NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) — Fluidigm said after the close of the market on Thursday that its third quarter revenues increased 62 percent year over year, or 35 percent organically.
For the three months ended Sept. 30, Fluidigm logged total revenues of $29.6 million compared to $18.3 million in the year-ago quarter, besting the consensus analysts' estimate of $29.2 million.
Excluding revenues attributable to the company's January acquisition of DVS Sciences, organic revenues increased to $24.7 million.
Product revenues jumped 64 percent to $29.6 million from $18.0 million. This included a 64 percent spike in instruments revenue to $17.9 million from $10.9 million, and a 62 percent increase in consumables revenue to $11.7 million from $7.2 million. License and grant revenue shrunk slightly to $71,000 from $242,000.
Fluidigm said that the increase in instrument revenues was driven by increased sales of the C1 single-cell auto prep and BioMark HD systems, with contribution from the acquired CyTOF 2 system. Excluding contributions from CyTOF 2 sales, instrument revenue grew organically by 29 percent.
Meantime, consumables revenue growth was driven by production genomics and single-cell genomics applications, as well as contribution from acquired proteomic analytical consumables. Excluding the proteomics contribution, organic consumables revenue growth was 48 percent year over year.
The company noted that approximately 60 percent of its BioMark HD system sales in the quarter were motivated by single-cell research, and that approximately a quarter of C1 system sales were combined with a BioMark HD system.
"Fluidigm is at the forefront of the emerging and dynamic single-cell biology market," CEO Gajus Worthington said in a statement. "We have a unique leadership position in the market with a product portfolio that spans across single-cell genomics and proteomics. We are excited to report our first combined sale of a CyTOF 2, C1, and BioMark HD system in the quarter, which we believe reinforces our vision of single-cell biology and the ultimate convergence of single-cell proteomics and genomics research."
Expanding on this in a conference call following release of the company's earnings, Worthington said that "our single-cell genomics customers are recognizing the need to assess single-cell protein expression, and that the CyTOF 2 is really the only tool available for this. Over time, we expect this kind of transaction will become more commonplace. With a CyTOF, a BioMark, a C1, and access to sequencing technology, a scientist is outfitted with the best single-cell biology technology available."
Worthington also underscored the importance of a recently introduced single-cell exome sequencing workflow for the C1 system, saying that it is the company's "most important single-cell product launch" since the company introduced single-cell RNAseq.
"The analysis of single-cell exomes allows for a level of understanding that is unattainable with bulk sequencing," Worthington said. "Specifically, with single-cell analysis you can tell how the genetic changes are distributed. Researchers can now determine precisely which cells contain which mutations or variations; whether mutations segregate into specific sub-populations or are distributed more stochastically; and if mutations tend to concentrate in highly variant cells."
Worthington also noted that the company is on track to launch its single-cell whole genome sequencing protocol in the fourth quarter.
On the proteomics front, Fluidigm launched an early-access program in July for its imaging mass cytometry platform. Worthington noted that interest in the program has been "very healthy," and that the company was on track to ship early-access prototypes by the end of this year, and to broadly commercialize the platform next year.
Fluidigm had a net loss of $13.8 million, or $.49 per share, in Q3 2014 versus a net loss of $4.3 million, or $.17 per share, in the same quarter in 2013. On average, analysts had expected a net loss of $.47 per share.
The company's R&D spending shot up 153 percent to $12.7 million from $5 million, while its SG&A expenses rose 54 percent to $18.6 million from $12.1 million.
Fluidigm's cash and cash equivalents as of the end of the quarter totaled $30.1 million, while its short-term investments totaled $64.3 million.
Fluidigm adjusted its full-year 2014 revenue guidance to between $114 million and $117 million from a previous guidance of $112 million to $118 million. Organic revenue is projected to be between $95 million and $96 million, which would be an increase of 33 percent to 35 percent over 2013. The company had previously provided organic revenue growth guidance of 32 percent to 35 percent.