NEW YORK – Qiagen reported after the close of the market on Tuesday that its second quarter revenues jumped 16 percent year over year due primarily to high demand for products related to SARS-CoV-2 molecular diagnostic testing.
For the three months ended June 30, Qiagen reported revenues of $443.3 million compared to $381.6 million a year ago and well above analysts' average estimate of $425.8 million. On an adjusted basis at constant exchange rates (CER), revenues grew 19 percent year over year, in line with guidance provided by the company in early July.
"The unprecedented demand for products used in coronavirus testing is driving Qiagen's performance in 2020," Qiagen CEO Thierry Bernard said in a statement. "Sales of testing solutions for the novel coronavirus were strong across all regions in the first half of 2020, for research in the life sciences and among molecular diagnostics customers for use in identifying patients with COVID-19."
However, demand for the firm's QuantiFERON-TB and other applications waned along with non-COVID-19 healthcare and research activity, Bernard added.
By product category, consumables and related product revenues grew 12 percent year over year to about $375 million, and was related to products such as RNA sample technology kits, reagents sold to third parties for use in their own COVID-19 testing kits, and cartridges for the QiaStat-Dx syndromic testing platform.
Instrument sales grew 45 percent year over year to about $68 million due to ongoing strong demand for platforms such as the QiaSymphony molecular testing automation system and the QiaCube family of sample processing instruments.
By customer class, sales to molecular diagnostics customers grew 9 percent year over year to about $204 million while sales to life sciences customers jumped 23 percent to approximately $239 million. Within the life sciences customer class, academia/applied markets grew 39 percent to $164 million while pharma markets fell 1 percent to $75 million.
Sales of the firm's QuantiFeron-TB test for latent tuberculosis detection fell 46 percent to $33.4 million, and faced "significant headwinds" in the US and Europe due to reduced demand, but it experienced "accelerating trends" in regions where quarantines and lockdown measures have been eased, Qiagen noted.
Qiagen's Q2 net income was $89.8 million, or $.38 per share, compared to $44.7 million, or $.19 per share in the year-ago period. Adjusted EPS was $.55, beating analysts' consensus estimate of $.46.
Qiagen's Q2 R&D expenses fell 22 percent to $31.8 million from $40.8 million, while its SG&A spending dropped 9 percent to $118.3 million from $130.3 million.
The company finished the quarter with $688.3 million in cash and cash equivalents, $3.9 million in restricted cash, and $56.0 million in short-term investments.
Qiagen is in the process of being acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific, and on July 16, the companies amended the terms of the agreement, raising the offer price for Qiagen's stock to €43 ($49) per share from the original offer of €39 per share to reflect the fair value of the business.
The amendment also reduces the minimum acceptance threshold from 75 percent to 66.67 percent of Qiagen's issued and outstanding ordinary share capital at the end of the acceptance period on Aug. 10, 2020, as well as a $95.0 million expense reimbursement payment payable by Qiagen to Thermo Fisher if the minimum acceptance threshold is not met.
The members of Qiagen's supervisory and management boards reaffirmed their unanimous support for the offer and recommendation that all Qiagen shareholders accept and tender all of their shares prior to the end of the acceptance period.