— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs
Once the COVID-19 pandemic ended, OraSure Technologies got sick.
The company continues to churn out bad news.
The South Bethlehem-based maker of diagnostic tests reported a fourth-quarter loss today, and declines in revenue and gross margin.
Here’s what Chief Executive Carrie Eglinton Manner had to say about today’s report:
“We made tremendous progress in our strategic transformation in 2024, which gives us confidence that OTI is positioned to deliver growth in our core business and drive further productivity gains,” according to the earnings statement. OTI is a term OraSure sometimes uses for itself (an acronym for OraSure Technologies Inc.)
If this is “tremendous progress,” well …
OraSure has done nothing since the pandemic, when it floated on a wave of government money. As of now, it’s hard to see what this company can do internally to boost its business. Perhaps some kind of deal with a larger company could help, or the federal government could send some business OraSure’s way.
What the company actually does is destroy investor wealth. The shares (NASDAQ:OSUR) finished the regular trading session at $4.00, and as of 4:33 p.m., were down 7.3% to $3.70. Late trading can be light and volatile, but no matter how somebody spins this, it’s bad news.
To the numbers: OraSure lost 6 cents per share in the fourth quarter on an adjusted basis, more than the 3-cent-loss consensus estimate of just two analysts surveyed by Zacks. On a GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) basis, which does not exclude certain items, OraSure lost 14 cents per share in the fourth quarter.
Fourth-quarter revenue was $37.5 million, a bit less than half of what it was in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted gross margin was 40.1%, down from 46.5%, and GAAP gross margin was 36.2%m down from 46.3%.
OraSure forecasts first-quarter revenue of $27.5 million to $31.5 million.
The Company is guiding to Q1 2025 revenues of $27.5 million to $31.5 million.
There will be a conference call at 5 p.m. See this link.
OraSure was founded in Bethlehem as SolarCare, a maker of sunscreen towelettes.
Lehigh Valley News Briefs 