Repligen Corporation RGEN reported fourth-quarter 2023 adjusted earnings per share of 33 cents, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 34 cents. The company had recorded adjusted earnings of 68 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.
Total revenues were $155.7 million, down 17% year over year on a reported basis and 21% organically. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was pegged at $155.9 million.
The year-over-year decrease in total revenues can be attributed to declining demand for COVID-19 products and challenging macro factors globally.
On the fourth-quarter conference, management stated that it will not be reporting COVID sales in 2024 as it is expected to be minimal.
Shares of Repligen were down 5% in after-hours trading on Feb 21 following the weaker-than-expected results. However, the stock has risen 5.7% in the past year against the industry’s 8.5% decline.
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Quarter in Detail
The company reported product revenues of $155.5 million, down 16.6% from the year-ago period. It also reported royalty and other revenues of $0.3 million, up 10.1% year over year.
Repligen’s base business revenues of $142.1 million declined 12.8% year over year.
The company’s base business can be categorized under four franchises such as filtration, chromatography, protein and process analytics.
Revenues from the chromatography business declined 25% in the fourth quarter owing to a higher mix of columns versus resin demand. RGEN expects chromatography business revenues to be flat to up 5% in 2024.
The filtration franchise’s sales declined 20% year over year as COVID-related revenues plunged in the reported quarter. COVID-related revenues for the reported quarter were $8 million compared with $23 million in the year-ago quarter. RGEN expects sales in the filtration franchise to be up 10%-15% on base business or 5%-10% on a reported basis in 2024
Revenues in the protein franchise were up 7% year over year, driven by growth factors and custom affinity resins. However, RGEN expects revenues from this business to be down 30% to 35% in 2024 due to weak demand and a lower forecast for ligands from customers.
The process analytics franchise revenues were up 2% year over year as FlowVPX and RPM systems continued to witness strong demand in the quarter. Repligen anticipates this business to grow 10%-15% in 2024.
Revenues from the company’s new modalities business, which includes cell and gene therapy and mRNA, were up 9% year on year in the reported quarter.
Newly acquired, Metenova generated revenues of $5 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, in line with management’s expectations.
Adjusted gross margin was 49.1% in the fourth quarter, down 240 basis points year over year.
Adjusted research and development expenses totaled approximately $10.3 million, down almost 7.5% from the year-ago quarter’s level.
Adjusted selling, general and administrative expenses amounted to $57.5 million, up 8% year over year.
Adjusted operating income totaled $18.8 million, down almost 54.3% from the prior year quarter.
As of Dec 31, 2023, Repligen had cash and cash equivalents worth $751.3 million compared with $630.8 million as of Sep 30, 2023.
Full-Year Results
For 2023, Repligen generated revenues of $639 million, down 20% year over year on a reported basis and 21% on an organic basis.
For the same period, the company recorded adjusted earnings of $1.75 per share compared with $3.28 in 2022.
2024 Guidance
Repligen expects total revenues in the range of $620-$650 million in 2024.
The company anticipates base business revenues to be down 1% to up 4% in 2024.
Adjusted net income is estimated in the band of $80-$84 million. Adjusted operating income is anticipated in the $83-$88 million range.
Repligen expects adjusted gross margin in the 49%-50% range. Adjusted operating margin is anticipated in the band of 13%-14%.
Adjusted EPS is anticipated to be between $1.42 and $1.49 in 2024.
Repligen Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Repligen Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Repligen currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the healthcare sector are Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. VNDA and Puma Biotechnology, Inc. PBYI, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Vanda Pharmaceuticals’ 2024 bottom line has improved from a loss of 46 cents per share to earnings of 1 cent. In the past year, shares of VNDA have plunged 35.6%.
Vanda Pharmaceuticals’ earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing three quarters. VNDA delivered an average earnings surprise of 92.88%.
In the past 60 days, estimates for Puma Biotechnology’s 2024 earnings per share have improved from 64 cents to 71 cents. In the past year, shares of PBYI have risen 60%.
Earnings of Puma Biotechnology beat estimates in three of the last four quarters while missing the same on the remaining occasion. PBYI delivered a four-quarter average earnings surprise of 76.55%.
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