This story has been updated to include comments from PacBio's earnings call.
NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Pacific Biosciences reported after the close of the market Wednesday that its fourth quarter 2015 revenues increased 114 percent over the fourth quarter 2014.
The Menlo Park, California-based single-molecule sequencing technology company reported Q4 2015 revenues of $36.3 million, up from $16.9 million in the prior-year period but missing analysts' consensus estimate of $37.0 million.
Product revenue was $9.8 million, down from $12.9 million in the year-ago quarter. Product revenue included $5.2 million in instrument revenue, down from $8.6 million in Q4 2014, as well as $4.6 million in consumable revenue, up from $4.3 million in Q4 2014. Meantime, service revenue in Q4 2015 was $2.9 million, up from $2.3 million in the year-ago quarter. Contractual revenue jumped to $23.6 million in Q4 2015 from $1.7 million in Q4 2014 due to $20 million PacBio received from Roche for hitting a development milestone in their agreement to develop a clinical sequencing instrument.
During a conference call discussing the results, Ben Gong, PacBio's vice president of finance and treasurer, attributed the drop in instrument revenue to customers transitioning to Sequel, the instrument PacBio launched last October. Although the firm took orders for 49 Sequel instruments in the fourth quarter, it shipped 10 and installed six. Additionally, as PacBio said in January, it also took orders for three RS II systems in Q4.
The company posted a net loss for the quarter of $1.4 million, or $.02 per share, down from a net loss of $19.0 million in Q4 2014, or $.26 per share. It beat the Wall Street consensus estimate for a loss of $.26 per share.
PacBio's R&D expenses were $14.8 million, up from $12.3 million in the year-ago quarter, while its SG&A expenses were $12.8 million, up from $10.0 million in Q4 2014. Susan Barnes, PacBio's CFO, said during the call that the higher expenses in the quarter were related in part to the development and commercialization of Sequel, including consulting fees, product development, regulatory costs, and the hiring of additional employees in sales and marketing.
Revenues for full-year 2015 were $92.8 million, up 53 percent from its 2014 revenues of $60.6 million, and missing analysts' average estimate of $93.0 million.
Its net loss for the year was $31.7 million, or $.42 per share, down from $66.2 million, or $.94 per share, and in line with Wall Street's estimate.
Full-year R&D expenses were $60.4 million, up from $48.2 million in the previous year, while 2015 SG&A expenses were $45.2 million, up from $38.0 million in 2014.
Gong said that the firm anticipates it will generate total revenues of $93 million in 2016 driven by sales of the Sequel system. Contractual revenue from Roche will drop to $11 million in 2016 from $44 million in 2015, Gong said. Not including Roche payments, PacBio's anticipated 2016 revenues represent a 77 percent year-over-year increase in product and services revenue, he added.
PacBio finished the year with $82.3 million in cash and investments.
In early Thursday trade on the Nasdaq, shares of PacBio were down around 17 percent at $10.30.