KeyBanc maintains Rapid Micro Biosystems Overweight rating

Published 28/02/2025, 20:58
KeyBanc maintains Rapid Micro Biosystems Overweight rating

On Friday, KeyBanc Capital Markets maintained its Overweight rating on Rapid Micro Biosystems Inc (NASDAQ:RPID) with a steady price target of $8.00. The decision follows the company’s reported fourth-quarter earnings for 2024, which showcased a robust 30% increase in revenue and a positive gross margin. According to InvestingPro data, RPID has demonstrated remarkable momentum with a 231% return over the past year. The company also revealed a new distribution and collaboration agreement with MilliporeSigma, a leading company in the Life Science sector.

Despite the positive fourth-quarter results, Rapid Micro Biosystems’ shares dipped after the announcement. KeyBanc analyst Paul Knight attributed the decline to the company’s 2025 revenue guidance, which, at a minimum of $32 million, indicates a 14% growth year-over-year but falls slightly short of the $33.1 million market consensus. InvestingPro analysis reveals that while the company maintains strong liquidity with a current ratio of 5.52, it faces challenges with negative gross profit margins and rapid cash burn. Knight highlighted that the guidance does not account for potential contributions from the recent MilliporeSigma agreement or any significant multi-system placements.

Knight emphasized management’s conservative stance on the 2025 guidance, noting that it deliberately excludes the MilliporeSigma contract and substantial multi-system placements. The company forecasts high single to low double-digit percentage gross margins (HSD-LDD% GMs) for 2025. KeyBanc sees this as a move towards greater transparency regarding Rapid Micro Biosystems’ near-term (NT) and long-term (LT) gross margin goals, which aim for an increase of over 50%.

The collaboration with MilliporeSigma is expected to open up procurement opportunities for Rapid Micro Biosystems, potentially lowering costs for raw materials and shipping. These opportunities are seen as an extension of the company’s ongoing cost-saving initiatives. Following the latest financial results and future guidance, KeyBanc has updated its model and estimates for Rapid Micro Biosystems to reflect the quarter’s performance and the company’s outlook for the coming year.

In other recent news, Rapid Micro Biosystems reported its fourth-quarter earnings, which fell short of analyst expectations, leading to a notable decline in its stock value. The company reported a loss of $0.22 per share, slightly missing the analyst estimate of a $0.21 loss. However, revenue for the quarter reached $8.2 million, surpassing the consensus estimate of $7.8 million and marking a 30% year-over-year increase. For the full year 2025, Rapid Micro Biosystems projects total revenue of at least $32 million, which is below the $32.9 million anticipated by analysts. Despite the earnings miss, the company achieved a record fourth-quarter sales and improved its gross margin to 12%, a significant increase from the -3% reported in the same quarter the previous year. Additionally, Rapid Micro Biosystems announced a global Distribution and Collaboration Agreement with MilliporeSigma, which grants co-exclusive rights to sell its Growth Direct systems and related consumables worldwide. The company placed six Growth Direct systems and completed validation of four customer systems during the quarter. As of the end of 2024, Rapid Micro Biosystems reported having $50.7 million in cash, cash equivalents, and investments, with no outstanding debt.

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