NEW YORK (360Dx) – Accelerate Diagnostics said after the close of the market on Wednesday that its fourth quarter revenues increased 94 percent year over year.
For the three months ended Dec. 31, 2019, the company posted revenues of $3.5 million compared to $1.8 million in revenues for Q4 2018. The Q4 revenues fell short of the consensus Wall Street estimate of $4.7 million.
In the recently completed quarter, the firm added 137 net new commercially contracted instruments compared to 133 in the fourth quarter of 2018, the Tucson, Arizona-based firm noted.
Accelerate's R&D expenses for the quarter were down 10 percent year over year to $6.2 million from $6.9 million in Q4 2018. Its SG&A costs rose approximately 1 percent to $13.6 million from $13.4 million, driven by expansion of the US sales team and costs related to increased global sales and marketing activity.
The company recorded a net loss for the quarter of $21.3 million, or $.39 per share, slightly above the consensus Wall Street estimate of a loss of $.40 per share.
For full-year 2019, Accelerate reported revenues rose 63 percent to $9.3 million from $5.7 million in 2018, which missed the analysts' average estimate of $10.5 million.
Accelerate placed 304 net new commercially contracted instruments in 2019, compared to 202 in 2018.
The firm's CEO Jack Phillips noted in a statement that one of his initial areas of focus when he came on last year was to evaluate and re-engineer the firm's "go-live" process. "I am confident the resulting improvements will help relieve our 255 US instrument backlog and make the process quicker and more predictable," Phillips said. "For clinically live accounts, I am encouraged that annual annuities are approximately $45,000, proving to be predictable, and these customers are enthusiastic about the outcomes they are realizing," he added.
The firm's R&D costs decreased 8 percent to $25.3 million in 2019 from $27.6 million in 2018. Its SG&A expenses fell 6 percent to $51.9 million compared to $55.2 million in 2018 driven by lower stock-based compensation expense, Accelerate said.
Accelerate reported a net loss of $84.3 million, or $1.55 per share, above the analysts' average estimate of a net loss of $1.66. In 2018, the company reported a net loss of $88.3 million, or $1.62 per share.
Accelerate finished 2018 with $61.0 million in cash and cash equivalents, and $47.4 million in investments.