Maravai LifeSciences Postpones its Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Earnings Release and Conference Call

Rhea-AI Summary

Maravai LifeSciences (NASDAQ: MRVI) has postponed its previously announced Q4 and full year 2024 earnings release and conference call originally scheduled for February 25, 2025. The company will file a Form 12b-25 with the SEC to delay its annual 10-K report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024.

Maravai intends to hold the postponed earnings call and file the 2024 Form 10-K by March 18, 2025, before the expiration of the automatic 15-day extension from the original March 3, 2025 due date.

The delay is attributed to three main factors: (1) additional time needed to assess a potential non-cash goodwill impairment charge related to the Alphazyme acquisition; (2) assessment of a revenue recognition error involving approximately $3.9 million recorded in Q2 2024 that should have been recorded in Q3 2024; and (3) time required to complete assessment of disclosure controls and internal controls over financial reporting, including remediation of a material weakness in revenue recognition controls.

Despite these issues, Maravai still expects full-year 2024 revenue to be near the mid-point of its previously announced guidance range of $255.0-265.0 million.

Positive

• Full-year 2024 revenue still expected near mid-point of $255-265 million guidance range
• Revenue recognition error not expected to impact full-year 2024 results

Negative

• Postponement of Q4 and full year 2024 earnings release and conference call
• Delay in filing annual 10-K report
• Potential non-cash goodwill impairment charge related to Alphazyme acquisition
• Revenue recognition error of $3.9 million between Q2 and Q3 2024
• Material weakness identified in internal controls over revenue recognition

Insights

Financial Analyst

Maravai LifeSciences' postponement of its Q4/FY 2024 earnings release represents a significant red flag that warrants careful investor attention. The company has disclosed three distinct issues requiring additional assessment time, with varying degrees of severity and potential impact.

The most concerning disclosure is the identification of a material weakness in internal controls over revenue recognition. This isn't merely a procedural footnote - material weaknesses indicate fundamental flaws in financial reporting systems that could undermine the reliability of reported results. Companies with such weaknesses typically face extended audits, increased compliance costs, and often require 6-12 months of remediation work before receiving clean internal control opinions. This suggests governance issues that extend beyond a single quarter's results.

The $3.9 million revenue recognition timing error between Q2 and Q3 may seem relatively minor (representing approximately 1.5% of annual revenue based on guidance), but its discovery during year-end audit procedures raises questions about whether similar issues exist elsewhere. While Maravai maintains its full-year revenue guidance of $255-265 million, the error's identification triggered the material weakness disclosure, suggesting auditors found the control environment inadequate.

The potential non-cash goodwill impairment related to the Alphazyme acquisition signals possible underperformance of this business unit. Goodwill impairments, while non-cash, represent acknowledgment that an acquisition's value hasn't met expectations. This could impact future growth projections and raises questions about management's capital allocation decisions.

The timing of this announcement - on the originally scheduled earnings day rather than with advance notice - suggests these issues were identified late in the audit process, potentially indicating rushed year-end procedures or insufficient preparation for external review.

For a company with a relatively modest market capitalization of $555 million and a stock price of $4.01, these governance concerns could significantly impact investor confidence. The Form 12b-25 filing provides a standard 15-day extension until March 18, but the resolution of these issues, particularly the material weakness remediation, will likely extend well beyond this timeframe.

Similar accounting issues at peer life sciences companies have typically resulted in 15-30% share price volatility until resolution. The combination of three separate issues simultaneously is particularly unusual and suggests potential systemic problems in financial oversight that merit close monitoring as further details emerge.

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Maravai LifeSciences Holdings, Inc. (Maravai) (NASDAQ: MRVI), a global provider of life science reagents and services to researchers and biotech innovators, today announced that it is postponing its previously announced earnings release and call scheduled for February 25, 2025. It also announced that it intends to file a Form 12b-25, Notification of Late Filing, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and will delay the filing its annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 (the “2024 Form 10-K”). Maravai intends to hold its postponed earnings call and to file the 2024 Form 10-K as soon as practicable and on or before March 18, 2025, prior to the expiration of the automatic extension of fifteen calendar days from the original 2024 Form 10-K due date of March 3, 2025.

Maravai requires additional time to complete its year-end financial close process for reasons related primarily to the following items. First, Maravai requires additional time to complete its assessment of a potential non-cash impairment charge related to goodwill associated with its previous acquisition of Alphazyme LLC. Second, Maravai requires additional time to assess an error identified during the close process with respect to revenue recognition associated with a single shipment identified in year-end audit procedures that resulted in approximately $3.9 million in revenue being recorded in the final week of the second quarter of 2024 upon shipment when it should have been recorded in the first week of the third quarter of 2024 upon receipt by the customer. This revenue recognition error is not expected to impact full-year 2024 revenue, which Maravai still expects to be near the mid-point of the previously announced guidance range of $255.0 million and $265.0 million. Third, Maravai requires additional time to complete its assessment of the effectiveness of its disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024, and any remediation, including with respect to remediation of a material weakness in its internal controls over revenue recognition identified by management.

About Maravai

Maravai is a leading life sciences company providing critical products to enable the development of drug therapies, diagnostics and novel vaccines and to support research on human diseases. Maravai’s companies are leaders in providing products and services in the fields of nucleic acid synthesis and biologics safety testing to many of the world's leading biopharmaceutical, vaccine, diagnostics, and cell and gene therapy companies.

For more information about Maravai LifeSciences, visit www.maravai.com.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains, and our officers and representatives may from time-to-time make, “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that statements in this press release which are not strictly historical statements constitute forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding our expected revenue for full year 2024 and the expected timing of our full-year 2024 earnings release and the filing of the 2024 Form 10-K, constitute forward-looking statements and are identified by words like “believe,” “expect,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seek,” “anticipate,” or “could” and similar expressions.

Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Our actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, the following:

• potential errors made in calculating the preliminary revenue estimate for 2024;

• adjustments that may arise in connection with the year-end financial close process or our independent registered public accounting firm's audit of our consolidated financial statements for 2024;

• further delay in the financial close process or the related audit; and

• such other factors as discussed throughout the sections entitled “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Maravai’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, as well as other documents Maravai files with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Any forward-looking statement made by us in this release is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

FAQ

Why did Maravai LifeSciences (MRVI) postpone its Q4 2024 earnings release?

Maravai postponed its earnings release to complete its year-end financial close process, assess a potential goodwill impairment charge, address a revenue recognition error, and evaluate internal controls over financial reporting.

When will Maravai (MRVI) release its delayed 2024 financial results?

Maravai intends to hold its postponed earnings call and file its 2024 Form 10-K on or before March 18, 2025, prior to the expiration of the 15-day extension from the original due date.

What is the revenue recognition error affecting Maravai's (MRVI) 2024 financial statements?

Maravai identified an error where approximately $3.9 million in revenue was recorded in late Q2 2024 upon shipment when it should have been recorded in early Q3 2024 upon customer receipt.

Will the accounting issues affect Maravai's (MRVI) full-year 2024 revenue guidance?

No, despite the issues, Maravai still expects full-year 2024 revenue to be near the mid-point of its previously announced guidance range of $255.0-265.0 million.

What internal control issues did Maravai (MRVI) identify in its 2024 financial reporting?

Maravai identified a material weakness in its internal controls over revenue recognition that requires assessment and remediation.

What potential impairment is Maravai (MRVI) assessing in its 2024 financial statements?

Maravai is assessing a potential non-cash impairment charge related to goodwill associated with its previous acquisition of Alphazyme