Champions Oncology (CSBR) Q1 2027 Earnings Call Transcript

DATE

Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026 at 4:30 p.m. ET

CALL PARTICIPANTS

• Chief Executive Officer - Robert Brainin
• Chief Financial Officer - David Miller

TAKEAWAYS

• Revenue -- $15.2 million, growing 8.8% year over year due to improved conversion of contracted work and increased data licensing revenue.
• Adjusted EBITDA -- $671,000, representing an increase from $59,000 in the prior-year period and marking the company's fifth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA.
• Oncology Services Margin -- 51%, increasing from 43% driven by lower third-party radiolabeling costs and increased revenue leverage.
• Net Loss -- $426,000, which includes $1.1 million in noncash expenses comprised of stock-based compensation and depreciation.
• Translational Oncology Services Revenue -- $14.3 million, reflecting consistent demand for predictive modeling using the company's tumor bank.
• Data Licensing Revenue -- $893,000, exceeding the total data revenue generated for the entirety of fiscal 2026.
• Cost of Oncology Revenue -- $7.5 million, a 5.8% decrease from $8 million in the prior-year period as radiolabeling work was transitioned in-house.
• Sales and Marketing Expense -- $3.1 million, an increase of $1.2 million reflecting previous investments to expand the commercial organization.
• Research and Development Expense -- $2.3 million, an increase of 12.6% primarily due to higher share-based compensation associated with the Corellia subsidiary.
• General and Administrative Expense -- $2.7 million, an increase of 4% from $2.6 million in the prior-year period.
• Cash Balance -- $4.4 million, reflecting a reduction from $4.9 million at the start of the quarter due to working capital movements.
• Debt -- Zero, as the company remained debt-free throughout the first quarter of fiscal 2027.
• Stock-Based Compensation -- $766,000, an increase from $208,000 in the prior-year period.
• Depreciation and Amortization -- $314,000, compared to $358,000 in the same quarter of the previous year.
• Cash Used in Operations -- $492,000, driven by a reduction in accounts payable and an increase in accounts receivable.
• Accounts Receivable -- $13.6 million, increasing from $13.2 million at the end of fiscal 2026.
• Deferred Revenue -- $9.6 million, rising from $8.8 million at the end of the previous fiscal year.
• Operating Lease Right-of-Use Assets -- $9.7 million, compared to $3.7 million at the end of fiscal 2026.
• Total Assets -- $33.3 million, an increase from $27 million as of April 30, 2026.
• Adjusted EPS -- $0.05, an improvement from $0.01 in the prior-year period.

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RISKS

• Brainin stated, "contracts close on their own time lines and while we're very pleased with the progress, revenue will remain lumpy," noting that data licensing results should be viewed on an annual rather than quarterly basis.

SUMMARY

Champions Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSBR) results indicated a strategic shift toward realizing returns on investments made during the previous fiscal year. Management reported revenue growth driven by improved study conversion rates and an expansion of the data licensing business. The company utilized its in-house radiolabeling capabilities to reduce costs and improve service margins. Management also confirmed ongoing discussions regarding external funding for Corellia to potentially free up capital for further data initiatives.

• CEO Brainin stated that the scarcity of deeply characterized patient data provides a strategic advantage as sponsors increase their focus on machine learning.
• The company successfully transitioned certain radiolabeling services in-house, leading to a $500,000 reduction in cost of revenue.
• Management reported that Corellia continues discussions with venture groups and pharmaceutical partners regarding external funding or strategic licensing.
• Brainin noted that deeply characterized data enables sponsors to identify patient signatures and improve trial design rather than only predicting study outcomes.
• The commercial organization expansion is now fully reflected in the expense base, with management focused on converting that capacity into revenue growth.

INDUSTRY GLOSSARY

• PDX: Patient-derived xenograft, a model where human tumor tissue is implanted into immune-deficient mice for research.
• Radiolabeling: The process of tagging a substance with a radioactive isotope to track its behavior and distribution in a biological system.
• Corellia: Champions Oncology's wholly owned therapeutic subsidiary focused on target discovery and drug development.
• Tumorgraft Technology Platform: The proprietary platform used to facilitate individualized cancer care and translational research.
• Translational Oncology: The field of research that focuses on moving laboratory discoveries into clinical applications for cancer treatment.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Operator: Greetings. Welcome to the Champions Oncology First Quarter Fiscal Year 2027 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your host, Rob Brainin, Chief Executive Officer. You may begin.

Robert Brainin: Good afternoon, and thank you for joining our first quarter fiscal 2027 earnings call. I'm Rob Brainin, CEO of Champions Oncology, and I'm joined today by our CFO, David Miller. Before we begin, I'll remind everyone that today's remarks may include forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially, and you can find more information in our filings with the SEC. When we spoke in July, I said fiscal '26 was an investment year and that the onus was on us to deliver in fiscal 2027. The first quarter is a strong data point that we're moving in the right direction. Revenue was $15.2 million, compared to $14 million in the first quarter of fiscal '26.

