Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN): Q1 Earnings Preview 2011

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) is scheduled to release its first-quarter earnings after the closing bell on Tuesday, April 26, 2011. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report earnings of 31 cents per share on revenue of $261.41 million. In the year ago quarter, the company reported earnings of 21 cents per share on revenue of $192.13 million.

Illumina, Inc. engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of integrated systems for the analysis of genetic variation and biological function. Genomics is emerging as a growing market within the life sciences sector, offering attractive growth opportunities and products that will potentially change the field of research. Illumina's customers include genomic research centers, pharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, clinical research organizations, and biotechnology companies.

In the preceding fourth quarter, the San Diego, California-based company's net income was $38.4 million, or 25 cents per share, compared to $11.7 million, or 9 cents per share, in the year-earlier quarter. Adjusted income, which excludes special items, was$40.9 million or 29 cents per share, compared to $27.0 million or 21 cents per share in the same quarter of last year. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of 29 cents per share on revenue of $255.75 million. 

At its last earnings call in February, the company said that it expects fiscal 2011 earnings of $1.01 per share, and adjusted earnings of $1.40 per share. The company expects revenue growth for the full year of 2011 of approximately 20% from 2010 revenues of $903 million. It expects expect gross margin to improve over the course of the year to 70% for the full year. 

The firm is seeking to keep a competitive edge by spending generously on new development. In 2010, it spent $178 million on R&D, or 19.7% of $903 million in total revenue.

During the quarter in review, Illumina closed $800 million of 0.25% Convertible Senior Notes due 2016. Illumina said it has used $314.3 million of the net proceeds from this offering to purchase 4.89 million shares of its common stock in privately negotiated transactions concurrently with this offering. The company also intends to use between about $260 million and $390 million of the net proceeds of the offering to fund conversions of its currently outstanding convertible notes. Illumina intends to use the balance of the net proceeds for other general corporate purposes, which may include acquisitions and additional purchases of its common stock.

The company's stock currently trades at a forward P/E (fye Jan 2, 2013) of 37.58 and PEG ratio (5 yr expected) of 1.79. In terms of stock performance, Illumina shares have gained nearly 90 percent over the past year.

Full Disclosure: None.

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN): Q4 Earnings Preview 2010

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) is scheduled to release its fourth-quarter financial results after the closing bell on Tuesday, February 8, 2011. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report earnings of 29 cents per share on revenue of $255.75 million. In the year ago quarter, the company reported earnings of 21 cents per share on revenue of $180.56 million.

Illumina, Inc. engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of integrated systems for the analysis of genetic variation and biological function. Genomics is emerging as a growing market within the life sciences sector, offering attractive growth opportunities and products that will potentially change the field of research. Illumina's customers include genomic research centers, pharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, clinical research organizations, and biotechnology companies.

In the preceding third quarter, the San Diego, California-based company's net income was $35.4 million or $0.24 per share compared to $17.1 million or $0.12 per share last year. Adjusted income, which excludes special items, was $40.7 million or $0.30 per share for the third quarter. Revenue jumped 50% to $237.3 million from $158.4 million last year. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of $0.24 per share on revenue of $218.15 million.

Last month, the company said that it anticipates fourth-quarter GAAP earnings of $0.22 to $0.23 per share, non-GAAP earnings of $0.28 to $0.29 per share, and revenue of about $260 million.

Thew company also raised its fiscal 2010 outlook. The company said that it expects GAAP earnings of $0.84 to $0.85 per share, non-GAAP earnings of $1.05 to $1.06 per share, on revenue growth of 35% to $901 million. Previously, Illumina said it would earn 93 cents to $1 on 28% revenue growth.

For fiscal 2011, the company expects GAAP earnings of $1.01 per share, non-GAAP earnings of $1.40 per share, and about 20% revenue growth from expected 2010 revenue. 

In January, Illumina unveiled MiSeq, a low-cost personal sequencing system that provides individual researchers a platform with rapid turnaround time, unmatched accuracy, and radically improved ease of use. Leveraging the company's TruSeq sequencing chemistry, the system's revolutionary workflow offers the flexibility to go from purified DNA to analyzed data in as few as eight hours, or to generate in excess of 1 gigabase per run in slightly over a day. Expected to be priced under $125,000 with individual run prices ranging from $400-$750, MiSeq will be the next-generation sequencing platform available, the company said.

During the quarter in review, Illumina acquired Epicentre Biotechnologies, which provides nucleic acid sample preparation reagents and specialty enzymes for sequencing and microarray applications. With this deal, the company will have access to Epicentre’s proprietary Nextera technology, which simplifies genetic analysis workflows and results in lower costs and better turnaround times for sequencing applications.

Full Disclosure: None.

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN): Q4 Earnings Preview 2009

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) is scheduled to release fourth quarter 2009 earnings after the market close on Thursday, February 4, 2010. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report earnings of 19 cents a share on revenue of $172.98 million. In the year ago quarter, the company reported earnings of 25 cents per share on revenue of $160.93 million.

Illumina, Inc. engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of integrated systems for the analysis of genetic variation and biological function. Genomics is emerging as a growing market within the life sciences sector, offering attractive growth opportunities and products that will potentially change the field of research.

In the preceding third quarter, the San Diego, California-based company posted net income of $17.1 million or $0.12 per share for the third quarter, compared to a net loss of $10.1 million or $0.08 per share a year ago. Excluding items, Illumina's adjusted net income was $32.3 million or $0.24 per share, up from $28.64 million or $0.22 per share for the third quarter of 2008. Revenue increased 5% to $158.36 million from $150.26 million reported in the third quarter of 2008. Analysts, on average, expected the company to earn $0.20 per share on revenue of $167.32 million.

Recently, Illumina said that based on management's preliminary review of quarterly financial results the company's revenue for the fourth quarter of 2009 is approximately $176 million. This compares to fourth quarter revenue guidance of a minimum of $165 million and implies fiscal year 2009 revenue of approximately $662 million or annual growth of 15%. However, the company added that this revenue estimate is preliminary and remains subject to audit by its independent registered accounting firm.

The company said that for the full year 2010 it expects non-GAAP earnings per share to be in the range of $0.90 to $1.00 and the revenue to grow by approximately 20% from the anticipated 2009 revenue of $662 million. Also, it expects gross margins in the mid to high 60s.

In the fourth quarter, the company unveiled a revolutionary new DNA sequencer, the HiSeq 2000, which has the potential to provide four times the amount of genetic information per experiment with improved performance in comparison to other products currently on the market. The machine will decode a person's DNA in one week using $10,000 worth of materials--five times cheaper than any other competing gadget on the market. Illumina has already received a record order for 128 of the new HiSeq 2000 systems from the Beijing Genomics Institute, a Chinese government research institute. Illumina is planning to ship limited quantities of its latest system in February and begin broad shipments in March.

In November, Illumina announced that its Board of Directors has approved a new stock repurchase program, authorizing the company to repurchase in the aggregate up to $100 million of its outstanding common stock.

The company's stock currently trades at a forward P/E (fye 28-Dec-10) of 37.46 and PEG Ratio (5 yr expected) of 1.99. In terms of stock performance, Illumina shares have gained 34 percent over the past year.

Full Disclosure: None.