NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) — Quidel said after the close of the market on Wednesday that third quarter revenues grew 14 percent to $46.8 million from $41.2 million in Q3 2014, beating the average analyst estimate of $43.5 million.
The increase was driven by sales of the firm's Sofia immunoassay products as well as other new products, which increased by 76 percent year-over-year to $16.6 million. Meanwhile, molecular revenues increased 52 percent year over year.
For the quarter ended Sept. 30, R&D expenses at the company totaled $8.4 million, a 37 percent decrease from $11.5 million, while SG&A expenses inched up 4 percent to $18 million from $17.3 million in the year-ago quarter.
"We believe that the investments that we have made thus far has put us in a position to grow annual revenues reliably at a rate of about 10 to 15 percent, assuming a reasonably normal respiratory disease season," Quidel President and CEO Douglas Bryant said in a conference call recapping the company's earnings.
Quidel's Solana platform and Group A Streptococcus test were granted 510(k) clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration in late Q2 and the firm launched the system and test in August as a moderately complex assay. Bryant characterized initial sales as "very encouraging," noting that the firm intends to submit this and other assays for CLIA waiver in the future.
Quidel's net loss for the quarter shrunk to $762,000, or $.02 per share, from $5.8 million, $.17 per share, in Q3 2014. On a non-GAAP basis, its net income for Q3 was $1.7 million, or $.05 per share, compared to a net loss of $502,000, or $.01 per share, for the same period in 2014. The firm beat the consensus Wall Street estimate for a loss of $0.14 per share.
Quidel ended the quarter with cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash of $184.4 million.