What: Shares of Fluidigm (FLDM 6.34%), a company focused on producing tools for the life-science industry, were up more than 35% in early morning trading on higher than normal volume after the company reported earnings results that crushed expectations.
So what: The company reported revenue for the third quarter of $28.6 million, which was actually down 3% versus results a year ago but on a constant currency basis was up a modest 3%. That number topped Wall Street's forecasts as the pros were expecting only $27.3 million in revenue.
That revenue beat allowed the company to show a GAAP net loss of only $9.3 million, or $0.32 per share, which was far better than the $0.55 loss that analysts were expecting.
Given the beat on revenue and earnings, Fluidigm was upgraded to a "buy" by an analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald, so the combination of good news has sent its stock soaring higher today.
Now what: For the full year the company now expects revenue to fall between $111 million and $114 million, which assumes a negative currency effect of 4% to 5%, and at the mid-point would be roughly flat year-over-year.
In the release, Gajus Worthington, Fluidigm's Chief Executive Officer, stated:
"We have made substantial progress in implementing our new organizational structure, adding executive sales leadership, and refocusing our commercial activity. We believe these key actions have stabilized our near-term performance and position us for growth in 2016 and beyond."
Though today's pop certainly looks good, when you zoom-out a bit you see that Fluidigm has been an awful stock to own this year. Its shares are down a gut-wrenching 70% this year, even after accounting for today's move.
While I think investors are right to cheer this earnings beat, the company is clearly currently struggling to grow its top-line and it continues to lose money each quarter, so until we see signs that Fludigm can get its top-line heading in the right direction I'll be staying away from this company.
