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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Form 10-K
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| | (Mark One) | |
| ☒ | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023
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| ☐ | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the transition period from _______________ to _______________.
COMMISSION FILE NUMBER: 0-19271
IDEXX LABORATORIES, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
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Delaware | | | 01-0393723 |
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | | | (IRS Employer Identification No.) |
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One IDEXX Drive | Westbrook, | Maine | 04092 |
(Address of principal executive offices) | | | (ZIP Code) |
207-556-0300
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| | | | | | | | |
Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered |
Common Stock, $0.10 par value per share | IDXX | NASDAQ Global Select Market |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
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Large accelerated filer | ☒ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | Non-accelerated filer | ☐ | Smaller reporting company | ☐ | Emerging growth company | ☐ |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☒
Based on the closing sale price on June 30, 2023 of the registrant’s Common Stock, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, as reported by the NASDAQ Global Select Market, the aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $41,325,387,624. For these purposes, the registrant considers its directors and executive officers to be its only affiliates.
The number of shares outstanding of the registrant’s Common Stock was 83,089,381 on February 12, 2024.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Part III—Specifically identified portions of the Company’s definitive Proxy Statement to be filed in connection with the Company’s 2024 annual meeting of stockholders (the “2024 Annual Meeting”), to be held on May 6, 2024, are incorporated herein by reference.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND SELECTED ABBREVIATIONS
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Term/Abbreviation | | Definition |
| | |
AI | | Artificial intelligence |
AOCI | | Accumulated other comprehensive income or loss |
ASC | | Accounting Standards Codification |
ASU | | Accounting Standards Update |
CAG | | Companion Animal Group, a reporting segment that provides veterinarians diagnostic products and services and information management solutions that enhance the health and well-being of pets. |
cGMP | | The FDA’s current Good Manufacturing Practice regulations. |
Clinical visits | | The reason for the visit involves an interaction between a clinician and a pet. |
Credit Facility | | Our $1.25 billion five-year unsecured credit facility under an amended and restated credit agreement; consisting of i) $1 billion revolving credit facility, also referred to as line of credit, and ii) $250 million three-year term loan. |
Customer commitment arrangements | | Customer contractual arrangements offer customers incentives in exchange for multi-year commitments to purchase annual minimum amounts of products and services. |
ELISA | | Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay |
EPA | | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
EPS | | Earnings per share, if not specifically stated, EPS refers to earnings per share on a diluted basis. |
EU | | European Union |
FASB | | U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board |
FDA | | U.S. Food and Drug Administration |
Instrument rebate programs | | Our customer instrument rebate programs, previously referred to as IDEXX Instrument Marketing Programs, which require an instrument purchase and provide customers the opportunity to earn future rebates based on the volume of products and services they purchase over the term of the program. |
IVLS | | IDEXX VetLab Station, connects and integrates the diagnostic information from all the IDEXX VetLab analyzers and thus provides reference laboratory information management system capability. |
Kits and consumables | | Rapid assay kits and IDEXX VetLab consumables |
LPD | | Livestock, Poultry and Dairy, a reporting segment that provides diagnostic products and services for livestock and poultry health and ensures the quality and safety of milk and improves producer efficiency. |
OCI | | Other comprehensive income or loss |
OPTI Medical | | OPTI Medical Systems, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of IDEXX Laboratories Inc., located in Roswell, Georgia. This business provides point-of-care and laboratory diagnostics (including electrolyte and blood gas analyzers and related consumable products) for the human medical diagnostics sector. The Roswell facility also manufactures electrolytes slides (instrument consumables) to run Catalyst One®, Catalyst Dx®, and blood gas analyzers and consumables for the veterinary market; also referred to as OPTI. |
Organic revenue growth | | A non-GAAP financial measure that represents the percentage change in revenue, compared to the same period for the prior year, net of the effect of changes in foreign currency exchange rates, certain business acquisitions and divestitures. Organic revenue growth should be considered in addition to, and not as a replacement for or as a superior measure to, revenues reported in accordance with U.S. GAAP, and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. |
Ortho | | Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, Inc., a subsidiary of QuidelOrtho Corporation, a supplier of dry slide consumables used in our Catalyst One and Catalyst Dx Chemistry Analyzers and VetTest Chemistry Analyzer. |
Prime rate | | The prime rate is an interest rate determined by individual banks. It is often used as a reference rate for many types of loans. |
PACS | | Picture archiving and communication software, our software solution for accessing, storing, and sharing diagnostic images. |
PCR | | Polymerase chain reaction, a technique used to amplify small segments of DNA. |
R&D | | Research and Development |
Reagent rentals | | Instruments being placed at customer sites at little or no cost in exchange for a long-term customer commitment to purchase instrument consumables. |
Reported revenue growth | | The percentage change in revenue reported in accordance with U.S. GAAP, compared to the same period in the prior year. |
| | | | | | | | |
S&P | | Standard & Poor’s |
S&P 500 Health Care Index | | The index for the S&P 500 Health Care (U.S. companies) measures the performance of companies that are classified as members in the Global Industry Classification Standard of health care services sub-industry. |
S&P 500 Index | | The S&P 500 Index is a U.S. stock market index based on the market capitalization of 500 large companies having common stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ, including IDEXX. |
SaaS | | Software-as-a-service |
SDMA | | Symmetrical dimethyl arginine, a biomarker that detects kidney disease. |
SEC | | U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission |
Senior Note Agreements | | Note purchase agreements for the private placement of senior notes, referred to as senior notes or long-term debt. |
SOFR | | The secured overnight financing rate as administered by the Federal Reserve Board of New York (or a successor administrator of the secured overnight financing rate) |
U.S. GAAP | | Accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America |
USDA | | U.S. Department of Agriculture |
Water | | Water, a reporting segment that provides water microbiology testing products. |
IDEXX LABORATORIES, INC.
Annual Report on Form 10-K
Table of Contents
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Item No. | | Page No. |
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| PART I | |
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| PART II | |
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| PART III | |
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| PART IV | |
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The terms “IDEXX,” “Company,” “registrant,” “we,” “us,” and “our” included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K mean IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. and all subsidiaries that are consolidated under U.S. GAAP.
We have included certain terms and abbreviations used throughout this Annual Report on Form 10-K in the "Glossary of Terms and Selected Abbreviations.”
