NEW YORK (360Dx) –Blood analysis systems firm Abaxis today reported flat revenues for the third quarter of fiscal 2016 in preliminary results, due in part to a difficult to compare quarter and currency effects.
The firm, which markets instruments and consumables for the veterinary and medical spaces, expects revenues of $52 to $53 million in the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2016, flat with the comparable quarter last year and below the average Wall Street estimate of $58 million.
Abaxis manufactures several cartridge-based veterinary diagnostics platforms and products, ranging in size from benchtop to handheld. In the medical device space, the firm makes the Piccolo Xpress, a portable clinical chemistry analyzer exclusively distributed by Abbott that can analyze samples consisting of about four drops of whole blood with a menu of 26 CLIA-waived tests and 11 panels.
The Union City, California-based company said that its Q3 2016 performance was affected by a difficult comparison with the year-ago period resulting from the sale of 200 Piccolo Xpress instruments in China last year. Foreign currency changes also lowered revenues by approximately $700,000, the firm said. Finally, Abaxis noted that medical and veterinary orders from distributors, including Abbott Point of Care, were reduced in the quarter, and competition in the veterinary space limited its growth.
Shares of Abaxis were down about 6 percent at $49.11 in morning trading on the Nasdaq.