Gross margin was 50%, up from 43% in Q1 fiscal '26. Adjusted EBITDA was approximately $700,000 and on a GAAP basis, we reported a net loss of $0.4 million. That included $1.1 million of noncash expense. This represents our fifth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA. Both our services business and our data business contributed to that improvement, and I'll touch on them in turn. Our translational oncology services business generated $14.3 million of revenue in the quarter. And margins in that business held where we wanted them, and the operating discipline we described in July showed up again this quarter. This is the part of Champions that has always been a predictive modeling business.

A customer brings us to therapy, we run it through the most clinically relevant models in the industry, and we predict how the drug is likely to behave in patients. The demand environment for that work is healthy, and the quality of our tumor bank continues to be a core reason customers come to us. We feel good about how we're showing up in the market and look forward to continuing to share updates over the coming quarters as the year goes on. Data licensing revenue was $893,000 in the first quarter.

To put that in context, we generated more data revenue in this 1 quarter than in all of fiscal 2026, reflecting the broader base of customers we spent the last year building. Much like our TOS business, we look at this on an annual basis rather than a quarterly one, though. Contracts close on their own time lines and while we're very pleased with the progress, revenue will remain lumpy. Pipeline continues to be robust and the strategic case keeps strengthening. As sponsors lean harder on AI and machine learning to make development decisions, the constraint isn't the model. It's the data underneath it. Deeply characterized clinically annotated, patient-derived data is scarce, and we have it.

That's what will let us move from predicting the outcome of one study at a time toward helping sponsors find signatures, select the right patients and design better trials. On Corellia, our wholly-owned therapeutic subsidiary, we remain encouraged. The external conversations continue with both venture groups and potential pharmaceutical partners and the data we're generating continues to strengthen the case. I'm not going to put a date on any outcome for the same reasons I gave in July. If we're successful in securing outside funding or a licensing partnership, the investment currently flowing into that business would be redeployed toward our other growth initiatives, particularly data and to the bottom line. In conclusion, fiscal 2026 was an investment year.

The first quarter of fiscal 2027 is evidence that those investments are paying off in revenue, in margin, and in data as well as progress in our discussions related to Corellia's pipeline. We have 3 more quarters to prove it out in fiscal '27 and we'll keep reporting against it in the same way each time. With that, I'll turn the call over to David to walk through the financials in more detail.

David Miller: Thanks, Rob, and good afternoon, everyone. Our full financial results for the quarter will be filed with the SEC on Form 10-Q on or before September 14. As Rob highlighted, revenue for the first quarter was $15.2 million, an increase of approximately 9% from $14 million in the prior year quarter. On a GAAP basis, we reported a net loss of approximately $426,000 compared with a net loss from operations of $527,000 a year ago. Turning to the cash-based operating results as we typically discuss them. Adjusted EBITDA increased to $671,000 from $59,000 in the prior year quarter. This is our fifth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA and our focus is on continuing to grow revenue while expanding profitability.

Let me provide a little more detail on the drivers of the quarter, starting with revenue. The improved quality of our sales over the last several quarters resulted in a higher percentage of contracted study value converting to revenue in Q1. Importantly, that trend continued with sales made during the first quarter with expected conversion percentages remaining strong. And as Rob discussed, data license revenue also contributed to the year-over-year growth, reflecting the broader customer base we built last year. Another meaningful development was the improvement in oncology services margin, which increased to 51% from 43%. The improvement was driven by a few factors.

Cost of oncology revenue declined by approximately $500,000 to $7.5 million from $8 million a year ago despite the increase in revenue. The reduction was driven primarily by lower third-party radiolabeling costs. As we've discussed over the past year, we've been working to bring those capabilities in-house, resulting in a lower cost structure. Increased revenue also contributed to the margin improvement, reflecting the leverage we have in the business. Turning to operating expenses. R&D expense was $1.9 million compared with $2.1 million in the prior year quarter. We were able to reduce spending in our core services business, while redirecting resources towards Corellia and our data initiatives.

Sales and marketing expense was $3 million compared with $1.8 million a year ago. As we've discussed previously, we made a deliberate investment last year to expand our commercial organization across both our research services and data businesses. That investment is now reflected in our expense base and our focus is on generating greater revenue and profitability from it. G&A expense was essentially flat at approximately $2.1 million in both periods. Turning to cash. We used approximately $500,000 of cash during the quarter, primarily reflecting working capital movements in the ordinary course of business, including a reduction in accounts payable and higher accounts receivable. We ended the quarter with approximately $4.4 million of cash and no debt.

Overall, the quarter demonstrates the operating leverage we've been working towards. Revenue grew, oncology services margin improved significantly, and adjusted EBITDA expanded while we continue to support the investments we've made for future growth. We are continuing to build on the foundation established last year with a focus on maintaining expense discipline and converting revenue growth into improved profitability. With that, I'll turn the call back over to Rob and ask for any questions.

Operator: [Operator Instructions] We currently have no questions in the queue. I'd like to turn the floor back to Rob Brainin, for any closing remarks.

Robert Brainin: Great. Thank you. Really appreciate. Appreciate everyone dialing in or listening to the recording. As you can tell, we're really encouraged and excited about the progress we've been making and the trajectory of the business. And look forward to in the coming quarters, sharing more about that progress and how we're doing. We'll speak to you then. Have a great afternoon. Thanks.

Operator: Thank you. This concludes today's conference, and you may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

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