Our name, logo and the following terms used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are either registered trademarks or trademarks of IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries: 4Dx®, Alertys®, Animana®, Catalyst Dx®, Catalyst One®, Coag Dx™, Colilert®, Colisure®, Cornerstone®, DVMAX®, Enterolert®, ezyVet®, Feline Triple®, Filta-Max®, Filta-Max xpress®, IDEXX DecisionIQ™, IDEXX inVue Dx™, IDEXX I-Vision CR®, IDEXX I-Vision DR®, IDEXX I-Vision Mobile™, IDEXX Neo®, IDEXX-PACS™, IDEXX SDMA®, IDEXX VetAutoread™, IDEXX VetLab®, IDEXX VetLab® UA™, LaserCyte®, LaserCyte® Dx, OPTI®, Pet Health Network®, Petly® Plans, ProCyte Dx®, Pseudalert®, Quanti-Tray®, rVetLink®, SediVue Dx®, SNAP®, SNAPduo®, SNAP Pro®, SNAPshot Dx®, TECTA®, VetConnect®, VetLINK®, VetLyte®, Vet Radar®, VetStat®, and VetTest®. VetAutoread is a trademark of QBC Diagnostics.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
This Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, contains statements which, to the extent they are not statements of historical fact, constitute “forward-looking statements.” Such forward-looking statements about our business and expectations within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), include statements relating to, among other things, global trends in companion animal healthcare and demand for our products and services; our expectations regarding supply chain and logistics challenges; our expectations regarding the labor supply; future revenue growth rates; future tax benefits; the impact of tax legislation and regulatory action; revenue recognition timing and amounts; business trends, earnings and other measures of financial performance; the effect of economic downturns and inflation on our business performance; the projected effect of patent and license expirations; the projected impact of foreign currency exchange rates and hedging activities; realizability of assets; future cash flow and uses of cash; future repurchases of common stock; future levels of indebtedness and capital spending; the working capital and liquidity outlook; interest expense; warranty expense; share-based compensation expense; the adoption and projected impact of new accounting standards; critical accounting estimates; deductibility of goodwill; future commercial and operational efforts; future incorporation of artificial intelligence into our products, services and business processes; future product launches; projected cost and completion of capital investments; and competition. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “expects,” “may,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “would,” “will,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “should,” “project,” and similar words and expressions. These forward-looking statements are intended to provide our current expectations or forecasts of future events, are based on current estimates, projections, beliefs, and assumptions, and are not guarantees of future performance. Actual events or results may differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including, among other things, the matters described under the headings “Business,” “Risk Factors,” “Legal Proceedings,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Any forward-looking statements represent our estimates only as of the day this Annual Report on Form 10-K was first filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and should not be relied upon as representing our estimates as of any subsequent date. From time to time, oral or written forward-looking statements may also be included in other materials released to the public and they are subject to the risks and uncertainties described or cross-referenced in this section. While we may elect to update forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we specifically disclaim any obligation to do so, even if our estimates or expectations change.
PART I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
COMPANY OVERVIEW
IDEXX was incorporated in Delaware in 1983. We develop, manufacture, and distribute products and provide services primarily for the companion animal veterinary, livestock and poultry, dairy and water testing industries. We also provide human medical point-of-care and laboratory diagnostics. Our primary products and services are:
•Point-of-care veterinary diagnostic products, comprised of instruments, consumables, and rapid assay test kits;
•Veterinary reference laboratory diagnostic and consulting services;
•Practice management and diagnostic imaging systems and services used by veterinarians;
•Health monitoring, biological materials testing, laboratory diagnostic instruments, and services used by the biomedical research community;
•Diagnostic, health-monitoring products for livestock, poultry, and dairy;
•Products that test water for certain microbiological contaminants; and
•Point-of-care electrolytes and blood gas analyzers.
Our Purpose is to be a great company that creates exceptional long-term value for our customers, employees, and stockholders by enhancing the health and well-being of pets, people, and livestock.
DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS BY SEGMENT
We operate primarily through three business segments: Companion Animal Group, Water quality products, and Livestock, Poultry and Dairy. Our Other operating segment combines and presents our human medical diagnostic products business with our out-licensing arrangements because they do not meet the quantitative or qualitative thresholds for reportable segments.
Companion Animal Group (“CAG”) - Diagnostic and information management-based products and services for the companion animal veterinary industry, including in-clinic diagnostic solutions, outside reference laboratory services, and veterinary software and services.
CAG Diagnostics
We provide diagnostic capabilities that meet veterinarians’ diverse needs through a variety of modalities, including in-clinic diagnostic solutions and outside reference laboratory services. Regardless of modality utilized, veterinarians are provided with clinically relevant data which is integrated within our information management technologies. The result is a comprehensive view of patient diagnostic information that is easily accessible by both the veterinarian and pet owner.
In-Clinic Diagnostic Solutions. Our in-clinic diagnostic solutions are comprised of our IDEXX VetLab suite of in-clinic chemistry, hematology, immunoassay, urinalysis, and coagulation analyzers, as well as associated consumable products that provide real-time reference lab quality diagnostic results. Certain of these in-clinic analyzers, including the Catalyst One Chemistry analyzer, ProCyte One hematology analyzer, SediVue Dx analyzer, and IDEXX inVue Dx cellular analyzer, utilize proprietary artificial intelligence (“AI”) capabilities in their image capture systems to analyze samples. Our in-clinic diagnostic solutions also include a broad range of single-use, IDEXX SNAP rapid assay test kits that provide quick, accurate, and convenient point-of-care diagnostic test results for a variety of companion animal disease-causing pathogens and health conditions. Additionally, we offer extended maintenance agreements in connection with the sale of our instruments.
Blood and Urine Chemistry. We have three blood and urine chemistry analyzers that are used by veterinarians to measure levels of certain enzymes and other substances in blood or urine for monitoring health status and assisting in diagnosing physiologic conditions. We actively sell the Catalyst One Chemistry analyzer. We continue to support our Catalyst Dx and VetTest Chemistry analyzers. We also support the VetStat Electrolyte and Blood Gas analyzer. Sales of consumables to customers who use our chemistry analyzers provide the majority of our instrument consumables revenues from our installed base of IDEXX VetLab instruments.
Hematology. We sell three hematology analyzers that assess the cellular components of blood, including red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets (also called a complete blood count). These analyzers include the ProCyte One and ProCyte Dx hematology analyzers. We also sell the Coag Dx analyzer, which permits the detection and diagnosis of blood clotting disorders. We continue to offer consumables to support analyzers that are not actively marketed including the LaserCyte Dx and IDEXX VetAutoread hematology analyzers.
Rapid Assay. The SNAP rapid assays are single-use, handheld test kits that can work without the use of instrumentation, although many kits may also be activated with results automatically captured and interpreted by the SNAP Pro Analyzer. This device improves medical care by allowing veterinarians to share the test results with the pet owner on the SNAP Pro Analyzer screen, or via VetConnect PLUS. Our SNAPshot Dx analyzer can run multiple patient samples at once. The principal canine SNAP rapid assay tests include SNAP 4Dx Plus, which tests for the seven vector-borne diseases causing pathogens, including Lyme disease as well as canine heartworm, and SNAP Heartworm RT, which tests for heartworm. Sales of our canine vector-borne disease tests are greater in the first half of our fiscal year due to seasonality of disease testing in the veterinary practices in the Northern Hemisphere. The principal feline SNAP rapid assay tests include SNAP Feline Triple, which tests for feline immunodeficiency virus (“FIV”) (which is similar to the virus that leads to AIDS in humans), feline leukemia virus (“FeLV”) and heartworm, and SNAP FIV/FeLV Combo Test, which tests for FIV and FeLV.
Urinalysis. The SediVue Dx analyzer is designed to provide automated real-time results in a fraction of the time of manual microscope analysis, which allows veterinary staff to perform a urine sediment analysis in approximately 3 minutes. The IDEXX VetLab UA analyzer provides rapid, automated capture of semi-quantitative chemical urinalysis from IDEXX UA strips and is validated specifically for veterinary use.
IDEXX VetLab Station. The IDEXX VetLab Station (“IVLS”) connects and integrates the diagnostic information from all the IDEXX VetLab analyzers, and thus, provides reference laboratory information management system capability. IVLS also sends all results created on connected instruments instantly to VetConnect PLUS. We sell IVLS as an integral component for our in-clinic analyzer suite.
Integrated Diagnostic Information Management. VetConnect PLUS is a cloud-based technology that enables veterinarians to access and analyze patients’ data from all of IDEXX’s diagnostic modalities. These integrated diagnostic results provide the veterinarian with a visualization of patient-specific information, allowing the veterinarian to easily see and trend diagnostic results, enabling greater medical insight and enhanced decision-making through IDEXX DecisionIQ, an analytical tool incorporated in VetConnect PLUS that utilizes proprietary technology including AI to aid practitioners in making medical diagnoses. In addition, VetConnect PLUS provides instant mobile or browser-based access to results, which can be printed or emailed to pet owners and other veterinarians.
