Quidel Corp (QDEL) Prelim. Q1 Revenue Misses Consensus

Quidel Corporation (NASDAQ: QDEL) (“Quidel”), a provider of rapid diagnostic testing solutions, cellular-based virology assays and molecular diagnostic systems, announced today preliminary results for the first quarter of 2021.

The Company expects revenues in the first quarter of 2021 to be in the range of $374 million to $376 million, up approximately 114% from $174.7 million in the prior year quarter. In the quarter, Quidel shipped nearly 15 million SARS tests, which compares favorably to the performance of our industry colleagues. COVID-19 revenues for the first quarter of 2021 are expected to be over $280 million, compared with $1.0 million for the first quarter of 2020. The first quarter of 2021 was marked by the lack of a respiratory season, resulting in lower sales of influenza and other respiratory disease products. Influenza revenues for the first quarter of 2021 are expected to be $5 million, compared with $79.6 million in the first quarter of 2020. Additionally, gross margins are expected to be approximately 80% for the period, with earnings growth over the prior year quarter in excess of 300%.

(*Consensus sees Q1 revenue of $465.7 million)

Douglas Bryant, president and chief executive officer of Quidel Corporation, said: “Over the past year, we have transformed our business through innovative new product introductions and strong operational execution. By all measures, the first quarter of 2021 reflected demand-side and manufacturing strength as we more than doubled our revenues year-over-year, with even greater growth in gross profit and net income. Still, as the COVID-19 pandemic response evolved, the operating environment was fluid, making it difficult to predict testing demand with certainty. In combination with the COVID-19 volatility, there was no circulating influenza in the community, and as a result, revenues came in well below our previous expectations.”

Mr. Bryant added: “While the COVID-19 scenario continues to evolve, we believe Quidel remains incredibly well-positioned given our robust portfolio and recent regulatory indications for serial asymptomatic screening with both our QuickVue® OTC and Sofia® rapid antigen tests. There are three macro trends that we are tracking and expect to be material to both market demand and revenues going forward.

“First, there is ongoing demand for testing symptomatic patients, which we believe is likely to persist at least through the first half of 2022. Therefore, for this type of testing, the underlying run rate is somewhat predictable and is trending upward as COVID-19 cases in the U.S. have risen more than 22 percent since March.

“Second, customer inquiries and market research suggest strong demand for at-home testing through pharmacies, employers and schools. In fact, today we announced a new distribution partnership agreement with McKesson in the retail space to increase access to At-Home COVID-19 testing and expect to be entering into direct partnerships with a number of major national retailers, several state school programs, and a major global employer group.

“Third, global demand for asymptomatic SARS testing appears to be larger than what the IVD industry can support at this time. For Quidel, while we are early in the transition to on-site and at-home testing for asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic individuals, the demand for QuickVue SARS antigen tests appears to be well above what we can supply, at least until our new plant in Carlsbad is up and running,” continued Mr. Bryant.

Mr. Bryant concluded: “While we will not be providing an updated financial outlook for the full year 2021, given the volatility in the market and the impact on our results, we do look forward to discussing the important revenue growth drivers we have in front of us in more detail during our scheduled first quarter 2021 earnings call on May 6, 2021.”

These preliminary results are based on management’s initial analysis of operations for the quarter ended March 31, 2021. The company expects to issue full financial results for the fiscal first quarter 2021 on May 6, 2021.

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