29 May 2023

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Biolase reports ninth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth

Paola Omini

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Biolase, Inc. announced on May 11 its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023.

The company reported increased international laser sales by 22% year over year. In addition, Biolase said that it had a record quarter in consumable sales, with U.S. consumable sales increasing 19% year over year, driven by increased procedures using BIOLASE laser systems.

According to the news release, Biolase:

• Reported revenue of $10.5 million, the ninth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth.
• Generated increased adoption of its industry-leading laser, with approximately 58% of U.S. Waterlase sales coming from new customers and approximately 33% from dental specialists.
• Sales conversion success rate continued to rise in the first quarter, up more than 20% over the year-ago sales conversion success rate of the Company's Waterlase Exclusive Trial Program.

John Beaver, president and CEO, said in the news release that results for the first quarter were largely in-line with prior expectations discussed on the 2022 earnings call a couple of months ago.

"It's encouraging that we achieved another quarter of year-over-year growth despite the comparable periods being tougher," he said.

Beaver said the sales team's enthusiasm, which is being felt throughout the organization, is a combination of the company's go-to-market initiatives and the positive response they are getting from the broader dental community – especially those new to its award-winning lasers.

"We believe the effort and investments we are making today will pay off in the coming quarters, as evidenced by the rising demand and the rising number of dentists that are attending our many training events and those benefitting from our novel educational programs," he said. "For example, the Waterlase Exclusive Trial Program is generating stellar results and we believe is creating a tailwind that gives us greater confidence that we can achieve our revenue growth and profitability outlook for the full year. In addition, our record quarter in consumable sales represents a historic shift in laser utilization, and further demonstrates the impact more frequent, higher quality training and pre-sale training programs such as WETP can have on our consumable business and achieving margin growth." 

Net revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was $10.5 million, an increase of 3% compared to net revenue of $10.2 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022. U.S. laser revenue was $3.5 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, a decrease of 14% compared to U.S. laser revenue of $4.0 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022.  U.S. consumables and other revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, which consists of revenue from consumable products such as disposable tips, increased 19% year over year. International laser revenue was $2.8 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, up 22% compared to $2.3 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022.

First quarter financial results

Gross margin for the quarter that ended March 31, 2023, was 32% compared to 47% for the quarter ended March 31, 2022. The decrease in gross profit is primarily due to the impact of supply chain issues which required the company to change to new suppliers, and the effect of an increase in the percentage of our revenue generated outside the U.S., where margins are lower than the company's U.S. business.

Total operating expenses were $8.6 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, compared to $8.9 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, a 3% decrease year over year. Operating loss for the quarter ended March 31, 2023 was $5.3 million, compared to an operating loss of $4.2 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, an increase of 26% year over year.

The company had cash and cash equivalents of approximately $6.5 million on March 31, 2023.

See more details in the company's news release and its Investor Relations section of the company's website.