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Fluidigm Posts 15 Percent Drop in Q2 Revenues

This story has been updated with comments from the company's earnings call.

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) - Fluidigm said after the close of the market on Thursday that its second quarter revenues decreased 15 percent year over year.

For the three months ended June 30, the South San Francisco, California-based firm reported revenues of $23.9 million compared to $28.2 million in the second quarter of 2016.

Instrument revenue decreased 25 percent year over year to $9.9 million, primarily due to a decline in the company's single-cell genomics business. Consumables revenue fell 17 percent to $9.6 million, again due to a decline in the company's genomics business. Service revenues were up 27 percent to $4.3 million, driven mainly by an increase in post-warranty service contracts.

Genomics product revenue was down 35 percent to $10.9 million while mass cytometry product revenue rose 9 percent to $8.6 million.

On a conference call following release of the company's Q2 results, Fluidigm President and CEO Chris Linthwaite said he believed the performance of its mass cytometry business "reflects the broadening of our footprint in this market," and added that with the planned launch of an imaging mass cytometry platform this fall, the company hopes to further expand the market for the technology.

Addressing the company's high-throughput genomics business, Linthwaite noted that revenues declined on the quarter but said he was "encouraged that product revenues stabilized over the last four quarters" and that the company expected to see sequential growth in the second half of the year.

He also cited two recent agreements Fluidigm has entered aimed at moving into new geographies and expanding its genomics menu offerings. Under a multi-year agreement with Ascendas Genomics, the company will work to " develop and commercialize molecular diagnostic systems and assays in China using microfluidic technologies included in Fluidigm’s Biomark HD and Juno systems," Linthwaite said.

Under a second license agreement, with an as-of-yet undisclosed partner that he described as "a world- renowned leader in genetics testing," Fluidigm has obtained the rights to commercialize library prep assays for sequencing the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene CFTR.

Noting that the company had an "installed base of 815 high throughput genomic systems at the end of 2016," Linthwaite said it aimed to "leverage this footprint" through the release of new content in 2017, and added that the company sees "significant downstream opportunities in large- scale pharma and other applied markets."

Vikram Jog, Fluidigm's CFO, addressed the company's cost-cutting efforts noting that the exit or sub-lease of certain company facilities was expected to save some $6 million over the next four years, while downsizing measures taken in Q1 would save an anticipated $8 million before severance expenses in 2017.

Fluidigm's net loss for the quarter fell to $16.9 million, or $.58 per share, from $18.6 million, or $.64 per share, a year ago.

The company's R&D spending decreased 25 percent to $7.5 million from $10.0 million in the prior-year period. Its SG&A spending was $21.0 million, down 12 percent from $23.8 million.

The firm ended the quarter with $39.6 million in cash and cash equivalents and $2.4 million in short-term investments.

It gave Q3 2017 guidance of between $24 million and $26 million in revenue.

In Friday morning trading on Nasdaq, Fluidigm shares were up around 10 percent to $3.41.