NEW YORK – Quidel reported after the close of the market on Wednesday that its third quarter revenues rose 8 percent year over year, beating Wall Street estimates.
For the three months ended Sept. 30, revenues increased to $126.5 million from $117.4 million in Q3 2018, beating the average analyst expectation of $125.6 million. The increase was driven primarily by growth in the rapid immunoassay business.
"Quidel's third quarter financial performance was solid and in line with our expections," Quidel CEO Douglas Bryant said on a call following the release of the financial results.
Quidel's molecular diagnostic solutions business revenue grew 5 percent to $4.7 million from $4.5 million, in part due to 20 percent growth in revenue from the firm's Solana molecular diagnostics system.
Rapid Immunoassay product revenue, which includes revenue from the QuickVue, Sofia, and Eye Health products, increased 20 percent in the quarter to $42.5 million from $35.4 million in Q3 of 2018, primarily due to a $7.1 million increase in influenza revenue. Revenue from the cardiac immunoassay business segment, which includes Triage, Triage Toxicology, and the Beckman BNP products, grew 2 percent to $66.8 million from $65.3 million. Specialized diagnostics solutions revenues increased 1 percent to $12.5 million from $12.3 million.
Revenue for influenza products overall increased 36 percent to $29.3 million compared to $21.6 million in the third quarter last year.
On the call Bryant said placements of the firm's instrumented immunoassay system were under 2,000, typical for a non-flu quarter and aided by a few hundred instruments shipped to new customers adopting the Sofia Lyme test.
Quidel's Q3 net income was $16.2 million, or $.38 per share, compared to a net income of $10.8 million, or $.27 per share in the prior year. On an adjusted basis, the company reported earnings per share of $.70, beating the Wall Street estimate of $.64 per share.
The company's R&D costs decreased 8 percent to $12.0 million from $13.1 million in Q3 of 2018, driven by lower spending on the cardiovascular and Solana platforms. Its SG&A rose 4 percent to $38.7 million from $37.1 million, due in part to higher facilities costs associated with international expansion and professional services fees.
Quidel finished the third quarter with $28.9 million in cash and cash equivalents.