NEW YORK – Natera reported after the close of market Thursday year-over-year revenue growth of 58 percent for the second quarter of 2024, driven by strong test volume growth.
The Austin, Texas-based company's revenues for the three months ending June 30 were $413.4 million, compared to $261.4 million for the same quarter in 2023, and beat Wall Street analysts' average estimate of $343 million.
The company processed approximately 760,300 tests in Q2, compared to 617,200 tests in the second quarter of 2023, a 23 percent year-over-year increase in product volumes. The oncology test volume in particular rose about 50 percent, with 125,400 tests performed in Q2 of this year, compared to approximately 83,500 in the same quarter last year. This increase, the company said, was driven specifically by an uptick in use of Signatera, its minimal residual disease assay that uses circulating tumor DNA.
"Operational improvements and volume growth in [our] oncology business continue to outperform our expectations, and the clinical utility of Signatera continues to gain traction," Alexey Aleshin, the firm's chief medical officer, said in an after-market call held with investors.
Aleshin further noted that the company expects stable average sales prices for Signatera throughout the second half of the year, with the potential for "modest improvement" in average cost.
Product volume and revenue growth also received a lift from Natera's women's health business, for which company CEO Steve Chapman credited new products, such as the fetal RhD noninvasive prenatal test, which the company launched in May. In all, the company reported 59 percent year-over-year growth in total product revenue, rising to $411.4 million from $258.3 million.
In addition to strong revenue gains, Chapman said that Natera's business growth in general, coupled with falling costs involved in selling goods, contributed to the company having a second consecutive quarter of its cash flow breaking even.
"Looking ahead to the second half of the year, we are well positioned to hit … cash flow breakeven for the full year," Chapman said.
Natera reported a Q2 net loss of $37.5 million, or $.30 per share, compared to a loss of $110.8 million, or $.97 per share, in Q2 of last year and beating analysts' average prediction of a loss of $.69 per share.
Natera's R&D spending grew approximately 14 percent to $89.1 million from $78.2 million in the same quarter last year. Its SG&A expenses rose around 30 percent to $198 million compared to $152.5 million in Q2 2023.
Natera ended the quarter with approximately $887.1 million in cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments, and restricted cash.
The company issued 2024 revenue guidance of between $1.49 billion and $1.52 billion.