NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Bruker reported today that its revenues in the third quarter were down 6 percent year over year, falling to $396.1 million from $419.8 million in Q3 2014 but beating analysts' consensus estimate of $373.7 million.
Excluding a 3 percent negative effect from divestitures and an 11 percent negative effect from currency exchange rates, the company posted Q3 organic growth of 8 percent.
This growth was driven by strength in the company's CALID and BioSpin divisions as well as a favorable product mix and earlier than expected customer acceptances, President and CEO Frank Laukien said on a conference call following the earnings release.
Within the CALID division, the company's Daltonics division, which houses its life sciences mass spec business, was particularly strong, showing broad-based growth "in nearly all product lines and geographies in Q3 of 2015," Laukien said.
Within the Daltonics business, Bruker's MALDI Biotyper had the highest growth rate of all product lines, as it has "for a number of years," Laukien added. He put annual Biotyper revenues in the range of $80 million to $100 million.
Biotyper sales were particularly strong in the US and China, he said, noting that the company received a second US Food and Drug Administration clearance for an expanded device library earlier this year and Chinese FDA clearance of the device at the end of 2014.
From a geographic standpoint, Europe and Asia Pacific "were the primary drivers of organic growth in the third quarter," Laukien said.
The Billerica, Massachusetts-based company reported a profit of $11.8 million, or $.07 per share, compared to $5.5 million, or $.03 per share, a year ago. On a non-GAAP basis, Bruker had EPS of $.19, beating the consensus Wall Street estimate of $.13.
The company's R&D costs were $34.3 million for the quarter, down 19 percent from $42.1 million in Q3 2014. Its SG&A spending was $96.1 million, down 11 percent from $108 million in the year-ago third quarter.
Bruker ended the quarter with $331 million in cash and cash equivalents, and $201.3 million in short-term investments.
The company upped its full year 2015 guidance, predicting non-GAAP EPS in the range of $.75 to $.80. It had previously predicted non-GAAP EPS in the range of $.72 to $.78.
Bruker shares were up 3 percent to $20.03 in trading this morning on the Nasdaq.