What happened
BioLife Solutions (BLFS -3.53%), which makes products that are used in the production of cell and gene therapies, is up 11.9% at 1:55 p.m. EDT after the company announced preliminary revenue for the second quarter and used the opportunity to raise $75 million.
So what
BioLife Solutions estimates second quarter revenue will fall in the range of $9.6 million to $9.8 million, up 43% to 46% year over year. The company added 57 new customers during the first half of this year, and its biopreservation media products are being used in 23 additional clinical trials run by customers.
The healthcare company didn't give an estimate for earnings, but that's not surprising given that the quarter only ended on Tuesday. Revenues are easier to quickly estimate compared to expenses.
Image source: Getty Images.
On the capital front, BioLife Solutions sold 5.175 million shares at $14.50, allowing it to raise approximately $75 million. The underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase an additional 776,250 shares, which could provide an additional $11.3 million. Considering that BioLife Solutions is trading well higher than $14.50 at the moment, the option will likely be executed.
Now what
It's a little surprising to see BioLife Solutions up so much today, considering that institutional investors were only willing to pay $14.50 per share. It likely would have made more sense for the company to waited to raise capital, but hindsight is 20/20.
Looking forward, investors should be happy with the progress that BioLife Solutions made during the quarter, especially with enrollment in so many clinical trials being put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The results show how the company's products are clearly needed, and likely says something about the diseases where its products are used. A cancer cell therapy study, for example, was less likely to be delayed given the urgent need, compared to a clinical trial for a small molecule drug treating a disease that isn't life threatening.
