AFFX 10pt sell-off $30) cuts 2Q guidance;sees 'sporadic' business next 2-3 Qtrs
SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 11 /PRNewswire/ --
Affymetrix, Inc., (Nasdaq: AFFX) today announced that it expects revenues for
the second quarter of 2001 to be in the range of $44 to $50 million including
$3-$4 million in revenue from Perlegen Sciences, Inc. The revenue shortfall
relative to recent analyst expectations is due to lower than anticipated
orders for the Company's GeneChip(R) product line and a further decline in the
spotted array instrumentation marketplace. Although the Company is managing
expenses, it is not reducing R&D and infrastructure investments in a manner
that would be harmful to its long-term opportunity. As a result, the Company
expects to report a net loss for the quarter of $4 to $7 million, excluding
non-cash, acquisition-related charges.
The Company believes multiple market factors stemming from the current
economic climate are contributing to the unanticipated weakness in orders,
making it increasingly difficult for the Company to predict its financial
performance with certainty at this time. The Company does not expect further
weakness in its overall business, but believes that it could be sporadic for
at least the next two to three quarters. Affymetrix will provide further
updates when it reports its actual second quarter financial results.
"Affymetrix has created a new industry and has grown rapidly over the past
few years. The nascent state of our market combined with variable economic
conditions and rapidly changing dynamics affecting our largest customers have
made it challenging to accurately forecast growth," stated Stephen P.A. Fodor,
Ph.D. Chairman and CEO of Affymetrix. "Despite the current slowdown, our
customers increasingly tell us that GeneChip technology is rapidly becoming an
indispensable tool for scientific discovery as well as drug development.
Thus, we remain highly optimistic about our longer-term financial prospects,"
concluded Fodor.
The Company's current financial performance appears to be principally due
to business uncertainties impacting the pharmaceutical industry, sporadic
ordering patterns from a few of its large customers and a continued decline in
the spotted array marketplace. In contrast, these factors do not appear to be
affecting growth of the Company's GeneChip product line in the academic and
biotech market segments.
Industry specific factors such as consolidation trends appear to be
impacting decision making by pharmaceutical companies, leading to fluctuations
in customer ordering patterns and management of their inventory levels. In
addition, the Company's murine array replacement program appears to be having
a greater impact than anticipated on the initiation of new array-based
studies. Performance of the Company's spotted array product line is
consistent with a continued shift in user preferences away from do-it-yourself
arrays to pre-synthesized arrays.
Investors may listen to Affymetrix' management discuss this announcement
and its financial implications by dialing domestic: 800-248-9412,
international: 212-896-6082 on June 11, from 2:15 - 3:00 p.m. PT. A replay
of this call will be available until 4:00 p.m. PT on June 15 at the following
numbers: domestic: 800-633-8284, international: 858-812-6440, reservation
number: 19111359. To access a Webcast of the conference call go to
www.affymetrix.com/about/index.html, then click on "Investor Information."
Affymetrix is a leader in developing and commercializing systems to
acquire, analyze and manage complex genetic information in order to improve
the quality of life. Affymetrix customers include pharmaceutical,
biotechnology, agrochemical, diagnostics and consumer products companies as
well as academic, government and other non-profit research institutes. The
Company's GeneChip(R) system consists of disposable DNA probe arrays
containing gene sequences on a chip, reagents for use with the probe arrays, a
scanner, and other instruments to process the probe arrays and software to
analyze and manage genetic information. The Company's spotted array system
enables individual researchers to create and analyze custom microarrays on an
easy to use platform. Additional information on Affymetrix and GeneChip array
technology can be found at www.affymetrix.com.
This announcement contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning
of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act as amended, including statements
regarding Affymetrix' "expectations," "beliefs," "hopes," "intentions,"
"strategies" or the like. Such statements are subject to risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially for
Affymetrix from the forward-looking statements in this release. Such risks
and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the amount of sales
completed during the remainder of the quarter, any unforeseen expenses
incurred by the Company during the remainder of the quarter, any accounting
adjustments made during the close of the quarter, uncertainties related to the
impact of the mouse genome array replacement program, uncertainties relating
to business and economic conditions in the industry, global economic
conditions, changes in customer ordering patterns and variations in customer
demand for products in various geographic regions, financial pressures
affecting the rate at which the Company's technology is being adopted,
uncertainties relating to technological approaches, product development,
manufacturing, market acceptance, uncertainties related to cost and pricing of
Affymetrix products, dependence on collaborative partners, uncertainties
relating to sole source suppliers, competition, risks relating to intellectual
property of others and the uncertainties of patent protection and litigation.
These and other risk factors are discussed in Affymetrix' Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2000 and other SEC reports, including its Quarterly
Reports on Form 10-Q for subsequent quarterly periods. Affymetrix expressly
disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or
revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any
change in Affymetrix' expectations with regard thereto or any change in
events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statements are based.
Affymetrix, GeneChip and the Affymetrix logo are registered trademarks used by
Affymetrix, Inc.
SOURCE Affymetrix, Inc.
-0- 06/11/2001
/CONTACT: Edward M. Hurwitz, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer, 408-731-5000, or Anne Bowdidge, Director of Investor Relations,
408-731-5925, both of Affymetrix, Inc./
/Web site: affymetrix.com
(AFFX)
CO: Affymetrix, Inc. |
