Illumina Profit Tops Estimates, But Guides FY14 Below Consensus

(RTTNews) - Biotechnology company Illumina Inc. (ILMN), Tuesday reported a better-than-expected increase in fourth-quarter profit, helped by strong revenue growth, one-time gains and higher gross margins.

Moving forward, the company provided some soft adjusted earnings outlook for 2014, while revenue expectations appear buoyant. Illumina shares slipped 3 percent in after-hours trade on the Nasdaq following the announcement.

CEO Jay Flatley said the recent quarter gained from growth across all products and geographies. "We made significant progress on key R&D programs which allowed us to introduce new products in early 2014 that will once again redefine the trajectory of sequencing."

Illumina develops life science tools and integrated systems for the analysis of genetic variation and biological function.

The San Diego, California-based company posted quarterly net income of $81 million or $0.56 per share, compared with $72 million or $0.53 per share last year.

Results for the quarter include, among other items, a gain of $0.39 per share related to the sale of Illumina's minority stake in Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $65 million or $0.45 per share, compared with $57 million or $0.42 per share a year ago.

On average, 25 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $0.44 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the quarter climbed 25 percent to $387 million from $309 million in the prior year. Twenty-two analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $382.06 million for the quarter.

Results were further helped by gross margin that climbed to 66.9 percent from 65.8 percent in the same quarter last year.

The company spent $76.7 million on research and development during the quarter, up from $57 million last year.

For fiscal 2014, Illumina expect net earnings in the range of $1.50 to $1.56 per share, adjusted earnings of $2.0 to $2.06 per share and revenue growth of 15 percent to 17 percent. Analysts currently expect earnings of $2.06 per share on revenue growth of 15.9 percent.

Illumina stock closed Tuesday at $144.53, up $4.28 or 3.05%, on a volume of 3.3 million shares on the Nasdaq. In after hours, the stock dropped $4.23 or 2.93% at $140.30. In the past year, the stock traded in the range of $48.00 - $148.48.