On May 10, 2021 NanoString Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:NSTG), a leading provider of life science tools for discovery and translational research, reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (Press release, NanoString Technologies, MAY 10, 2021, View Source [SID1234579581]).

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First Quarter Financial Highlights

Product and service revenue of $31.4 million, 28% year-over-year growth
Instrument revenue of $11.7 million, 19% year-over-year growth. Instrument revenue includes $7.0 million of GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiler (DSP) instrument revenue
Consumables revenue of $16.0 million, 39% year-over-year growth. Consumables revenue includes $2.7 million GeoMx DSP consumables revenue
Service revenue of $3.7 million, 17% year-over-year growth
Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments balance of $409.9 million
"Spatial Biology is in a period of tremendous growth, revolutionizing research in fields from oncology to COVID-19. During Q1, NanoString extended its lead in this exciting market, with strong demand for our GeoMx DSP, a record number of new peer-reviewed publications, and growing excitement generated by our Spatial Molecular Imager," said Brad Gray, president and CEO of NanoString. "The launch of our GeoMx Whole Transcriptome Atlas is off to a great start, and is now driving more than 60% of new projects in our GeoMx Technology Access Program. Meanwhile, our nCounter business showed continued durability, with steady demand for new instruments continuing more than a decade after the platform’s introduction."

GeoMx DSP

GeoMx Installed Base: Grew installed base to approximately 160 GeoMx DSP Systems at March 31, 2021, as compared to approximately 55 at March 31, 2020
GeoMx Whole Transcriptome Atlas: Began commercial shipments of the GeoMx Whole Transcriptome Atlas in the first quarter
GeoMx Technology Access Program (TAP): Generated approximately 95 new GeoMx TAP orders in the first quarter, of which over 60% utilized the GeoMx Whole Transcriptome Atlas
GeoMx Publications: Increased cumulative peer-reviewed publications to 47 as of March 31, 2021, with a record 12 new publications during the quarter
2021 American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Conference: Highlighted an emerging body of spatial biology research that included eight abstracts that utilized GeoMx DSP, four of which were presented by investigators from the GeoMx Breast Cancer Consortium
Illumina Accelerator and Doloromics GeoMx Collaboration: Announced a collaboration with Illumina Accelerator and Doloromics that will leverage high-resolution spatial profiling for the development of a new generation of pain therapeutics
nCounter

nCounter Installed Base: Grew installed base to approximately 995 nCounter Analysis Systems at March 31, 2021, as compared to approximately 865 systems at March 31, 2020
nCounter Publications: Surpassed 4,300 cumulative peer-reviewed publications utilizing nCounter technology at March 31, 2021
2021 AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Conference: Highlighted the use of the nCounter Analysis System in approximately 45 scientific abstracts
Corporate

Appointment of New Board Members: Expanded the Board of Directors with the appointments of Dana Rollison, Ph.D., and Janet George. Dr. Rollison is vice president, chief data officer and associate center director of Data Science for the Moffit Cancer Center. Ms. George is group vice president of Autonomous Enterprise, Advanced Analytics with Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence for Oracle
First Quarter Financial Results

We have elected to present selected non-GAAP, or adjusted, financial measures, including Adjusted EBITDA. These adjusted financial measures are calculated excluding certain items that may make it more challenging to compare our GAAP operating results across periods. Such items may include collaboration revenue, stock-based compensation, depreciation and amortization, or one-time charges such as transaction related fees and expenses or restructuring charges and severance costs. A reconciliation of adjusted financial measures to the nearest comparable GAAP financial measure can be found in the notes and table at the end of this press release.

Supplemental Information

As a supplement to the table above, we have posted to the investor relations section of our website, at www.nanostring.com, supplemental financial data that includes our adjusted financial measures as compared to the nearest comparable GAAP financial measures, for the first quarter of 2021 and for each quarter of and the full year of 2020.

Conference Call

Management will host a conference call today beginning at 1:30 pm PT / 4:30 pm ET to discuss these results and answer questions. Investors and other interested parties can register for the call in advance by visiting View Source After registering, an email confirmation will be sent, including dial-in details and unique conference call codes for entry. Registration is open throughout the call, but to ensure connection for the full call, registration in advance is recommended. The link to the webcast and audio replay will be made available at the Investor Relations website: www.nanostring.com. A replay of the call will be available beginning May 10, 2021 at 7:30pm ET through midnight ET on May 17, 2021. To access the replay, dial (800) 585-8367 or (416) 621-4642 and reference Conference ID: 9493413. The webcast will also be available on our website for one year following the completion of the call.

Non-GAAP, or Adjusted, Financial Information

We believe that the presentation of non-GAAP, or adjusted, financial information provides important supplemental information to management and investors regarding financial and business trends relating to our financial condition and results of operations. Reconciliation of adjusted financial measures to the most directly comparable financial result as determined in accordance with GAAP are included at the end of this press release following the accompanying financial data. A reconciliation of adjusted guidance measures to corresponding GAAP measures is not available on a forward-looking basis without unreasonable effort due to the uncertainty regarding certain expenses that may be incurred in the future. For further information regarding why we believe that these adjusted measures provide useful information to investors, the specific manner in which management uses these measures, and some of the limitations associated with the use of these measures, please refer to "Notes Regarding Non-GAAP Financial Information" at the end of this press release.