Dendreon (NASDAQ: DNDN) reported fiscal 2014 first-quarter earnings results before the market opened today. The biotech company's results beat analyst estimates on the bottom line, but came up short on revenue.
For the period ended March 31, Dendreon posted a net loss of $0.24 per share, up from a loss of $0.48 per share during the same period a year ago. The Street had been looking for a loss of $0.28 per share in the quarter.
Dendreon generated revenue of $68.8 million, which was up slightly from $67.6 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2013. Nevertheless, this was below analysts' estimate for first quarter revenue of $69.1 million. "This was the first quarter since the introduction of competition where we saw revenues grow as compared to the prior year, which confirms the progress we are making on a year-over-year basis," Dendreon CEO John Johnson said in a press release.
Dendreon has been aggressively cutting costs in an effort to improve profitability and become cash flow breakeven as quickly as possible. Costs of goods sold in the quarter were $37 million, or 53% of revenue, which is an improvement over the year-ago period in which costs accounted for 64% of total revenue. Meanwhile, sales of the company's Provenge cancer drug stabilized in the quarter, despite increased competition.
