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Inogen: Bumps in Q1 should smooth out in Q2

Inogen: Bumps in Q1 should smooth out in Q2 ‘We are seeing positive indicators that there is increasing patient interest’ 

GOLETA, Calif. – Inogen’s financial results for the first quarter of 2021 were a mixed bag but there are early signs, company officials say, that they will improve in the second quarter. 

Inogen reported an 84.2% increase in rental revenues – hitting about 34,700 patients on service – and an 11.6% increase in domestic B2B sales for the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period last year. But it also reported a 13.8% decrease in direct-to-consumer sales and a 21.7% decrease in international B2B sales. 

“Regarding the second quarter of 2021, we expect all sales channels to increase versus the comparative period in the prior year,” said Ali Bauerlein, co-founder and CFO, during a conference call to discuss the company’s financial results

Inogen reported total revenues of $86.9 million for the first quarter, a 1.8% decrease from the same period last year, primarily due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. It reported a net loss of $732,000 vs. a net loss of $1.59 million. 

Much of Inogen’s confidence in the second quarter has to do with the increase in patient demand for portable oxygen concentrators that it saw in late March and April, as vaccination rates rose and economies opened back up, resulting in increased consumer confidence and ambulation, particularly in the United States. 

“We are seeing positive indicators that there is increasing patient interest in purchasing the product versus what we saw as dampened demand associated with the COVID-19 pandemic,” Bauerlein said. “So, we are glad to see those improvements in those key metrics that we look at for the DTC business.” 

Inogen has a big challenge to overcome, however, to meet that increase in patient demand: hiring and training enough sales representatives. 

“While we were able to hire new inside sales representatives in the first quarter of 2021, we did not find enough qualified candidates to offset attrition,” said Nabil Shabshab, president and CEO. “We continue to look to add new sales representatives, while maintaining our hiring standards and being mindful of the continuing effect of the COVID-19 PHE on our sales and marketing efforts. But we expect that to be challenging in the near term due to the size and the quality of the candidate pool.” 

While company officials commented on the second quarter, they declined, once again, to provide full-year guidance. 

“We want to see a little farther into the year and make sure it’s sustainable and not just pent-up demand that we’re seeing,” Bauerlein said. “Is it really something we can predict going forward? I know everyone would love for us to reinstate guidance, but we want to make sure that when we do, we have the proper visibility.” 

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