Original from: Genomeweb

Lucira Health on Thursday reported a huge year-over-year surge in revenues for the fourth quarter of 2021 on ramped-up manufacture and sale of the company's molecular at-home COVID-19 tests.

For the three-month period ended Dec. 31, Lucira's revenues jumped to $61.1 million from $269,000 in the same quarter the year before. Driving the increase were sales of the company's over-the-counter Lucira Check-It COVID-19 test kit, which received US Food and Drug Administration Emergency Use Authorization in April 2021, and its prescription Lucira COVID-19 All-In-One test kit, which received FDA authorization in late 2020. Analysts had, on average, expected $40.7 million in Q4 revenues.

"Lucira's strong fourth quarter is indicative of the inflection point the company is experiencing in its growth," Lucira President and CEO Erik Engelson said in a statement. "The strong financial performance was a result of a rise in manufacturing output against consistently high demand in the quarter."

Lucira's net loss in the quarter fell to $7.8 million, or $.20 per share, from a year-ago net loss of $17.2 million, or $6.70 per share, staying well below the Wall Street loss-per-share consensus estimate of $.55. The prior year's loss per share reflects the lower number of the company's shares outstanding ahead of its February 2021 initial public offering: Lucira used 2.6 million shares to calculate net loss per share for Q4 of 2020 but 39.0 million shares to do the same for Q4 of 2021.

R&D spending in the fourth quarter was up 7 percent to $9.1 million from $8.5 million in the year-ago quarter, while SG&A costs jumped nearly fivefold to $11.6 million from $2.4 million year on year.

At the end of 2021, Lucira had cash reserves of $106.0 million.

For full-year 2021, Lucira's revenues climbed to $93.1 million from $269,000 in 2020, beating the Wall Street consensus estimate of $73.7 million. 

The Emeryville, California-based company's net loss for 2021 arrived at $64.8 million, or $1.86 per share, compared with $37.3 million, or $15.58 per share, the year before.

R&D expenses for the year jumped 62 percent to $39.8 million from $24.6 million in 2020, while SG&A costs rocketed to $35.5 million from $5.6 million year over year.

Looking ahead, Lucira said it expects revenues for the first quarter of 2022 in the range of $80.0 million to $85.0 million, and full-year revenues greater than $450.0 million. 

In morning trading on the Nasdaq, Lucira's shares were up 14 percent at $3.86.

Source: Lucira Health Q4 Revenues Jump on Demand for At-Home Molecular COVID-19 Tests