distraction" for management. "We were up to almost $2.5 million in expenses before going to trial," Currie said. "It was an avoidance of future costs and made all the sense in the world to put it behind us."
Luminex's Q2 net income was $2.6 million, or $.06 per share, up from $4.7 million, or $.11 a share, in Q2 2014. The firm's non-GAAP EPS was $.27 per share, beating the average Wall Street estimate of $.11 per share.
During the second quarter, Luminex's research and development expenses ticked up to $11.5 million from $11.3 million last year, while SG&A costs were flat at $21 million. Luminex President and CEO Homi Shamir said that the firm expected to hire a sales staff of up to 10 in anticipation of rolling out the Aries System and HSV 1&2 Assay. In July, the firm submitted 510(k) applications to the US Food and Drug Administration for both the platform and the assay.
Luminex ended the quarter with cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments of $121.1 million.
Luminex updated full-year 2015 revenue guidance to between $232 million and $236 million, up from a previous range of $230 million to $236 million. It expects third quarter revenues will be in the range of $56 million to $58 million.