Outside Reference Laboratory Diagnostic and Consulting Services. We offer commercial reference laboratory diagnostic and consulting services to veterinarians in many developed geographies worldwide, including customers in the U.S., Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, and South Korea, through a network of approximately 80 laboratories. Customers use our services by submitting samples by courier or overnight delivery to one of our facilities. Most test results have same-day or next-day turnaround times. Our diagnostic laboratory business also provides health monitoring and diagnostic testing services to biomedical research customers in North America, Europe, and Asia.
Our reference laboratories offer a large selection of tests and diagnostic panels to detect a number of disease states and other conditions in animals, including all tests that can be run in-clinic at the veterinary practice with our instruments or rapid assays. This menu of tests also includes a number of specialized tests that we have developed that allow practitioners to diagnose increasingly relevant diseases and conditions in dogs and cats, including parasites, heart disease, allergies, pancreatitis, diabetes, renal disease, and infectious diseases. We also offer cancer screening to aid in diagnosis, assist in therapy selection, and support therapy management and monitoring.
Additionally, we provide specialized veterinary consultation, telemedicine, and advisory services, including radiology, cardiology, internal medicine, and ultrasound consulting. These services enable veterinarians to obtain readings and interpretations of test results transmitted by telephone and over the Internet.
Veterinary Software and Services & Diagnostic Imaging Systems
Veterinary Software and Services. We develop, market, and sell a portfolio of software and services for independent veterinary clinics and corporate groups. This portfolio includes:
Practice management systems. Software, hardware, and integrated services that run key functions of veterinary clinics, including managing patient electronic health records, scheduling, client communication, billing, and inventory management. Our practice management systems offerings include cloud-based ezyVet, Animana, IDEXX Neo, and on-premises Cornerstone. To support the software system needs of practices, IDEXX provides integrated services including Payment Solutions, Data Backup & Recovery, and Practice Supplies.
Third-party integrations strengthen our practice management systems value proposition by improving user workflows and can quickly add new functionality to the practice management systems. Our commercial application programming interfaces and partner management processes allow controlled access to the practice management systems platform while providing an enhanced user experience. Our large practice management systems installed base provides access to veterinary channel transaction activity, enabling a syndicated data offering. Industry pharmaceutical and nutrition partners leverage our data to understand channel market performance and to develop behavioral insights.
Software applications that extend workflow capabilities for practices and groups. We are able to improve overall patient management and workflow optimization through coordination and tracking of every step of a patient during a hospital stay. Our SmartFlow cloud offering works in conjunction with major veterinary practice management systems, including ezyVet, Cornerstone, Animana, IDEXX Neo, DVMAX, and certain third-party practice management systems, and VetRadar provides workflow capability for ezyVet.
Client marketing and wellness plan management. In addition, we offer cloud-based client communication (Pet Health Network Pro and Pet Health Network 3D) and preventive care plan management software (Petly Plans) designed to strengthen the relationship between the veterinarian and the pet owner. To support the communication needs between general practices and specialty referral practices, IDEXX offers rVetLink software. Lastly, IDEXX Enterprise provides centralized management and reporting capabilities for groups of veterinary practices.
Diagnostic Imaging Systems. Our diagnostic imaging systems capture radiographic images in digital form, replacing traditional x-ray film and the film development process, which generally requires the use of hazardous chemicals and darkrooms. We market and sell two diagnostic imaging systems primarily used in small animal veterinary applications: the IDEXX ImageVue DR50 and the IDEXX ImageVue DR30.
Our diagnostic imaging systems employ picture archiving and communication system (“PACS”) software called IDEXX-PACS, which facilitates radiographic image capture and review. IDEXX Web PACS is our cloud-based software-as-a-service (“SaaS”) offering for viewing, accessing, storing, and sharing multi-modality diagnostic images. IDEXX Web PACS is integrated with Cornerstone, ezyVet, IDEXX Neo, DVMAX, and IDEXX VetConnect PLUS to provide centralized access to diagnostic imaging results alongside patient diagnostic results from any internet-connected device. IDEXX Web PACS uses proprietary AI capabilities to enable optimal sharing, analysis, and storage of diagnostic images.
IDEXX I-Vision Mobile is a software application that allows veterinarians with IDEXX digital radiography systems the ability to request, view and send images using an iPad® mobile tablet. This application integrates with our IDEXX-PACS software.
We believe that the breadth of our full diagnostic solution, including novel products and services developed and made available only by IDEXX, as well as the seamless software integration of our offering, provide a differentiated competitive advantage by giving veterinarians the tools and services to offer advanced veterinary medical care. We believe that with the use of our products and services, veterinary practices significantly improve the quality of veterinary care provided to their patients, increase staff efficiencies, and better communicate the value of this medical care to the pet owner. We believe that these capabilities, enabled by the use of IDEXX products and services, improve the effectiveness and financial health of the veterinary practice.
Water quality products (“Water”) - Water provides innovative testing solutions for easy, rapid, and accurate detection and quantification of various microbiological parameters in water.
Water testing. Our principal products are the Colilert, Colilert-18, and Colisure tests, which detect the presence of total coliforms and E. coli in water. These organisms are broadly used as microbial indicators for potential fecal contamination in water. Our products utilize nutrient-indicators that produce a change in color or fluorescence when metabolized by target microbes in the sample. Our water tests are used by government laboratories, water utilities, and private certified laboratories to test drinking water in compliance with regulatory standards, including U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) standards. The tests also are used in evaluating water used in production processes (for example, in beverage and pharmaceutical applications) and in evaluating bottled water, recreational water, wastewater, and water from private wells. We also sell consumables, parts, and accessories to be used with many of our water testing products. IDEXX also offers the following products:
Enterolert. Our Enterolert products detect the presence of enterococci in drinking, waste, and recreational waters. Enterococci, bacteria normally found in human and animal waste, are organisms broadly used as microbial indicators for potential fecal contamination in water.
Pseudalert. Our Pseudalert products detect the presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in pool, spa, and bottled water. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a pathogen that can cause “hot-tub rash,” “swimmer’s ear,” and potentially fatal infections in individuals with weakened immune systems.
Filta-Max and Filta-Max xpress. Our Filta-Max and Filta-Max xpress products are used in the detection of Cryptosporidium and Giardia in water. Cryptosporidium and Giardia are parasites that can cause potentially fatal gastrointestinal illness if ingested. We also distribute certain water testing kits manufactured by Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. that complement our Cryptosporidium and Giardia testing products.
Legiolert. Our Legiolert product is a simple culture method test for the detection of Legionella pneumophila, the most common Legionella species in water and the primary cause of Legionnaires’ disease. The Legiolert test is designed to be used on potable or non-potable water sources with results in seven days.
Quanti-Tray products. Our Quanti-Tray products, when used in conjunction with our Colilert, Colilert-18, Colisure, Enterolert, Pseudalert, Heterotrophic Plate Count (“HPC”) or Legiolert products, provide users quantitative measurements of microbial contamination rather than a presence/absence indication. Our Quanti-Tray Sealer PLUS, and Quanti-Tray Sealer 2X are used with the Quanti-Tray products for the determination of bacterial density in water samples. Our SimPlate and EasyDisc for HPC products detect the total number of the most common bacteria in a water sample.
