Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:BIO) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Simon May: Yeah, this is Simon. As we think about the digital PCR business overall, I’ll say we’re pretty pleased with the growth trajectory that we saw throughout 2022. We’re pleased with the new product introductions, and compound that with the burn down that we’ve started to see in the order backlog. We feel good that we’ve got some momentum as we come into 2023. And we talked previously about the market dynamics, yeah, there’s emerging competition and we see it as a double-edged sword. It’s expanding the addressable opportunity, but it’s also something that we take very seriously. And, as some of the earlier comments have mentioned, we’re excited about the QX600 launch and the initial uptake that we’re seeing with that. And when you blend the capabilities of that platform with the assay capabilities we’ve secured access to with NuProbe.

We believe we’re going to be able to access segments of the market in a way that we weren’t always able to do when we can be best-in-class in terms of performance. So we think we’ve got a lot of momentum, and we also continue to feel very good about the mix between instruments and consumables as we head into 2023. And we see a lot of data points out in the market as well. And I think from our viewpoint, that’s just really corroborated how good we felt about the performance in 2022, and how particularly bullish we are coming into 2023.

Brandon Couillard: Okay. Simon, well, I’ve got you. On the NuProbe licensing the oncology content for ddPCR, what’s the timeline for commercialization of that? And then you’ve also had a couple of other partnership announcement recently with Cytek on the StarBright, whether cytometry dyes, there’s another one that for RNA library prep kits. Are any of those materials in terms of revenue contributors in 2023, this part of a broader strategy to monetize more of the content you have in the portfolio through partnerships?

Simon May: I wouldn’t think about any of those as being material in 2023, I think we’re going to have a pretty significant emphasis on assay development around new probe in 2023. I mean, we’ve already got a lot of oncology content in the digital PCR franchise. It generates a lot of revenue for us already. And, I think, that’s going to be a meaningful extension over time from 2024 onwards. Similarly, with the Cytek agreement that you mentioned, we’ve got best-in-class performing dies there with StarBright. And in addition to pushing direct portfolio, we’re certainly wide open to partnerships there and within the partnership with Cytek is going to serve as well over time, but again, not meaningful in 2023.

Brandon Couillard: Okay. Last one, Ilan, did you mentioned a $5 million to $10 million onetime revenue benefit in the fourth quarter. And what’s the operating impact of that if the operating income line?

Ilan Daskal: So Brandon, it’s €“ on average kind of the gross margin benefits. So it’s not anything higher or lower. It’s blended average for the gross margin. And it is a onetime for the fourth quarter between $5 million and 10 million, as I mentioned.

Brandon Couillard: Thank you very much.

Ilan Daskal: Thank you, Brandon.

Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Jack Meehan with Nephron Research. Please proceed.

Jack Meehan: Thank you. Good afternoon. I wanted to start with M&A for Norman, just based on what you’re seeing now. And if you look out for 2023, do you think tuck-in deals are more or less likely than something more transformative? And either for you or Ilan, just latest thoughts on balance sheet and willingness for using equity as part of a deal?