NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Luminex reported after the close of the market Monday that its fourth quarter revenues rose 20 percent year over year, aided by 39 percent growth over the prior-year period for Nanosphere, a company it acquired in 2016.
For the three months ended Dec. 31, the firm reported revenues rose to $72.3 million from $60.4 million a year ago, beating analysts' consensus estimate of $70.9 million.
The overall revenue increase was largely due to a 36 percent jump in assay sales to $36.7 million from $26.9 million a year ago. Q4 systems revenues rose 12 percent year over year to $9.6 million from $8.5 million, while consumables revenues were up 5 percent to $11.1 million from $10.6 million. Royalty revenue grew 7 percent to $10.2 million from $9.5 million, while all other revenues dropped 5 percent to $4.7 million from $5.0 million.
The firm said that infectious disease assay sales were approximately 78 percent of total assay sales for the fourth quarter and genetic testing assays were 22 percent of the total. Nanosphere contributed $9.5 million to revenues in Q4.
Luminex further reported that it shipped 272 multiplexing analyzers during Q4, including various Magpix systems, LX systems, and Flexmap 3D systems.
"During 2016 we acquired Nanosphere, eliminated several lines of business and redeployed those personnel to our family of molecular sample-to-answer solutions which now include Aries, Verigene, and in the future, Project Atlas," Luminex President and CEO Homi Shamir said in a statement accompanying the release of the earnings. "These platform solutions enable our clinical laboratory customers to simplify complex workflows while delivering accurate and timely data to improve patient care."
The firm posted a net loss for the quarter of $3.4 million, or a loss of $.08 per share, compared to net income of $20.4 million, or $.47 per share, for Q4 2015. On an adjusted basis, Luminex reported net income for the quarter of $4.6 million, or $.11 per share, beating the consensus Wall Street estimate of $.09.
The company's R&D spending rose 22 percent during the quarter to $13.3 million from $10.9 million in the year-ago period. Its Q4 SG&A expenses rose 24 percent to $28.6 million from $23.0 million in Q4 2015.
For the full year 2016, Luminex reported revenues rose 14 percent to $270.6 million from $237.7 million in 2015, above the average Wall Street estimate of $269.5 million.
The firm reported that systems revenues in 2016 were up 22 percent year over year to $37.4 million from $30.7 million, while consumables revenues were up 12 percent to $48.6 million from $43.3 million. Its royalty revenues grew 6 percent to $44.0 million from $41.5 million, while assay revenues climbed 21 percent to $122.1 million from $101.2 million. All other revenues fell 12 percent to $18.5 million from $21.0 million in 2015.
Luminex reported net income for the year of $13.8 million, or $.32 per share, compared to $36.9 million, or $.86 per share, for FY 2015. On an adjusted basis, 2016 net income was $.93 per share, well above analysts' consensus estimate of $.51 per share.
R&D expenses for the year rose 14 percent to $48.7 million from $42.7 million in 2015. SG&A expenses rose 17 percent to $99.5 million in 2016 from $84.8 million in 2015.
Luminex ended the year with $93.5 million in cash and cash equivalents.
For the first quarter of 2017, the company anticipates revenues of $73 million to $75 million, and anticipates revenues of $295 million to $305 million for the full year. Analysts, on average, expect revenues of $74.2 million for Q1 and $299.6 million for 2017.