NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Veracyte announced after the close of the market on Monday that its fourth quarter revenues grew 32 percent year over year and beat the consensus Wall Street estimate.
For the three months ended Dec. 31, 2018, the South San Francisco, California-based genomics diagnostics firm posed $25.8 million in revenues, up from $19.6 million in Q4 2017 and above analysts' average estimate of $24.4 million.
Total genomic test volume was up 28 percent year over year to 9,154 tests in the quarter, Veracyte said.
The company reduced its R&D spending during the recently completed quarter 3 percent year over year to $3.1 million from $3.2 million and increased its SG&A spending 16 percent to $16.7 million from $14.4 million.
It finished Q4 2018 with a net loss of $3.1 million, or $.08 per share, compared to a net loss of $8.4 million, or $.24 per share, in the year-ago period. It easily beat the consensus Wall Street estimate of a loss of $.15 per share.
For full-year 2018, Veracyte's revenues improved 28 percent year over year to $92.0 million from $72.0 million in 2017, and surpassed analysts' average estimate of $90.6 million. Total genomic test volume grew 22 percent year over year to 31,710 tests in 2018, the company said.
Among the highlights during the past year was the transitioning of all customers of the firm's Afirma Gene Expression Classifier for thyroid cancer to the second-generation Afirma Genomic Sequencing Classifier and the launch of the Afirma Xpression Atlas, a test geared toward patients who have already received the Afirma GSC and are either deemed at high or an indeterminate risk for thyroid cancer in order to help inform surgical strategy and treatment decisions. Veracyte added that it grew test volume for its Percepta Bronchial Genomic Classifier, a genomic classifier that helps determine whether lung nodules should be surgically removed, to about 1,550 tests in its first full year of commercialization.
It also established 20 early-access program sites across the US in 2018 for Envisia, which helps in diagnosing idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
The launch of the company's Afirma GSC and Xpression Atlas "broadened our thyroid offering to inform both diagnosis and treatment decisions," Veracyte Chairman and CEO Bonnie Anderson said in a statement, adding that the first full year of Percepta classifier adoption "was strong with the fourth quarter acceleration in growth positioning us for a strong 2019."
Veracyte's R&D costs for FY 2018 increased 6 percent year over year to $14.8 million in 2018 from $13.9 million in 2017. Its SG&A spending rose 18 percent to $65.3 million in 2018 from $55.3 million in 2017.
The firm narrowed its net loss to $23.0 million, or $.62 per share, from a net loss of $31.0 million, or $.91 per share, in 2017. It beat the consensus Wall Street estimate of a loss per share of $.70.
For 2019, Veracyte said it anticipated between $113 million and $117 million in total revenues, driven by its genomic classifier products as well as its biopharmaceutical collaborations.
Veracyte finished 2018 with $78.0 million in cash and cash equivalents.
In Tuesday morning trading, Veracyte's stock was up nearly 8 percent at $21.20 on the Nasdaq.