This article has been updated to note JP Morgan's upgrade of Bruker from a Neutral to an Overweight rating.
NEW YORK – Bruker reported on Tuesday morning that its fourth quarter revenues were up 21 percent year over year.
For the three months ended Dec. 31, 2023, the company reported revenues of $854.5 million, up from $708.4 million in Q4 2022 and beating the consensus Wall Street estimate of $807.5 million.
Organic revenues grew 16 percent during the quarter as acquisitions added nearly 3 percent while foreign currency translation had a positive effect of 2 percent.
The company's CALID segment, which houses its life science mass spec business, reported revenues of $257.2 million during the quarter, up 16 percent from $221.2 million in Q4 2022. Its Nano group posted revenues of $268.5 million, up 18 percent from $227.2 million in the year-ago period. Revenues from its BioSpin group were $257.9 million, up 27 percent from $203.4 million in Q4 2022. Revenues from its BEST group were $75.2 million, up 28 percent from $58.9 million in Q4 2022.
During a conference call following the release of the Q4 results, Bruker President, Chairman, and CEO Frank Laukien noted strong growth of the company's life science mass spectrometry business, driven by sales of its TimsTOF platform.
Laukien also discussed competition that the TimsTOF faces from Thermo Fisher Scientific's new Orbitrap Astral instrument, released last year, noting that that system "is getting some traction," but maintaining that the TimsTOF line, including the recently released TimsTOF Ultra, is performing well.
He suggested that growth of the proteomics market would provide an opportunity for both systems.
"This is not a zero-sum game but a growing market as far as we can tell, with very healthy fundamental dynamics, and we expect to continue to do well in 2024," he said.
Laukien also highlighted the company's pending acquisition of EliTechGroup, noting that it would help Bruker expand its infectious disease portfolio beyond its MALDI Biotyper line.
Bruker has had "a very small toehold in molecular diagnostics [for infectious disease]," he said. "EliTech is a much bigger sample-to-answer molecular diagnostics play. It will not make us a tier-one competitor. Those are the Roches and Abbotts and Hologics and others. But it [makes us] a solid tier-two competitor. It expands our infectious disease franchise."
Bruker's Q4 net income was $205.5 million, or $1.41 per share, up from $97.4 million, or $.66 per share, in Q4 2022. On an adjusted basis, Q4 EPS was $.70, above the average Wall Street estimate of $.68.
Bruker's Q4 R&D costs rose 31 percent to $83.4 million from $63.5 million the year before, while its SG&A expenses were $211.3 million, up 28 percent from $164.7 million a year ago.
For full-year 2023, Bruker reported revenues of $2.96 billion, up 17 percent from $2.53 billion in 2022 and above the Wall Street consensus estimate of $2.92 billion.
Organic revenue was up 15 percent year over year, with acquisitions adding around 2 percent and currency translation having a positive effect of less than 1 percent.
The CALID segment reported full-year 2023 revenues of $960.4 million, up 17 percent from $822.2 million in 2022. The Nano group posted revenues of $941.9 million, up 20 percent from $787.0 million in 2022. Revenues from the BioSpin group were $798.5 million, up 15 percent from $696.7 million the year before. Revenues from the BEST group were $280.7 million, up 18 percent from $237.1 million in 2022.
Bruker reported a profit of $427.2 million, or $2.90 per share, for the year versus $296.6 million, or $1.99 per share, in 2022. On an adjusted basis, full-year EPS was $2.58, beating the average Wall Street estimate of $2.55.
Full-year 2023 R&D costs were up 25 percent to $294.8 million from $235.9 million in 2022, and SG&A expenses were up 20 percent to $729.4 million from $607.4 million the year before.
The company ended the year with cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash of $491.6 million.
Bruker said it expects 2024 revenue between $3.23 billion and $3.29 billion, or 9 percent to 11 percent year-over-year growth. That includes between 5 percent and 7 percent organic revenue growth with a positive contribution from foreign currency translation of around 1 percent and from acquisitions of around 3 percent. The firm said it expects adjusted full-year 2024 EPS of $2.71 to $2.76.
In Tuesday morning trading on the Nasdaq, Bruker shares were up 10 percent to $77.90.
In response to the financial results, investment bank JP Morgan upgraded Bruker from a Neutral to an Overweight rating with a price target of $90 per share, citing the company's positive 2024 guidance and long-range planning. In a note to investors, JP Morgan analysts wrote that Bruker "seems poised to become a leading player in this shift in research focus toward proteomics."