NEW YORK – Pacific Biosciences said after the close of the market on Thursday that its revenues for the first quarter were flat year over year at $38.8 million, in line with preliminary revenues announced last month and missing the analysts' average estimate of $43.0 million.
Instrument revenue was $19.0 million, down 8 percent from $20.7 million a year ago, while consumables revenue was $16.0 million, up 14 percent from $14.0 million a year ago. Service and other revenue was $3.8 million, down 9 percent from $4.2 million a year ago, attributable to customers transitioning to Revio and opting not to renew service plans for older instruments.
"The instrument shortfall primarily resulted from elongated customer purchasing cycles, as the median sales cycle for Revio instrument purchases increased more than we expected in the first quarter of 2024," CEO Christian Henry said on a conference call with investors following the release of the Q1 results. "More specifically, we believe that the sales cycle increased primarily because of uncertainty surrounding the timing of funding for new capital equipment, particularly in the United States and China. Smaller Sequel II and IIe customers who are planning to upgrade to a Revio are waiting for the samples to drive that upgrade, and an increasing proportion of the sales pipeline is comprised of new customers in the first quarter of 2024, which have proven to have longer sales cycles compared to those existing PacBio customers."
Revenues from the Americas were $17.7 million, down 7 percent from $19.1 million a year ago, driven by a decline in Revio shipments. Revenues from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa were $8.4 million, up 6 percent from $7.9 million a year ago but lower than previously anticipated. Revenues in the Asia-Pacific region were $12.8 million, up 7 percent from $12.0 million, driven by growth in Japan and other countries, partially offset by headwinds in China.
The firm placed 28 Revio sequencers in the quarter, down from 32 in the year-ago quarter. Approximately 69 percent of consumables revenue came from Revio systems, CFO Susan Kim said.
PacBio's net loss for the quarter was $78.2 million, or $.29 per share, compared to a net loss of $88.0 million, or $.36 per share, in Q1 2023. On an adjusted basis, loss per share was $.26, compared to a $.31 per share loss in Q1 2023, narrowly beating the consensus Wall Street estimate of a $.27 loss per share.
The firm's first quarter R&D expenses fell 11 percent to $43.5 million from $48.9 million in Q1 2023. Its SG&A expenses rose 10 percent year over year to $43.7 million from $39.8 million.
As of March 31, the company had $561.9 million in cash and investments and $2.7 million in restricted cash.
"We believe our current sales pipeline is sufficient to at least support the midpoint of our guide of 120 Revio systems [sales in 2024], which provides further confidence in our revised revenue targets for 2024," Henry said.
Following layoffs announced last month, PacBio expects to end the second quarter with fewer than 600 employees, Kim said.
In Friday morning trading on the Nasdaq, shares of PacBio were up 8 percent at $1.86.