Illumina Inc (NASDAQ:ILMN) shares are trading lower Friday, after the company reported preliminary second-quarter sales below analyst estimates.
The genetics company expects to report second-quarter revenue of approximately $835 million, compared to $830 million in the second quarter of 2018.
The company reports approximately $10 million lower revenue than expected is due to ongoing weakness in the direct-to-consumer market, primarily impacting array services.
"We are obviously disappointed with our second-quarter financial results. Our preliminary analysis suggests that these challenges are transitory and do not reflect a macro change to the fundamentals of our business," said CEO Francis deSouza.
"Despite our shortfall this quarter, we remain as enthusiastic about the long-term growth prospects for our markets as we have ever been, and are committed to setting the industry’s bar for consistency and execution in the dynamic and rapidly growing world of genomics."
Illumina now expects fiscal year revenue growth of approximately 6%, primarily associated with lower near-term expectations in DTC, a more conservative assumption about the speed with which certain population genomics initiatives ramp, and lower non-high-throughput sequencing systems and consumables, including a delay in a partner program that is now expected to ramp in 2020.
On Friday, Bank of America downgraded Illumina from Buy to Underperform.
Illumina shares were trading down $55.78, or 15.3% early on Friday to $307.89. The stock has a 52-week high of $380.76 and a 52-week low of $268.62.
