Paul Kim
Analyst · UBS. Your line is now live
Thank you, Brandon. Revenue in the third quarter of 2024 totaled $71.7 million compared to $84.7 million in the third quarter of 2023. Revenue from COVID-19 testing is negligible this quarter. Revenue from our core business totaled $71.7 million. GAAP gross margin was 37.3% and on a non-GAAP basis was 40%. Gross margins continue to improve year-over-year, showing the benefit of our continued efficiencies and streamlining of our business. Total GAAP operating expenses were $43.9 million for the third quarter compared to $45.4 million in the second quarter of 2024, primarily related to reversal of legal accrual and lower R&D spend in Q3. Non-GAAP operating expenses totaled $32.9 million compared to $33.8 million in the second quarter of 2024. Non-GAAP operating margin increased approximately 2 percentage points sequentially to minus 6%, primarily due to higher revenue, reversal of legal accrual, and lower R&D spend in Q3. In the third quarter, the company recorded a $10.1 million impairment of available for sale debt securities, which negatively impacted EPS by 33%. This is a non-cash charge and relates to the company’s July 2021 investment in Helio Health, a private company, which gave the company access to emerging liquid biopsy testing technology. Our projections for the performance of this investment have weakened, leading management to recognize an impairment loss. This impairment reflects management’s assessment of the future cash flows associated with this investment. Adjusted EBITDA income for the third quarter was approximately $400,000 compared to an income of $18.1 million in the third quarter of 2023. On a non-GAAP basis and excluding equity-based compensation expense, intangible asset amortization and impairment of available for sale debt securities, income for the quarter was $9.4 million or $0.31 per share, based on 30.7 million weighted average fully diluted shares outstanding. Turning to the balance sheet. We ended the quarter with approximately $815.4 million in cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and marketable securities. Cash used in the period included $24.6 million for income tax credits purchased and $11.1 million for the purchase of the building and property in our Alpharetta, Georgia lab is located, which is partially offset by cash from other operating activities. Moving onto guidance. We’re reiterating our revenue outlook for 2024 and improving our EPS guidance, as outlined in our press release issued today. With minimal future revenue from COVID-19 testing expected, we are guiding to core revenue, which is total laboratory services revenues for the company without COVID-19 testing revenue. We continue to expect total core revenue to be approximately $280 million for 2024, representing core growth of 7% year-over-year. Turning to expected margins for 2024, excluding COVID-19 revenue and stock-based compensation, we expect non-GAAP gross margins for the full year to be in the high 30% range and exiting the last quarter around our target of 40%, which we saw in both Q2 and Q3. We expect to see slightly lower non-GAAP operating margin in the fourth quarter as we further invest resources to grow our business, with operating margin of approximately minus 12% for the year. We remain focused on managing our spend and continue to believe that our foundational technology platform supports a strong margin profile long-term. We continue to expect associated cash burn for our therapeutics development business of about $15 million to $17 million this year, which is contemplated in our EPS and cash guidance. We expect to see improvement in our GAAP EPS loss from $1.95 to approximately $1.70 per share, excluding any future one-time charges, using a 30 million average share count. Utilizing a non-GAAP tax provision and average share count of $30 million, we currently expect full year 2024 to improve from a net non-GAAP loss of $0.30 per share to a net non-GAAP income of $0.33 per share for our shareholders, excluding stock-based compensation, impairment of available for sale debt securities, and amortization of intangible assets, as well as any one-time charges. Finally, our cash position remains strong. As mentioned earlier, the company purchased investment tax credits in the third quarter of 2024. The company expects to receive an income tax refund from the federal government of $27.1 million in Q4 of 2024 as a result of the purchase of those tax credits. Excluding any stock repurchases or other expenditures outside the ordinary course, which could include M&A, we anticipate ending 2024 with approximately $800 million of cash, cash equivalents, investments and marketable securities. Overall, we see strength in our core business, which has grown organically through strategic acquisitions, and we see good momentum ahead. Thank you for joining our call today. Operator, now you may open it up for questions.