We also offer the IDEXX Tecta System, which is an instrument that automates several steps in water testing workflow.
Livestock, Poultry and Dairy (“LPD”) - LPD provides diagnostic tests, services, and related instrumentation that are used to manage the health status of livestock and poultry, to improve producer efficiency, and to ensure the quality and safety of milk.
Livestock, Poultry, Herd Health Screening and Production Management. Our livestock and poultry diagnostic products are purchased by government and private laboratories that provide testing services to livestock veterinarians, producers, and processors, and also directly by livestock veterinarians and producers. Our principal livestock and poultry diagnostic products include tests for Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (“BVDV”), Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (“PRRS”), and African Swine Fever (“ASFV”). BVDV is a common and contagious viral infection that suppresses the immune system, making the animal susceptible to a host of other infections, and impacting beef and dairy production yields as a result. PRRS is a contagious virus causing reproductive problems and respiratory diseases in swine, leading to increased piglet mortality, reduced growth, and vulnerability to secondary infections. Our RealPCR ASFV Test is a real-time polymerase chain reaction (“PCR”) assay that provides early and accurate detection of ASFV supporting prevention, control, and eradication programs by veterinarians and producers. We also sell our Alertys Ruminant Pregnancy Test, Rapid Visual Pregnancy Test and Alertys On-Farm Pregnancy Test for cattle, which can detect pregnancy 28 days after breeding using whole blood samples. We also offer herd health screening services to livestock veterinarians and producers.
Dairy products. Our principal dairy products use our SNAP test platform and are used by dairy producers and processors worldwide to detect antibiotic drug residue in milk. Our primary product lines are SNAP Beta-Lactam ST and SNAPduo ST Plus, which detect certain beta-lactam and tetracycline antibiotic residues.
Other - Our Other operating segment combines and presents our human medical diagnostic products and services business (“OPTI Medical”) with our out-licensing arrangements because they do not meet the quantitative or qualitative thresholds for reportable segments.
OPTI Medical. Through OPTI Medical, we sell point-of-care analyzers and related consumables for use in human medical hospitals and clinics to measure electrolytes, blood gases, acid-base balance, glucose, lactate, blood urea nitrogen and ionized calcium, and to calculate other parameters such as base excess and anion gap. These OPTI analyzers are used primarily in emergency rooms, operating rooms, cardiac monitoring areas, and other locations where time-critical diagnostic testing is performed within the hospital setting. The OPTI CCA-TS2 analyzer runs whole blood, plasma, and serum samples on single-use disposable cassettes that contain various configurations of analytes. Beginning in 2020, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we provided human testing solutions for the detection of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. During the first quarter of 2023, we discontinued actively marketing our COVID-19 testing products and services.
Other Activities. We own certain drug delivery technology intellectual property, that we continue to seek to commercialize through agreements with third parties, such as pharmaceutical companies, which are included in the Other segment.
Additional information about our products and services can be found on our website. Information contained on or connected to our website is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K and should not be considered part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K or any other filing we make with the SEC.
MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION
We market, sell, and service our products worldwide through our marketing, customer service, sales, and technical service groups, as well as through independent distributors and other resellers. We maintain a sales presence in the U.S. and in major regions worldwide including Africa, Asia Pacific, Canada, Europe, and Latin America.
Generally, we select the appropriate distribution channel for our products based on the type of product, technical service requirements, number and concentration of customers, regulatory requirements, and other factors. We market our companion animal diagnostic products to veterinarians directly in the U.S. Outside the U.S., we sell our companion animal diagnostic products through our direct sales force and, in certain countries, through distributors and other resellers. We sell our veterinary reference laboratory diagnostic and consulting services worldwide, generally through our direct sales force. We market our diagnostic imaging products primarily through our direct sales force in the U.S. and Canada. We market our software products primarily through our direct sales force in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Australia. We market our Water and LPD products primarily through our direct sales force in the U.S. and Canada. Outside the U.S. and Canada, we market these products through our direct sales force and, in certain countries, through selected independent distributors. We sell our OPTI products and services both directly and through independent human medical product distributors.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Our business includes the development and introduction of new products and services and may involve entry into new business areas. We maintain active research and development programs in each of our business segments. Our research and development expenses, which consist of salaries, employee benefits, certain licensing agreements, materials and external consulting and development costs, were $191.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, or 5.2% of our consolidated revenue, $254.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, or 7.6% of our consolidated revenue and $161.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, or 5.0% of our consolidated revenue.
PATENTS AND LICENSES
We actively seek to obtain patent protection in the U.S. and other countries for inventions covering our products and technologies. We also license patents and technologies from third parties. Patents and licenses of patents and technologies from third parties are considered important to us based on a variety of factors, including providing protection for our inventions and other intellectual property; affording protection from competitors in certain sectors; enabling the use of more effective and efficient technologies in the development and production of our products and offerings; strengthening our reputation and standing among customers, employees, and key suppliers; and acting as a deterrent against counterfeiters, imitators, and other copiers of technologies.
Important patents and licenses include those related to:
•Catalyst consumables that began to expire in 2020 and will continue into 2035;
•Catalyst instruments that expire beginning in 2026 and will continue into 2032;
•Reagents and methods for the detection of canine pancreatic lipase that expire in 2026; and
•Patents relating to reagents and methods for the detection of SDMA that expire beginning in 2029 and will continue into 2037.
While we consider these technology rights to be important to us, a range of factors help to mitigate the future effects of patent and license expiration on our results of operations and financial position. These factors include publications, including peer-reviewed third-party studies, that demonstrate the accuracy of our products; our brand strength and reputation in the marketplace; the breadth, quality and integration of our product offerings; our existing customer relationships and our customer support; our sales force; our online ordering platform that enables direct ordering of (including establishing automatic reorder schedules for) our consumables, tests and other products by our customers; the applicable regulatory approval status for certain products; our continued investments in innovative product improvements that often result in new technologies and/or additional patents; our investment in diagnostic innovations that results in new product offerings that often are patentable and that expand the test menu for our in-clinic instruments and/or reference laboratory business; and our significant know-how, scale and investments related to manufacturing processes of associated product offerings and certain supply arrangements for consumables that are compatible with our instruments. Although we have certain patents and licenses of patents and technologies from third parties that are expected to expire in future years, the expiration of these patents and licenses, individually or in the aggregate, is not expected to have a material effect on our financial position or future operations. In addition, we already face robust competition as other companies have been successful in bringing competitive products to market, despite the protections afforded by these technology rights.
To the extent some of our products may now, or in the future, embody technologies protected by patents, copyrights, or trade secrets of others, we may be required to obtain licenses to such technologies in order to continue to sell our products. These licenses may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Our failure to obtain any such licenses may delay or prevent the sale of certain new or existing products. Refer to “Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors.”
PRODUCTION AND SUPPLY
Many of the instruments that we sell are manufactured by third parties. We rely on third parties in our supply chain to supply us, and our direct suppliers, with certain important components, raw materials, and consumables used in or with our products. In some cases, these third parties are sole or single-source suppliers. From time to time, we seek to qualify alternative suppliers.
Instruments and consumables. Significant products supplied by sole and single-source providers include certain Catalyst Dx and Catalyst One consumables (other than electrolyte consumables and the fructosamine, thyroxine, canine C-reactive protein, progesterone, SDMA, and Bile Acid slides), LaserCyte Dx consumables, ProCyte Dx analyzers and consumables, SediVue Dx urinalysis instruments and consumables, and certain components of our internally manufactured analyzers.
