Applied DNA Sciences (NASDAQ: APDN) reported Q4 EPS of ($1.44), $0.18 worse than the analyst estimate of ($1.26). Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.7 thousand versus the consensus estimate of $2.11 million.

Fiscal Fourth Quarter 2019 Financial Results:

• Revenues increased 40% for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019 to $1.7 million, compared with $1.2 million reported in the same period of the prior fiscal year and decreased 19% from $2.1 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2019. The increase in revenues year over year was due primarily to an increase in product revenues from shipments of DNA concentrate to protect the cotton supply chain. The decrease in revenue quarter over quarter was due to the recognition of $1 million in revenue from a licensing agreement in the cannabis industry during the third fiscal quarter of fiscal 2019.
• Total operating expenses decreased to $3.2 million for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2019, compared with $4.4 million in the prior fiscal year’s fourth quarter. This decrease is primarily attributable to an approximate $231 thousand decrease in payroll, due to a realignment of the sales force and reductions in overall headcount as well as a decrease of $954 thousand in stock-based compensation expense.
• Net loss for the quarter ended September 30, 2019 was $1.2 million, or $1.44 per share, compared with a net loss of $3.5 million, or $4.62 per share, for the quarter ended September 30, 2018, an improvement of 69%, and a net loss of $1.5 million, or $1.60 per share, for the quarter ended June 30, 2019.
• Excluding non-cash expenses, Adjusted EBITDA was negative $1.6 million and a negative $2.2 million for the quarters ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively. See below for information regarding non-GAAP measures.

“In fiscal 2019 total revenues increased 38%, and total operating expenses decreased by 5% as we sharpened our focus on our ability to produce linear DNA at scale for our tagging, diagnostics and preclinical biotherapeutic businesses,” said Dr. James A. Hayward, chairman, president and CEO of Applied DNA.

Added Dr. Hayward, “Over the past year we focused on elevating the Company’s profile for preclinical biotherapeutics and diagnostic applications. With the Company’s unique ability – approximately 130 patents and patents pending – to produce large quantities of ultra-pure linear DNA, the Company’s linear DNA manufacturing platform is a potential industry disrupter that offers therapeutic developers a replacement to plasmid DNA that we believe is cheaper, faster and easily scalable. Over the past 15 months, we developed a robust pipeline of more than 15 contract research opportunities with top cancer, gene therapy, vaccine and RNA partners, which is already generating initial revenue.”

“The recent acquisition of the assets and IP of Vitatex, Inc. gives us a second compelling branch to the linear DNA story that we believe lends itself to the diagnostics, prognostics and therapeutics of invasive circulating tumor cells (iCTC). Within just three months of acquisition, we signed an agreement with Tyme Technologies, Inc. for the supply of our Vita-AssayTM iCTC capture assay and associated services for iCTC detection in their pivotal stage pancreatic cancer clinical trial. In addition, our protocols for obtaining and studying iCTCs in colorectal cancer have recently been approved by an Institutional Review Board.”

Continued Dr. Hayward, “Within our product authenticity and traceability solutions segment, our textile business, led by an experienced sales team, broadened awareness and adoption of our CertainT platform. Expanding beyond our relationship with Himatsingka for cotton home textiles, we established a technology partnership that gives us entrée into the cotton apparel market. We continued the global implementation of our tagging platform by completing commercial scale pilots at approximately 20 textile manufacturing sites using varied materials throughout China, Southeast Asia and India. In synthetic textiles, brands and retailers are increasingly relying on materials that offer high performance, sustainability and transparency and the promise of circular manufacturing. Our efforts have yielded strategic alliances that position us alongside key participants along multiple points in the global textile value chain to more broadly drive adoption of our authentication technology platform. We have begun to integrate our CertainT platform to provide end-to-end material traceability to multiple related categories, including leather, wool, down and feather, specialty coatings and additives, recycled PET, viscose, and other synthetics. We believe we are well positioned for uptake by brands and retailers.”

Concluded Dr. Hayward, “Looking ahead, we have set our sights on generating top-line growth from our linear DNA manufacturing platform, that should be driven by textiles and cannabis, as well as biotherapeutic and diagnostics, as we begin to convert our business-building activities in fiscal 2019 into pre-commercial and commercial revenues in fiscal 2020. Having recently completed an equity raise, re-established our compliance with the Nasdaq listing requirements, and eliminated our Going Concern opinion, we have our strongest balance sheet in years and the financial resources to support a sustainable growth trajectory."

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Applied DNA Sciences (APDN) click here.