Fluidigm Q2 Product Revenue Up 31% Compared to Q2 2011

Fluidigm Corporation (NASDAQ:FLDM) has announced its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2012.

Product revenue for the second quarter of 2012 was $12.8 million, an increase of 31% from $9.7 million in the second quarter of 2011. Product margin was 69% in the second quarter of 2012, consistent with the 69% in the second quarter of 2011 and up slightly from the first quarter of this year. Total revenue for the second quarter of 2012 was $12.9 million, an increase of 22% from $10.6 million in the second quarter of 2011. Net loss for the second quarter of 2012 was $4.6 million, compared to a net loss of $7.2 million in the second quarter of 2011 (which included a one-time charge of $3.0 million related to a litigation settlement and intellectual property licensing agreements). Non-GAAP net loss for the second quarter of 2012 was $2.9 million, consistent with the $2.9 million non-GAAP net loss for the second quarter of 2011 (see accompanying table for reconciliation of GAAP and non-GAAP measures).

"Growth in single-cell genomics, high-throughput gene expression and production genotyping powered our strong performance during the quarter.  Demand was healthy for both instruments and consumables, particularly our BioMark™ HD System and 96.96 Dynamic Array™ chip," stated Gajus Worthington, Fluidigm President and Chief Executive Officer. 

As of the end of the second quarter, Fluidigm had 565 systems installed at customer locations. Consumables revenue reached high levels, achieving 79% growth during the quarter, compared to the second quarter of 2011.

"With each passing quarter, there are more signs that validate our strategic focus around single-cell genomics. Our products are now enabling researchers to change our understanding of biology in profound ways. We believe the C1™ Single-Cell AutoPrep System will accelerate this, and in fact our first C1 users are already performing experiments with the system. We have enjoyed strong demand for participation in our Early Access Program, and this high level of enthusiasm for the C1 is indicative of the growing excitement among researchers to take science down to the level of the individual cell," Worthington continued. 

Financial Highlights and Analysis
* Sales of consumables were strong during the second quarter. As in previous quarters, this was mainly due to high demand for production genotyping chips. Increased sales of gene expression and Access Array™ chips, and assays, also contributed meaningfully to consumables revenue growth.
* Instrument revenue growth was driven by robust demand for analytical platforms (BioMark, BioMark HD, EP1™ and after-market instruments), which grew in excess of 20% compared to the second quarter of 2011.
* Instrument/consumables mix was 54% and 46%, respectively, for the second quarter of 2012, compared to 66% and 34%, respectively, in the second quarter of 2011.
* Geographic revenue as a percent of total product revenue was as follows: United States - 51%; Europe - 22%; Asia-Pacific - 16%; Japan - 8%; and Other - 3%.
* Research and development expense was $4.0 million in the second quarter of 2012, compared to $3.4 million in the second quarter of 2011.
* Selling, general and administrative expense was $9.4 million in the second quarter of 2012, compared to $7.8 million in the second quarter of 2011.
* Cash, cash equivalents and investments at the end of the second quarter of 2012 were $38.9 million, compared to $44.9 million at the beginning of the quarter.

Business Highlights Since Fluidigm's Last Earnings Release
* In June, Fluidigm introduced its new C1 Single-Cell AutoPrep System to attendees at the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) meeting in Yokohama, Japan. The C1 System, based on Fluidigm's innovative microfluidic technology, enables a researcher to isolate and process individual cells rapidly and reliably for genomic analysis.
* Analytical systems (BioMark, BioMark HD and EP1) surpassed 400 installed instruments at June 30, 2012.
* Scientists from the Cancer Research UK's Cambridge Research Institute used Fluidigm's Access Array technology to tag cancerous DNA fragments floating in a patient's blood in order to determine how a given tumor was responding to treatment - demonstrating the feasibility of liquid biopsies. The paper, entitled "Noninvasive Identification and Monitoring of Cancer Mutations by Targeted Deep Sequencing of Plasma DNA," published in Science Translational Medicine magazine, received global interest.
* Fluidigm product revenue in the Asia-Pacific region, especially in China, achieved record levels during the second quarter of 2012, representing 16% of Fluidigm's product revenue during the second quarter.

Financial Outlook 
The Company currently expects full year 2012 product revenue to grow 25-30% from full year 2011 product revenue of $40.6 million. The Company expects 2012 grant revenue to be approximately $0.6 million.

Conference Call Information
Fluidigm will host a conference call on August 7, 2012 at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The call can be accessed by calling (877) 556-5248 (domestic toll-free) or (720) 545-0029 (international toll). Fluidigm will also provide a live stream of its second quarter of 2012 financial results conference call for investors at: http://investors.fluidigm.com/events.cfm. The link will not be active until 5:15 p.m. Eastern Time on August 7, 2012. A telephone replay of the teleconference will be available 90 minutes after the end of the call at (855) 859-2056 (domestic toll-free), or (404) 537-3406 (international toll), access code 13399164. The conference call will also be archived on the Fluidigm investor's page at: http://investors.fluidigm.com.