Certain Catalyst chemistry slides are supplied by Ortho under supply agreements that are currently set to expire in December of 2033. We are required to purchase all of our requirements for our current menu of Catalyst chemistry slides from Ortho to the extent Ortho is able to supply those requirements. The agreements provide for pricing based on purchase volumes and a fixed annual inflationary adjustment. The agreements also prohibit Ortho from promoting and selling these chemistry slides in the veterinary sector, excluding the EU, other than to IDEXX.
We purchase other analyzers and consumables under supply agreements with terms extending through 2034, which in some cases may be extended at our option. We have minimum purchase obligations under some of these agreements, and our failure to satisfy these obligations may result in loss of some or all of our rights under these agreements. Refer to “Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors.”
Other components. We purchase certain other products, raw materials, and components from sole and single-source suppliers. These products include certain diagnostic imaging systems and certain components used in our SNAP rapid assay and dairy devices, livestock and poultry testing kits and water testing products.
We have been successful in ensuring an uninterrupted supply of products purchased from sole and single-source suppliers. However, there can be no assurance that uninterrupted supply can be maintained if these agreements terminate for any reason or our suppliers otherwise are unable to satisfy our requirements for products. Refer to “Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors.”
Product quality and safety. We believe that product quality and safety are essential to our business. We conduct our operations within an Integrated Management System, which encompasses our Quality Assurance program, to help ensure compliance with applicable regulations, product safety requirements and standards, and customer requirements. This Integrated Management System includes strict manufacturing processes and procedures, employee training, ongoing process improvement, product quality risk management procedures, incident investigation and corrective action procedures, and internal and third-party auditing. Our manufacturing and distribution facilities in Westbrook, Maine; Roswell, Georgia; Memphis, Tennessee; and the Netherlands, Switzerland, France, and the United Kingdom are certified to the ISO 9001 quality standard, and certain of our other facilities are certified to the environmental (ISO 14001) and testing and calibration laboratory (ISO 17025) quality standards. ISO quality standards are internationally recognized manufacturing standards established by the International Organization for Standardization, which are audited and certified by third-party auditors in addition to our internal self-audits. We also require our key suppliers to have quality management systems that comply with recognized industry standards, such as ISO 9001, and are aligned with our quality requirements, and we regularly conduct audits with our Tier 1 suppliers to verify control systems meet all our requirements. In addition, we make available instructions and other information to help ensure the proper and safe use of our products.
BACKLOG
We do not generally maintain a significant backlog of orders and believe that our backlog at any particular date historically has not been indicative of future sales.
COMPETITION
We compete with many companies ranging from large human and animal health pharmaceutical and medical diagnostics companies to small businesses focused on animal health. Our companion animal veterinary diagnostic products and services compete with both reference laboratory service and in-clinic product providers. Our competitors vary in our different business areas and regions. In some cases, academic institutions, governmental agencies, and other public and private research organizations conduct research activities and may commercialize products or services, which could compete with our products, on their own or through joint ventures. Several of our direct and potential competitors have substantially greater financial and managerial resources than us, as well as greater experience in manufacturing, marketing, research and development, and obtaining regulatory approvals than we do. For more information on risks related to our competition, refer to “Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors."
Competitive factors in our different business areas are detailed below:
•Companion animal diagnostic offerings. We compete primarily on the basis of ease of use and speed of our products, diagnostic accuracy, product quality, breadth of our product line and services, differentiated product innovations, fully integrated technology, information management capability, enhancement of veterinary practice efficiency, availability of medical consultation, effectiveness of our sales and distribution channels, quality of our technical and customer service, and our pricing relative to the value of our products and services in comparison with competitive products and services. Our major competitors in most geographic locations in North America are Mars, Incorporated brands Antech Diagnostics and Heska; and Zoetis Inc. (including its wholly-owned subsidiary Abaxis, Inc.). We also compete in certain international geographies with Zoetis Inc.; Mars, Incorporated brands including Heska, Antech Diagnostics, Scil, and Asia Veterinary Diagnostics; Fujifilm Holdings Corporation; Samsung Electronics, Arkray, Inc.; Mindray; and BioNote, Inc.
•Water, livestock, poultry, and dairy testing products. We compete primarily on the basis of the ease of use, speed, accuracy, product quality, and other performance characteristics of our products and services (including differentiated tests), the breadth of our product line and services, the effectiveness of our sales and distribution channels, the quality of our technical and customer service, our ability to receive regulatory approvals from governing agencies and our pricing relative to the value of our products in comparison with competitive products and services. Our competitors include highly-focused smaller companies and multibillion-dollar companies with livestock and poultry diagnostics and water testing solution franchises.
•Veterinary Software, Services and Diagnostic Imaging Systems. We compete primarily on the basis of functionality, system workflows, performance characteristics, effectiveness of our implementation, training process and customer service, information handling capabilities, advances in technologies, enhancement of veterinary practice efficiency, and our pricing relative to the value of our products and services in comparison with competitive products and services. We sell these products primarily in North America and Europe. Our largest competitor in North America and the U.K. is Covetrus, Inc., which offers several systems and leverages its animal health distribution business in sales and service. We also compete with numerous highly-focused smaller companies throughout the geographies in which we offer veterinary software, including those offering cloud-based solutions. Our competitors in the diagnostic imaging systems sector include Sound-Eklin, Antech Diagnostics, FUJIFILM, and Heska.
•Human point-of-care medical diagnostic products. We compete primarily on the basis of the ease of use, menu, convenience, international distribution and service, instrument reliability, and our pricing relative to the value of our products. We compete primarily with large human medical diagnostics companies such as Radiometer A/S, Siemens Medical Solutions Diagnostics, Instrumentation Laboratory Company, Abbott Diagnostics, a division of Abbott Laboratories, and Roche Diagnostics Corporation.
GOVERNMENT REGULATION
Many of our products are subject to comprehensive regulation by U.S. and foreign regulatory agencies that relate to, among other things, product approvals, product registrations, manufacturing, import, export, distribution, marketing and promotion, labeling, recordkeeping, testing, quality, storage, product disposal, environmental compliance, and workplace safety. The following is a description of the principal regulations affecting our businesses.
Veterinary diagnostic products. Our veterinary diagnostic products including instruments, such as Catalyst One and ProCyte One, as well as their corresponding consumables, are veterinary medical devices under the jurisdiction of the FDA under the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act (the “FDC Act”). Other products under FDA jurisdiction include our rapid assay products such as SNAP devices and ELISA plates. While the sale of these products does not require premarket approval by the FDA and does not subject us to FDA inspections or the FDA's current Good Manufacturing Practice regulations (“cGMP”), the FDA Act specifies that these products must not be adulterated, mislabeled, or misbranded.
A subset of our veterinary diagnostic products, including our diagnostic test kits for companion and food animal infectious diseases, as well as most of our livestock and poultry products and many of our rapid assay products, are licensed and regulated in the U.S. by the Center for Veterinary Biologics within the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (“APHIS”). These products must be approved by APHIS before they may be sold in and from the U.S. The APHIS regulatory approval process involves the submission of product validation data, including manufacturing process and facility documentation. Following regulatory licensure to market a product, APHIS requires that each product serial be submitted for test review before release to customers. In addition, APHIS requires special approval to market products where test results are used in part for government-mandated disease management programs. A number of foreign governments accept APHIS approval to support product registration for sale, distribution, and use within their countries. However, compliance with extensive country-specific regulatory processes is required in connection with importing and marketing diagnostic products in Japan, Germany, Canada, Brazil, the Netherlands, China, and many other countries. We are also required to have a facility license from APHIS to manufacture USDA-licensed products. We have a facility license for our manufacturing facility in Westbrook, Maine which also covers our distribution center in Memphis, Tennessee. Our LPD manufacturing facility in Montpellier, France is a USDA-permitted site, and has been approved by APHIS to manufacture specified USDA-licensed products.
