Arcadia Biosciences sees 4Q revenue of $7.1M driven by Bioceres transactions, new wheat and hemp products

Arcadia Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:RKDA) (FRA:17D) posted fourth-quarter results on Wednesday that saw its revenue rocket nearly 1,606% year-over-year on the back of demand for its new wheat and hemp products and several strategic transactions with Bioceres Crop Solutions (NYSEAMERICAN:BIOX). For the period ended December 31, 2020, the Davis, California-based company reported revenue of $7.1 million, compared to $416,000 in the fourth quarter of 2019. Similarly, the company clocked up annual revenue of $8 million in 2020, compared to $1.2 million during 2019. Arcadia’s revenue bump was powered by license revenue from deals with Bioceres in November last year. This included the sale of its membership interest in Verdeca, a soybean JV the two companies formed in 2012. In another transaction, Bioceres acquired license rights to Arcadia's GoodWheat technologies in South and Central America, for which Arcadia will receive royalties on sales. Arcadia received $6 million in cash, including reimbursement of transaction-related expenses, with $2 million in cash to be paid on Verdeca achieving specific regulatory and commercial milestones. READ: Arcadia Biosciences awarded a US patent for its GoodWheat high fiber resistant starch In addition, Arcadia also received 1.875 million unregistered shares of Bioceres and trait royalties of up to $10 million on HB4 soybean sales. “The remaining revenues were largely the result of GLA product revenues. As expected, revenues from legacy sources continued to wind down during the year and revenues from new wheat and hemp products are poised for meaningful growth in 2021,” said the company. In a statement accompanying the numbers, Arcadia Biosciences CEO Matt Plavan said: "2020 was a remarkable year for Arcadia, as we achieved record revenues and greatly strengthened our financial wherewithal. “We also established new direct-to-consumer sales channels, introduced new consumer products, enhanced our IP portfolio and fundamentally evolved to a viable commercial enterprise… We enter 2021 well-funded, well-equipped and highly enthusiastic," he added. Arcadia said that during 2020, consumer demand for pantry staples like pasta and flour “increased significantly, as did e-commerce as a means of consumer procurement,” which bodes well for Arcadia's strategy decision to focus on “direct-to-consumer sales for GoodWheat, both on-line and through direct retail.” Arcadia now has a strategic business venture with Three Farm Daughters, a majority female-owned North Dakota-based consumer food company, to develop and market food products using Arcadia's patented non-GMO GoodWheat technology. Through a collaboration with GoodMills Innovation, an affiliate of GoodMills Group, Europe's largest milling company, Arcadia plans to commercialize GoodWheat varieties across Europe. Meanwhile, Arcadia closed a transaction with Industrial Seed Innovations (ISI), an Oregon-based industrial hemp breeding and seed company, to acquire its commercial and genetic assets, including seed varieties, germplasm library and intellectual property. In January 2021, Arcadia closed a private placement priced at-the-market with proceeds of $25.1 million. The funds will be used for building Arcadia's global GoodWheat family of consumer brands, development of its e-commerce infrastructure to launch its Three Farm Daughters branded pasta and flour products, and to fund its Archipelago Ventures Hawaiian hemp cultivation and mainland CBD extraction operations. Net income for the 4Q was $10 million, or a gain of $0.90 per share, compared to the $6.2 million loss recognized in the fourth quarter of 2019. Net loss for the year was $4.7 million, or ($0.47) per share, compared to the net loss of $28.8 million in 2019. Operating expenses for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2020 were $(0.3) million and $20.8 million, compared to $4.4 million and $20.6 million for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2019. Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive