Fluidigm Reports Financial Results for First Quarter 2012

Fluidigm Corporation has announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2012.

Product revenue for the first quarter of 2012 was $10.8 million, an increase of 28% from $8.4 million in the first quarter of 2011. Total revenue for the first quarter of 2012 was $10.9 million, an increase of 26% from $8.7 million in the first quarter of 2011.

Product margin was 67% in the first quarter of 2012, compared to 65% in the first quarter of 2011. Net loss for the first quarter of 2012 was $6.7 million, compared to a net loss of $7.3 million in the first quarter of 2011.

Non-GAAP net loss for the first quarter of 2012 was $5.1 million, compared to $3.7 million for the first quarter of 2011 (see accompanying table for reconciliation of GAAP and non-GAAP measures).

“This was a good start of the year for Fluidigm. Our leadership in single-cell genomics continued to be the catalyst behind sales of our BioMark™ HD System. For the second quarter in a row, about two-thirds of BioMark HD sales were designated for single-cell genomic research use,” stated Gajus Worthington, Fluidigm President and Chief Executive Officer.

“Consumable pull-through was healthy for all our major applications, indicating that our growing installed base is being put to good use. In addition, we revealed what the future for single-cell genomics will entail, with the expected launch of our C1™ Single-Cell Auto Prep System later this year,” Worthington continued.

Financial Highlights and Analysis

• Sales of consumables grew significantly during the quarter and we saw steadily increasing contributions from our DELTAgene™ assays, SNPtype™ assays and Access Array™ Target-Specific primers.

• Instrument/consumable mix was 55% and 45%, respectively, for the first quarter of 2012, compared to 59% and 41%, respectively, in the first quarter of 2011.

• Geographic revenue as a percent of total product revenue were as follows: United States - 54%; Europe - 24%; Asia-Pacific - 11%; Japan - 9%; and Other 2%.

• Research and development expense was $4.3 million in the first quarter of 2012, compared to $3.2 million in the first quarter of 2011.

• Selling, general and administrative expense was $9.4 million in the first quarter of 2012, compared to $7.4 million in the first quarter of 2011.

• Cash, cash equivalents and investments at the end of the first quarter of 2012 was $44.9 million, compared to $55.0 million at the beginning of the quarter. Cash used during the quarter included loan repayments of $3.8 million, including a balloon payment of $2.3 million as required under our loan agreement.

Business Highlights Since Fluidigm’s Last Earnings Release

• The Broad Institute and Fluidigm have announced the launch of the world’s first research center dedicated to accelerating the development of research methods and discoveries in mammalian single-cell genomics. The Single-Cell Genomics Center, housed at the Broad Institute in Massachusetts, is expected to act as a hub for collaboration among single-cell genomics researchers in many fields, including stem cell and cancer biology.

• Instrument revenue grew in double-digit percentages year-on-year for six consecutive quarters.

• Unit numbers and percentage of sales of BioMark HD Systems designated for single-cell genomic use continued at a strong pace during the first quarter of 2012. Two-thirds of the BioMark HD instruments sold during the quarter were designated for single-cell genomics research.

• Fluidigm unveiled a new system designed to revolutionize single-cell handling and preparation for genetic analysis. The new system, named C1 Single-Cell Auto Prep System, is expected to be available in the second half of 2012 and will be complementary to the BioMark HD System.

• Production genotyping consumable sales increased sharply in Q1 of 2012 relative to Q1 of 2011.

• Consumable pull-through for analytical systems was within our historical range of $40,000 to $50,000 per system per year. Similarly, pull-through for preparative systems was also within our historical range of $10,000 to $15,000 per system per year. DELTAgene and SNPtype assays continued to gain acceptance with our customer base.

• Fluidigm achieved its best-ever level of sales in China during Q1 of 2012 and established its Fluidigm China subsidiary.

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.

Historically, Fluidigm’s product revenue have tended to be lowest in the first quarter of the year, down from the prior year’s fourth quarter, reflecting numerous factors, including, among others, seasonal variations in customer operations and customer budget and capital spending cycles.

In recent years, product revenue experienced its largest sequential growth in the second and fourth quarters of the year, and we expect that trend to continue. We expect each quarter in 2012 to show year-on-year growth.