This story has been updated to include comments from a call with investors.
NEW YORK – Qiagen reported after the close of the market on Wednesday that its first quarter revenues increased 5 percent year over year on a reported basis and 7 percent at constant exchange rates (CER).
The firm also announced that it will propose the initiation of an annual cash dividend and seek authorization for a new $500 million share repurchase at an upcoming shareholder meeting.
For the quarter ended March 31, Qiagen reported net sales of $483.5 million, or $491 million at CER, compared to $458.8 million a year ago. The results were above analysts' average estimate of $476.8 million as well as the firm's prior outlook of about 3 percent growth at CER.
"Qiagen delivered a solid start to 2025, exceeding our outlook on both sales and adjusted earnings," CEO Thierry Bernard said in a statement.
"Our growth pillars QiaStat-Dx and QuantiFeron both posted double-digit sales gains, while QiAcuity and Qiagen Digital Insights both continued to build momentum, and in sample technologies, we are focusing on automation and preparing for new instrument launches," Bernard said. "These advancements highlight the execution of our focused strategy and our ability to perform amid global uncertainty."
Sales of consumables and related products grew 8 percent year over year at CER, Qiagen said, while instrument sales were flat, which the firm attributed to cautious capital spending trends among customers.
The firm's diagnostic solutions revenues increased 9 percent year over year to $187 million, or 14 percent excluding the NeuMoDx business that it is shuttering.
Growth within diagnostics was driven by double-digit consumables sales, Qiagen said. Sales in its QiaStat-Dx business grew 35 percent to $34 million with growth in consumables and instrument sales, while its QuantiFeron business grew 14 percent to $116 million.
On a call with investors on Thursday morning, Bernard suggested that the cycle of lab instrument sales is likely to normalize in the next couple of months. For its QiAcuity system, the firm has seen the fastest installed base growth ever for an instrument platform, Bernard said, confirming its ambitions for $200 million in annual sales by 2028.
Meanwhile, CFO Roland Sackers noted that the bump in QiaStat-Dx sales was related to a menu expansion of more than 100 research-use panels in 2024 and 100 more planned for 2025, which is in turn driving consumables pull-through.
Revenues from companion diagnostics partnerships also rose at a double-digit CER rate, Qiagen said, and its NeuMoDx system remains on track to be discontinued by mid-2025.
On the call, Bernard said that Qiagen has noted "a growing appetite" among pharma customers for the firm's PCR, dPCR, and NGS companion test development services.
Sales within sample technologies declined 3 percent to $150 million from $155 million, reflecting lower demand for manual kits and weaker instrument sales trends.
Sales in Qiagen's PCR and nucleic acid amplification business rose 13 percent year over year to $76 million, which the firm said was related to menu expansion for its QiAcuity digital PCR system.
Qiagen's genomics and next-generation sequencing business sales, meanwhile, declined 3 percent to $53 million due to lower sales of consumables and services, offset by high single-digit CER growth in the firm's bioinformatics and universal NGS consumables businesses.
In the quarter, Qiagen obtained US Food and Drug Administration clearance for its QiaStat-Dx Gastrointestinal Panel 2 Mini B, and it launched the research-use QiaPrep& Plasmodium Kit.
Regarding tariffs, Sackers said that the firm started early by increasing its inventory, and reviewing its supply chain and its company processes to mitigate any potential impacts.
In addition, "We are working closely with our customers in sharing some of these impacts," Sackers said, also noting that a lower tax environment in general is helping Qiagen compensate, if not overcompensate, for the tariff impacts.
Qiagen posted net income of $90.8 million, or $.41 per share, compared to net income of $80.7 million, or $.36 per share, for Q1 2024. On an adjusted basis, EPS was $.55, or $.56 at CER, above the consensus Wall Street estimate of $.51.
The firm's R&D spending decreased approximately 15 percent to $43.8 million from $51.3 million, while its SG&A costs decreased approximately 1 percent to $137.9 million from $138.7 million.
Qiagen finished the quarter with $638.8 million in cash and cash equivalents and $324.7 million in short-term investments.
The company reaffirmed its outlook for 2025 CER growth of 3 percent and adjusted diluted EPS of $.50.
On the call, Bernard said that the firm expects to make an announcement related to mergers and acquisitions in the coming weeks.
In afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange shares of Qiagen were down a fraction of a percent at $42.61.