Original from: Genomeweb

Qiagen reported after the close of the market on Tuesday that its fourth quarter revenues grew 2 percent year over year, beating previous guidance and analyst estimates on the top and bottom line.

For the three months ended Dec. 31, Qiagen reported revenues of $582.4 million compared to $571.2 million a year ago, and well above the Wall Street estimate of $461.3 million. At constant exchange rates (CER), 

Q4 revenues jumped 4 percent year over year, beating the outlook of a 9 percent CER decline provided by the company in November.

Qiagen said that Q4 growth was driven by high demand for COVID-19 test products as well as "good trends" in its non-COVID-related product portfolio.

By product type, consumables and related revenues grew 5 percent in Q4 to $517 million, while instrument revenue fell 16 percent to $65 million. By end market, molecular diagnostics revenues jumped 9 percent to $313 million, while life sciences revenues dropped 5 percent to $269 million.

Qiagen noted that its COVID-19-related products, accounting for approximately 31 percent of total sales in Q4, fell 9 percent year over year to $183 million, while non-COVID products grew 8 percent year over year to about $400 million.

By specific product groups, sample technologies revenues fell 7 percent in Q4 to $218 million, diagnostic solutions sales grew 9 percent to $173 million, PCR/nucleic acid amplification revenues grew 2 percent to $110 million, genomics/next-generation sequencing sales jumped 25 percent to $62 million, and other revenues ticked up 3 percent to $19 million.

Qiagen reported Q4 net income of $129.2 million, or $.56 per share, compared to $212.7 million, or $.91 per share, a year ago. Adjusted EPS was $.74, besting analysts' consensus estimate of $.53 and prior company guidance of at least $.60.

Research and development spending dropped 9 percent in Q4 to $42.1 million from $46.3 million, while SG&A expenses edged downward a fraction of a percent to $152.3 million from $153.1 million.

For full-year 2021, Qiagen amassed net sales of $2.25 billion, up 20 percent from $1.87 billion in 2020 and shattering analysts' expectation of $1.94 billion. At CER, 2020 net sales grew 19 percent, beating prior guidance of at least 15 percent CER growth.

By product type, consumables and related revenues grew 23 percent in 2021 to $1.99 billion, while instrument revenue grew 4 percent to $265 million. By end market, molecular diagnostics revenues jumped 27 percent to $1.14 billion, while life sciences revenues grew 15 percent to $1.11 billion.

Qiagen logged about $704 million in COVID-19-related product sales in 2021, up 14 percent from the prior year, while non-COVID product sales grew 24 percent to $1.55 billion. The company reported sales growth in all specific product groups in 2021.

Qiagen reported net income of $512.6 million, or $2.21 per share, in 2021, compared to $359.2 million, or $1.53 per share, in 2020. Adjusted EPS of $2.65 beat analysts' consensus estimate of $2.22 and prior company guidance of at least $2.48 at CER.

The company's 2021 R&D spending ballooned 27 percent to $190.0 million from $149.1 million in 2020, while its SG&A spending grew 11 percent to $584.5 million from $525.4 million.

Qiagen finished the year with $880.5 million in cash and cash equivalents and $184.8 million in short-term investments.

The company initiated 2022 full-year guidance with expectations for at least $2.07 billion in sales at CER, which would be down from 2021 sales of $2.25 billion; and adjusted EPS of at least $2.05, compared to 

2021 EPS of $2.65. These projections are based on expectations for double-digit CER growth in non-COVID product groups, but for a significant year-over-year decline in COVID-19 product group sales as the pandemic recedes.

For Q1 2022, net sales are expected to grow at least 7 percent at CER from $567.2 million in the year-ago quarter, while adjusted EPS is expected to be at least $.72 at CER compared to $.66 a year ago.

Source: Qiagen Q4 Revenues Grow 2 Percent