Water testing products. Our water tests are generally not subject to formal premarket regulatory approval. However, before a test can be used as part of a water quality monitoring program in the U.S. that is regulated by the EPA, the test method must first be approved by the EPA. The EPA approval process involves submission of extensive product performance data in accordance with an EPA-approved protocol, evaluation of the data by the EPA, and publication for public comment of any
proposed approval in the Federal Register before final approval. Our Colilert, Colilert-18, Colisure, Quanti-Tray, Filta-Max xpress, Enterolert, and SimPlate for heterotrophic plate counts products have been approved by the EPA for use under various regulatory programs. Water testing products are subject to similarly extensive regulatory processes in other countries around the world.
Dairy testing products. Dairy products used in National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments (“NCIMS”) milk-monitoring programs in the U.S. are regulated by the FDA as veterinary medical devices. Before these products can be sold in the U.S., performance data must be submitted in accordance with an FDA-approved protocol administered by an independent body, such as the Association of Analytical Chemists Research Institute (“AOAC RI”). While some foreign countries accept AOAC RI certification as part of their regulatory approval process, many countries have separate regulatory processes. All test methods used for the drug residue testing require validation by the FDA and acceptance by the NCIMS, and are included on a Memorandum of Interpretation issued by the FDA. IDEXX has two FDA-validated test products, SNAP NBL and SNAP Tetra, for sale in the U.S.
Human point-of-care electrolyte and blood gas analyzers. Our OPTI instrument systems are classified by the FDA as Class I and/or Class II medical devices, and their design, manufacture, and marketing are regulated by the FDA. Accordingly, we must comply with cGMP in the manufacture of our OPTI products. The FDA’s Quality System regulations further set forth standards for product design and manufacturing processes, require the maintenance of certain records, and provide for inspections of our facilities by the FDA. New OPTI products fall into FDA classifications that require notification of and review by the FDA via a 510(k) application before marketing or sale of such products. These OPTI products are also subject to the regulations governing the manufacture and marketing of medical devices in other countries in which they are sold, including the EU Medical Device Regulation and In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation.
Human COVID-19 test products. During 2022, OPTI manufactured, sold, and distributed PCR and antibody ELISA test kits for the detection of the virus that causes COVID-19. These test kits are subject to regulation by the FDA pursuant to the FDC Act, and more specifically, are sold and distributed pursuant to FDA Emergency Use Authorization. These products are also subject to the regulations governing the manufacturing and marketing of medical devices in other countries in which they are sold, including the EU Medical Device Regulation and In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation. As of the first quarter of 2023, we are not actively marketing or promoting these products and services.
Other Chemical, Environmental, and Human Health Safety Regulations. All IDEXX products must comply with applicable global product regulations, including those governing consumer product safety and materials requirements such as the Europeans Union's Electromagnetic Compatibility (“EMC”) Directive, the European Regulation for Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical Substances (“REACH”), the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (“RoHS”) Directive, and the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (“WEEE”) Directive. These complex regulatory requirements create risk to IDEXX’s ability to market and sell our products, our business, and our financial performance.
In the European Union, our analyzers and certain associated equipment are subject to the requirements of the RoHS Directive, which regulates and restricts certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. Other countries, including China, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkey, have implemented or anticipate implementing regulatory regimes similar to the RoHS Directive. Our veterinary diagnostic instrument systems are not subject to regulation under the EU Medical Device Regulation or In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Device Regulation, which are both strictly applicable to human use products. However, these systems are required to meet CE certification, which require compliance with the RoHS Directive, the EMC Directive, and other safety requirements. Most countries in which we sell our products impose similar registrations and/or certification requirements.
The European Union was among the first to regulate and restrict the use of certain substances that we currently use in our products. These requirements include the Biocidal Products Regulation, which requires the use of only approved biocides in our products imported to or used in the European Union, and REACH, which regulates and restricts the use of certain chemicals in the European Union. Compliance with these regulations (and similar regulations that have been or may be adopted elsewhere, such as Australia, China, Russia, Turkey, Korea, and other countries) may require registration, notification, or certification regarding regulated substances, imposition of import restrictions, or in certain cases the redesign or reformulation of our products. As part of the microplastics restrictions pursuant to REACH, some of our products, including Companion Animal products, may be subject to derogation, such as labeling and reporting.
In the U.S., the EPA regulates chemical use similarly to the European Union. In addition, certain states have their own chemical regulations, such as California's Proposition 65, which requires businesses to provide warnings to California residents about significant risk of exposures to chemicals in products that are known to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive
harm. PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), which may be contained in certain IDEXX products, are a subject of increasing regulatory attention. The European Union had proposed draft regulations regarding PFAS, which include restrictions and/or phase-out requirements. In the U.S., the EPA has published a PFAS rule under the Toxic Substance Control Act, requiring manufactures of PFAS and importers of products containing PFAS to file certain information from January 1, 2011 including PFAS chemical identity and structure, production, use, byproducts, exposure, disposal, and health and environmental effects. In addition, a number of states, including Maine, where we manufacture many of our products, have also developed product reporting and/or phase-out requirements. Maine’s statute requires that by January 1, 2025, manufacturers of products with intentionally-added PFAS report the presence of such substances, and specifies that (subject to certain exceptions to be promulgated by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection) no product containing intentionally-added PFAS may be sold in Maine after January 1, 2030.
In addition to the foregoing, our business is generally subject to various U.S. and foreign regulatory authorities, including the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) and other anti-competition authorities, and we are also subject to anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws, such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the UK Bribery Act, import and export laws and regulations, including U.S. import and export control and sanctions laws, and laws and regulations governing the collection, use, retention, sharing and security of data such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation. Development or acquisition of new products and technologies may subject us to additional areas of government regulation. These may involve medical device, water-quality and other regulations of the FDA, the EPA, the USDA, the FTC, and other federal agencies, as well as state, local and foreign governments. For more information about the risks associated with various U.S. and foreign government regulation, refer to “Various U.S. and foreign government regulations could limit or delay our ability to market and sell our products or otherwise negatively impact our business” under “Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors.”
HUMAN CAPITAL
As innovation and customer focus are important parts of our strategy to create long-term value, we aim to attract, motivate, develop, and retain talented employees at all levels who are aligned with and passionate about our Purpose by:
•Building and sustaining an inclusive, ethical culture that values diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”);
•Offering competitive and locally relevant compensation and benefits; and
•Providing growth and development opportunities.
Because our strategy includes developing strong, deep relationships with our veterinary customers, we have focused on growing our companion animal diagnostics field-based organization globally.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. We believe that promoting DEI among our employees helps drive both innovation and a better understanding of our increasingly global customer base. We employ inclusive recruitment practices to source diverse candidates and mitigate potential bias. We encourage and promote an inclusive culture at IDEXX, including through executive sponsorship of our employee-led communities that support our employees with diverse backgrounds.
