NEW YORK – Castle Biosciences said after the close of the market on Tuesday that its fourth quarter revenues jumped 53 percent year over year as the company beat analyst estimates on the top and bottoms lines.
The Friendswood, Texas-based clinical diagnostics company also reported full-year revenues at the top end of previously issued guidance and offered full-year 2023 guidance ahead of Wall Street expectations.
For the three months ended Dec. 31, Castle Bio reported revenues of $38.3 million compared to $25.0 million in the same quarter a year ago. On average, analysts had expected Q4 revenues of $37.2 million.
Castle noted that Q4 revenues included about $800,000 in positive adjustments related to tests delivered in prior periods, bringing adjusted revenues to $37.5 million, a 45 percent year-over-year increase.
The company delivered 12,644 total test reports in Q4, up 53 percent from 8,269 reports in the year-ago quarter. Of its PCR-based gene expression analysis offerings, DecisionDx-Melanoma test reports led the way with 7,301, up 30 percent year over year, followed by 1,845 DecisionDx-SCC test reports, up 46 percent. The firm delivered an aggregate 822 MyPath Melanoma and DiffDx-Melanoma test reports, down 9 percent year over year.
Castle also reported meaningful revenues in Q4 from recently acquired tests. The company delivered 1,030 TissueCypher Barrett's Esophagus (BE) test reports compared to 27 in the year-ago period. TissueCypher BE is a proteomic and morphological pathology test that the firm acquired along with Cernostics in late 2021. Castle also delivered 1,214 IDgenetix test reports in Q4 compared to none a year ago. IDgenetix is a pharmacogenomic test focused on psychiatric medications that Castle acquired along with test developer AltheaDx in April of last year.
The company's Q4 SG&A expenses grew 52 percent to $38.4 million from $25.2 million a year ago, while its R&D spending ticked up 20 percent to $11.3 million from $9.4 million.
Castle's Q4 net loss swelled to $20.6 million, or $.78 per share, from a net loss of $6.4 million, or $.25 per share, in the year-ago period. On average, analysts had expected a loss per share of $.84.
For full-year 2022, Castle reported total revenues of $137.0 million, up 46 percent from $94.1 million in 2021, at the top end of previously stated guidance and ahead of analysts' average expectation of $135.8 million. Adjusted revenues, excluding the effects of revenue adjustments related to tests delivered in prior periods, were $139.0 million, a 53 percent increase.
The company delivered 44,419 total test reports in 2022, up 58 percent from 28,145 in 2021. Castle said the number of test reports delivered for all test types increased year over year in 2022, led by 27,803 DecisionDx-Melanoma reports, up 37 percent.
The company's full-year SG&A spending shot up 65 percent to $143.0 million from $86.7 million in 2021, while its R&D spending grew 52 percent to $44.9 million from $29.6 million.
Castle's 2022 net loss grew to $67.1 million, or $2.58 per share, from $31.3 million, or $1.24 per share, in 2021. On average, analysts had predicted a net loss per share of $2.62.
The company finished the year with $122.9 million in cash and cash equivalents and $135.7 million in marketable investment securities.
Castle said that it anticipates $170 million to $180 million in total revenue for 2023, ahead of analysts' average expectation of $168.3 million.