Earnings Sentiment

Sentiment Analysis of the earnings transcript to help figure out if there are any bullish or bearish sentiments that could be gathered from it. We're doing ML and AI based analysis on the earnings call to get some more insights.

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Sentiment Distribution

   

Earnings Call Transcript Word Cloud

     

Bullish Statements during Earnings call

Statement
So we're really proud to report that we continue to show growth in EsoGuard testing volume
So that's -- we've been really happy, honestly, with how that's worked and that the test volume growth has been steady
We've had eight consecutive quarters of steady growth in test volume
So we're really excited about that
Even more importantly, we recognized revenue of $783,000, which is a nearly 400% increase quarter-on-quarter and nearly 1,000% increase annually
We had strong contributions from our Lucid test centers, the Satellite Lucid test centers and our high-volume Check Your Food Tube testing events, which are gaining traction as well as traction with our strategic accounts, which I'll discuss further
Our strategic accomplishments include the following: we upgraded our revenue cycle management infrastructure and processes, as we discussed in our last call, and we've been delivering solid results with EsoGuard claims processing and payments
In a very strong boost to our clinical utility data to support in-network payer coverage engagement and we've reported near perfect results in over 1,500 patients across three studies that have been released
This is our eighth consecutive quarter of meaningful quarter-on-quarter growth in two consecutive years
If you normalize the loss by adding back the effect of the change in fair value of the convertible debt, the GAAP EPS improved by $0.07 year-over-year for the quarter and approximately $0.26 year-over-year for the year-to-date comparison
We have a robust and active pipeline of claims that are going through appeals, and we are seeing successful appeals based on medical necessity versus guidelines
Like it sounds as a similar as say, like you said, Lishan like a fundamentally similar performance has gotten better and improved
You could see that our overall pre-cancer defection rate is nearly 90%, which is again unprecedented and substantially better than other early detection tests
This breakthrough was a result of implementation of a technique called multiplexing, which allows all of the genes, the two genes to be assessed in one sample and it allows us to run the assay three times and do a consensus call of positive and negative results, which has a significant -- which can significantly improve the performance of the assay near its cutoffs
So yes, we're just making it better and it's getting incrementally better
The non-GAAP loss is slightly better sequentially by $0.01 per share and $0.06 per share year-over-year
And so we're quite happy at that level
Our field team, as I mentioned, has been able to drive steady volume growth despite a flat sales headcount and continuing improvements in productivity
As we announced recently, we also launched the 2.0 version of our EsoGuard assay, which has demonstrated significant improved performance and lower costs
That has remained really solid and steady, as has the average allowed payment, which approaches our Medicare payment rate
As I -- finally, as I hinted at, there is biomarker legislation that's now in over a dozen states which mandate coverage of certain biomarker tests in those states, and it offers us a very promising path to coverage is something that we're actively engaged with
So the levers are really focusing on medical policy coverage as the RCM, the revenue cycle management activity is improving and gearing up
On the revenue cycle management side, we announced last quarter that we had transitioned to and upgraded our revenue cycle manager to Quadax, and we have seen some initial very promising results with regard to claims processing and payments
It's something that other companies, other diagnostic companies have had good success with
So the COGS improvement as well, 10% pretty good, I would say
And we are gaining traction with health systems with academic medical centers
Finally, as we reported earlier this week, we launched our EsoGuard 2.0 version of the assay, which we're very excited about
And we're very excited that we've hired a new VP of Employer Markets with 30-plus years of experience in employer benefit sales
So super excited
And so there's a strong economic argument to be made for these particularly for the smaller to medium companies
       

Bearish Statements during earnings call

Statement
But even test like Cologuard and others have struggled in Europe because the overall reimbursements there are low
This is still well below our near-term laboratory manufacturing capacity, which is over 10,000 tests per quarter
Our non-GAAP loss for the second quarter of $9.3 million reflects a 3.1% sequential decrease compared to the second quarter loss and approximately a 9.4% decrease year-over-year as a result of the cost control initiatives we put in place at the beginning of the year
The burn rate for most of the year has been softened by PAVmed deferring most of its quarterly management service payments since October of last year
The burn rate will be down because of all those -- some of those factors
As I've mentioned on prior calls, we've been pushing harder on strategic accounts
Obviously, if those assumptions on the revenue collections are not hit, and we see that as only a remote possibility
As that continues to increase as a percentage of that five-minute submitted claims, the burn rate will go down
Just wanted to make sure that there was no confusion about that
So I think that's where you are aiming at in terms of ASP, getting to that benchmark, but we don't see that benchmark eroding at any time soon
I think -- I thought you were going to ask the other question about whether it's sort of cannibalizing our core business, but we love the Check Your Food Tube event
And presently, there is insufficient predictive data to reflect revenue when the test report is delivered to the referring physician
Absent this payment, the burn rate would have been $6.3 million, which is slightly less than the average burn rate for the first three quarters of $6.6 million
   

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