As of December 31, 2023, we had approximately 11,000 regular full-time and part-time employees, with underrepresented minorities representing an estimated 24.4% of our U.S. employees, as follows:
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Self-Identified Racial or Ethnic Background (1) | | | |
Black/African American | | 9.2 | % | |
Asian | | 6.7 | % | |
Hispanic/Latinx | | 6.2 | % | |
Other (2) | | 2.3 | % | |
White | | 74.4 | % | |
(1) Data regarding racial and ethnic background are based on self-identification by our U.S. employees; underrepresented minorities is defined as Black/African American, Asian, Hispanic/Latinx and Other. The percentages provided do not add up to 100% because some U.S. employees declined to specify race and/or ethnicity.
(2) Other is defined as American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, and two or more races.
In addition, as of December 31, 2023, women represented 58.5% of our global employee population and were represented in leadership as follows:
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Percentage who self- identify as women | |
Global People Managers | | 49.4 | % | |
Global Senior Leadership Team (1) | | 36.7 | % | |
Global Senior Executive Team (2) | | 18.8 | % | |
(1) Global Senior Leaders are employees in compensation grades considered Director or above.
(2) Global Senior Executives are employees in compensation grades considered Senior Vice President or above.
Compensation, Benefits and Well-being. We offer fair, competitive compensation and a wide array of competitive and locally relevant benefits (which vary by country and region) that support our employees’ overall well-being, including comprehensive health and welfare insurance; generous time-off and leave; retirement and financial support. We have recognition programs for the purpose of acknowledging the achievements of individual and team performance. Our well-being programs have strong utilization by our employee base, and are reviewed to ensure they are achieving the anticipated outcomes. We provide free counseling for employees and their dependents globally through our mental wellness partner. Interactive holistic well-being resources are available to employees globally, including monthly educational webinars, ergonomic support, team fitness challenges, nutrition programs, and self-guided courses on a broad range of topics. In addition, all employees have access to financial education and our employees, their spouses, and adult dependents in North America, can engage with a financial coach for help reaching their personal financial goals.
We continue to strengthen our approach to maximize the contributions of all through our commitment to flexible work options. This allows managers, teams, and employees to work together to identify the most efficient way to accomplish goals. For some teams this consists of 100% onsite work, while others employ remote or hybrid models. Our goal is to promote a positive workplace environment where everyone can contribute to their fullest potential. We strive to build a collaborative culture through in-person and virtual events, including town halls, in-office celebrations, and employee-led communities.
Ensuring the health, safety, and well-being of our employees is a top priority at IDEXX. We provide our employees with the training, tools, and resources they need to safeguard their health and we empower them to put safety first. Our Environmental Health & Safety (“EH&S”) team oversees the IDEXX EH&S management system and our company-wide safety programs, ensuring that all of our locations implement health and safety processes to maintain and improve employee safety, reduce workplace risks, and drive continuous improvement.
Growth and Development. We are steadfast in our focus on cultivating the diverse leaders of tomorrow and making career development opportunities more accessible across the company. Much of our training programs are 100% virtual and available in multiple languages. Our career development programs are designed to build capabilities and enable career progression. We also encourage employees to enhance their career development through job-related courses and degree programs.
Employee Turnover and Engagement. We monitor employee turnover and engagement to identify opportunities to strengthen our approach to human capital management. During 2023, our overall voluntary employee turnover rate was approximately 10%. Our voluntary turnover among managerial employees was approximately 4.5%.
We regularly conduct company-wide employee surveys through a third party to collect employee input on our culture, their experiences, and workplace conditions. These survey results provide insights that help us to improve employee engagement. Our most recent global employee survey received a high level of response and we maintained a strong level of engagement, consistent with prior years. We leverage the insights gained from the survey to develop a roadmap for improving engagement and retention.
ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS, SUSTAINABILITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Our operations are subject to various environmental, health, and safety laws and regulations concerning, among other things, the generation, handling, transportation, and disposal of hazardous substances or wastes, the cleanup of hazardous substance releases, emissions or discharges into the air or water, and occupational safety and health. The ongoing costs of complying with such laws and regulations is significant and may increase in the future, particularly in the European Union, where we are required to comply with increasingly extensive regulations to disclose and address climate change impacts and resource conservation matters. We continue to monitor legislative and regulatory actions and their potential impacts on the areas where we conduct business.
In addition to monitoring and managing compliance with environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, we also strive to reduce our environmental footprint. We recognize that climate change has had and will continue to have significant impacts on our environment and have developed and are implementing a greenhouse gas emissions reduction strategy. To monitor our progress in meeting our environmental goals, we track and publicly report our environmental impact metrics, including greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption. In pursuit of our goals, we have developed initiatives and multi-year projects to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, integrate sustainability considerations for new product development and design, and reduce the amount of plastic and other material waste from current products and packaging. Our most recent Corporate Responsibility Report, which is available on our website, is aligned with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board and the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures frameworks and provides our most recent sustainability highlights for our products and operations.
AVAILABLE INFORMATION
Our principal executive offices are located at One IDEXX Drive, Westbrook, Maine 04092, our telephone number is 207-556-0300, and our internet address is www.idexx.com. References to our website in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are inactive textual references only and the content of our website, including our Corporate Responsibility Report, should not be deemed incorporated by reference for any purpose.
We make available free of charge at www.idexx.com our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after we file such information with, or furnish it to, the SEC. In addition, copies of our reports filed electronically with or furnished electronically to the SEC may be accessed at www.sec.gov.
Our Corporate Governance Guidelines and our Code of Ethics are also available on our website at www.idexx.com.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
You should consider carefully the risks and uncertainties described below in addition to the other information included or incorporated by reference in this Annual Report on Form 10-K in evaluating our company and our business. Our future operating results involve a number of risks and uncertainties, and actual events or results may differ materially from those discussed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the factors discussed below, as well as those factors discussed elsewhere herein. Any of these factors, in whole or in part, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results, prospects, and stock price.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY
Because our business lines are highly attractive, they are also highly competitive. Our failure to successfully execute certain strategies within this competitive environment could have a material negative impact on our future growth and profitability
The companion animal healthcare industry is highly competitive, and we anticipate increasing levels of competition from both existing competitors and new sector entrants given our performance and the industry’s strong growth and returns. Our ability to maintain or enhance our growth rates and our profitability depends on our successful execution of many elements of our strategy, including:
•Developing, manufacturing, and marketing innovative new or improved and cost competitive in-clinic laboratory analyzers that drive sales of IDEXX VetLab instruments, grow our installed base of instruments, and increase demand for related recurring sales of consumable products, services, and accessories;
•Developing and introducing new or improved innovative diagnostic tests and services for both our reference laboratories and in-clinic applications that provide valuable medical information to our customers and effectively differentiate our products and services from those of our competitors;
•Developing and introducing new or improved innovative, data-insightful software solutions that enable our veterinary customers to improve practice management and efficiency, staff productivity, and client communications and that increase the value to our veterinary customers of our other companion animal products and services by enhancing the integration of the information and transactions of these products and services and supporting the interpretation and management of diagnostic information derived from these products and services;
•Maintaining premium pricing, including by effectively implementing price increases, for our products and services through, among other things, effective communication and promotion of the value of our products and services in an environment where many of our competitors promote, market, and sell lesser offerings at prices lower than ours;
•Providing our veterinary customers with the medical and business tools, information, and resources that enable them to grow their practices and increase utilization of our diagnostic products and services, through increased pet visits, use of preventive care protocols, enhanced practice of real-time care, and improved practice efficiency;
•Achieving cost improvements in our worldwide network of reference laboratories by implementing global best practices, including lean processing techniques, incorporating technological enhancements, including laboratory automation and a global laboratory information management system, employing purchasing strategies to maximize leverage of our global scale, increasing the leverage of existing infrastructure and consolidating testing in high volume laboratory hubs;
•Achieving cost improvements in the manufacture and service of our in-clinic laboratory analyzers by employing the benefits of economies of scale in both negotiating supply contracts and leveraging manufacturing overhead, and by improving reliability of our instruments;
•Continuing to expand, develop, and advance the productivity of our companion animal diagnostic sales, marketing, customer support, and logistics organizations in the U.S. and international regions in support of, among other things, our all-direct sales strategies;
•Attracting, developing, and retaining key leadership and talent necessary to support all elements of our strategy;
•Strengthening our sales and marketing activities to continue to grow our profitability both in and outside the U.S.;
•Identifying, completing, and integrating acquisitions that enhance our existing businesses, create new businesses for us or expand the geographic areas in which we do business;
•Continuing to incorporate AI, machine learning, and automation into our products and services and associated business processes, such as customer support and software development;
•Developing and implementing new technology and licensing strategies; and
•Continuing to effectively manage our growth and expansion on a global scale through, among other things, designing and implementing cost-effective improvements to our processes, procedures, and infrastructure.
