What happened

Shares of Seer (SEER -1.18%) were down more than 29% as of 2:45 p.m. Wednesday after the company reported second-quarter earnings after the markets closed on Tuesday. The stock is down more than 44% so far this year.

So what

Seer is a life sciences company that sells platforms that speed proteomics, the large-scale study of proteins and genomics, the structure, function, evolution, mapping, and editing of genomes. Its products are useful for drug discovery for pharmaceutical companies and in academic settings.

On Tuesday, the healthcare company reported second-quarter revenue of $4 million, up 11% year over year. The company said the gain was due mainly to increased sales of its consumable kits connected to its Proteograph Product Suite. The company also said it had a net loss of $23.4 million, compared to a $22.8 million loss in the same period last year.

What likely brought the shares down was the company's reduced guidance. It now says it expects yearly revenue to be $16 million to $18 million. That's a 10% gain at the midpoint over last year, but well below earlier estimates of $23 million to $25 million.

Now what

CEO Omid Farokhzad, on the company's earnings call, talked about headwinds that company is fighting, including the slow adoption of mass spectrometer instruments and the lack of capital for what the company sees as disruptive technology.

The drop seems a bit excessive considering the company has $396 million in cash, enough to fund operations into 2028 at its current burn rate, and no debt.