NEW YORK – Qiagen reported Wednesday after the close of the market that its first quarter revenues declined 23 percent in comparison to a strong quarter of COVID sales last year. At constant exchange rates (CER), total revenues declined 20 percent, while revenues across its non-COVID business rose 12 percent.
Qiagen reported total revenues of $485 million, or $502 million at CER, for the quarter ended March 31, compared to $628 million for Q1 2022. On average, analysts had expected sales of $480.5 million for the quarter. Q1 CER revenues also eclipsed the company's guidance for CER revenues of at least $490 million.
In a statement, Qiagen CEO Thierry Bernard said the firm "delivered a solid performance in Q1 2023, as our teams once again achieved broad-based double-digit CER sales growth from our non-COVID product groups" despite an increasingly uncertain macro environment.
"The growth in our base non-COVID business shows the strength of our portfolio and clear focus," Bernard also said.
In the quarter, COVID-19 product group sales fell 77 percent on a reported basis due to significantly reduced demand, Qiagen said.
Sales of consumables and related products were down 23 percent year over year to $431 million, while instrument sales declined 19 percent to $55 million.
The firm's molecular diagnostic revenues decreased 30 percent year over year to $250 million, while life sciences product sales were down 14 percent to $235 million.
Sales of the firm's sample technologies declined 35 percent to $173 million, while diagnostic solutions sales fell 7 percent to $163 million.
Among its diagnostic products, QuantiFeron tuberculosis test sales increased 17 percent to $92 million, QiaStat-Dx sales declined 21 percent to $21 million, and NeuMoDx sales dropped 52 percent to $13 million. Both QiaStat-Dx and NeuMoDx sales were impacted by reduced COVID-19 demand.
On a call with investors Thursday morning to recap the earnings, Qiagen CFO Roland Sackers also noted that the QIAcuity digital PCR system maintained sales growth above 20 percent CER due to instrument sales and consumables utilization.
The firm's Genomics/NGS product group sales fell 2 percent to $55 million from $56 million, but were buoyed by double-digit growth at constant exchange rates in universal next-generation sequencing (NGS) kits for use on any sequencer, as well as growth in the Qiagen Digital Insights bioinformatics business, Qiagen said.
In Q1, Qiagen launched its QiaStat-Dx system and a respiratory panel in Japan, which the firm said added to more than 100 countries where QiaStat-Dx is available. It also gained IVDR certification for its QuantiFeron-TB Gold Plus assay.
Qiagen added global pharmaceutical group Servier to its companion diagnostics codevelopment program in the quarter with its treatment for acute myeloid leukemia. The firm also launched QiaSeq Targeted cfDNA Ultra Panels and the Qiagen Digital Insights CLC Genomics Workbench Premium NGS analysis solution.
Qiagen posted net income of $85.0 million, or $.37 per share, compared to net income of $155.3 million, or $.67 per share, for Q1 2022. On an adjusted basis, EPS was $.51, above the consensus Wall Street estimate of $.47.
The firm's R&D spending increased 18 percent to $54.7 million from $46.4 million, while its SG&A costs declined 4 percent to $147.5 million from $152.9 million.
Qiagen finished the quarter with $359.2 million in cash and cash equivalents and $928.2 million in short-term investments.
The company said that it expects second quarter net sales of at least $490 million at CER and adjusted EPS of at least $.50 per share at CER. For full-year 2023, Qiagen reaffirmed its outlook for net sales of at least $2.05 billion at CER and adjusted EPS of at least $2.10 per share at CER.
Shares of Qiagen were up nearly 3 percent to $46.20 in Thursday morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.