Benzinga | Aug 4, 2021 06:52AM EDT

Pacific Biosciences Q2 Earnings Beat Expectations, Higher Operating Costs Widens Quarterly Loss

* Pacific Biosciences of California Inc (NASDAQ:PACB), after the close of the market on Tuesday, reported Q2 sales of $30.6 million, beating the consensus of $29.9 million and up 79% Y/Y.

* The Company placed 38 Sequel II or IIe instruments in the quarter, bringing the total installed base to 282 instruments, compared to 148 a year ago.

* PacBio noted that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted financial results from the year-ago quarter. "Instrument utilization largely returned to normal by the fourth quarter of 2020, and we subsequently have not seen significant issues with deliveries or operations at customer sites," the firm said in a statement. "This resulted in higher product revenues of $26.5 million for the second quarter of 2021 compared to $13.8 million a year ago."

* The gross margin expanded to 45% from 39% in Q2 2020.

* PacBio's net loss was $(0.21) per share, compared to $(0.15) per share, in the prior-year period, narrowly missing the Wall Street estimate of $(0.20).

* The firm's R&D expenses in Q2 2021 were $22.3 million, up 49%. Its SG&A expenditures nearly doubled year over year to $29.1 million from $15.1.

* As of June 30, the Company had $1.14 billion in cash and investments.

* The Company acquired Circulomics Inc, which is focused on sample prep products that enable genomic workflows. Deal terms were not disclosed.

* Price Action: PACB shares closed at $30.21 on Tuesday.