If we are unsuccessful in implementing and executing on some or all of these strategies, our rate of growth or profitability may be negatively impacted.
Our dependence on third-party suppliers could limit our ability to sell certain products or negatively affect our operating results
We rely on third-party suppliers to provide components and raw materials (including biological materials) for our manufactured products, manufacture some of the products that we sell, and perform certain services, including package-delivery services. Actions taken by third-party suppliers in operating their business, as well as any disruptions to their business operations (or their suppliers' business operations), could disrupt our supply chain or operations and materially negatively impact our ability to supply the market, substantially decrease sales, lead to higher costs, and damage our reputation with our customers. Longer-term disruptions could potentially result in the permanent loss of our customers, which could reduce our recurring revenues and long-term profitability.
Our supply chain and our cost of goods also may be adversely impacted by unanticipated price increases due to factors such as inflation (including wage inflation), supply restrictions beyond our control or the control of our suppliers, or regulatory requirements regarding the importation, exportation, composition, or production processes of the goods or materials provided by our suppliers. If current suppliers fail to supply sufficient goods or materials that comply with applicable regulatory requirements to us on a timely basis, or at all, or are unable to comply with any due diligence requests that may be required pursuant to applicable law or regulation, we could experience inventory shortages and disruptions in our supply of goods or materials.
For examples of some of the events that could result in disruption to our supply chain or operations, and negatively impact our operating results, refer to “Various U.S. and foreign government regulations could limit or delay our ability to market and sell our products or otherwise negatively impact our business,” “We are increasingly dependent on the continuous and reliable operation of our information technology systems, and a disruption of these systems or significant security breaches could adversely affect our business” and “Factors and events beyond our control could disrupt our operations, supply chain, and logistics network and adversely affect our business” below.
In addition, we currently purchase many products, components, and materials from sole or single sources, such as Ortho. Some of these products are proprietary and, therefore, cannot be readily or easily replaced by alternative sources. These products, components, and materials are used in a majority of our instruments, including our Catalyst Dx, Catalyst One, ProCyte Dx, and ProCyte One analyzers; consumables and accessories used in our instruments; livestock and poultry diagnostic tests, dairy testing products; and water testing products. Even if products, components, and materials were to become available to us from alternative suppliers, we likely would incur additional costs and delays in identifying or qualifying replacement materials, and there can be no assurance that replacements would be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. In certain cases, we may be required to obtain regulatory approval to use alternative suppliers, and this process of approval could delay production of our products or development of product candidates indefinitely.
We seek to mitigate sole and single-source suppliers risks on a risk-prioritized basis and in a variety of ways, including, when possible, by identifying and qualifying alternative suppliers, developing applicable in-house manufacturing capabilities and expertise, and entering into escrow arrangements for manufacturing information for certain single or sole-sourced products. We also seek to enter into long-term contracts that provide for an uninterrupted supply of products at predictable or fixed prices. However, there can be no assurance that we will successfully implement any of these mitigating activities or that, if implemented, any of them will be effective in preventing any delay or other disruption in our ability to supply our customers. In addition, suppliers may decline to enter into long-term contracts for any number of reasons, which would require us to purchase products, components, or raw materials via short-term contracts or on a purchase order basis. There can be no assurance that suppliers with which we do not have long-term contracts will continue to supply our requirements, will always fulfill their obligations under those contracts, or will not experience disruptions in their ability to supply our requirements. In cases where we purchase sole and single-source products, components, or raw materials under purchase orders, we are more susceptible to unanticipated cost increases or changes in other terms of supply. In addition, under some contracts with suppliers we have minimum purchase obligations, and our failure to satisfy those obligations may result in
loss of some or all of our rights under these contracts or require us to compensate the supplier. If we are unable to obtain adequate quantities of products, components, or raw materials in the future from sole and single-source suppliers, or if such sole and single-source suppliers are unable to obtain the components or other materials required to manufacture the products, we may be unable to supply our customers, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and damage our reputation, and any longer-term disruptions could potentially result in the permanent loss of customers, which could reduce our recurring revenues and long-term profitability.
Our biologic products are complex and difficult to manufacture, which could negatively affect our ability to supply our customers
Many of our rapid assay, livestock and poultry diagnostic, water, and dairy products are biologic products that include biological materials, such as antibodies, cells, and sera. Manufacturing biologic products is highly complex due to the inherent variability of biological materials and the difficulty of controlling the interactions of these materials with other components of the products, samples, and the environment. There can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain adequate sources of biological materials or that we will be able to consistently manufacture biologic products that satisfy applicable product release criteria and regulatory requirements. Further, products that meet release criteria at the time of manufacture may fall out of specification while in customer inventory, which could require us to incur expenses associated with recalling products and providing customers with new products, either of which could damage customer relations and our reputation. Our inability to produce or obtain necessary biological materials or to successfully manufacture biologic products that incorporate such materials could result in our inability to supply our customers with these products, which would have an adverse effect on our results of operations and damage our reputation.
Issues in the use of AI in our product offerings may result in reputational harm or liability
We have built, and expect to continue to build, AI into many of our product and service offerings, and we expect this element of our business to grow. We envision a future in which responsible AI operating in our devices, applications, and the cloud, helps our customers be more productive in their business activities and interactions with consumers. As with many disruptive innovations, AI presents risks and challenges that could affect its adoption, and therefore our business. AI algorithms and models may be flawed. Datasets may be insufficient or contain information that is non-representative, infringing, or otherwise subject to legal challenge. Potential government regulation related to AI use may also foreclose certain areas of AI use, cause us to modify how we use AI, and increase the burden and cost of research and development in this area, and failure to properly remediate AI usage issues may cause public confidence in AI to be undermined, which could slow adoption of AI in our offerings. The rapid evolution of AI will require the application of resources to develop, test, and maintain our products and services to help ensure that AI is implemented in a manner to minimize unintended, harmful impact and to comply with applicable law. Furthermore, over the last year, there have been multiple class action lawsuits filed against large language model developers in the Northern District of California, the Southern District of New York, and the Middle District of Tennessee concerning alleged copyright and other intellectual property violations with respect to the information used to train AI models. The outcomes of these litigations may impair our ability to provide our AI technologies.
Various U.S. and foreign government regulations could limit or delay our ability to market and sell our products or otherwise negatively impact our business
As a global business, we sell products and services in more than 175 countries and operate in an increasingly complex legal and regulatory environment. In the U.S., the manufacture and sale of certain of our products are regulated by federal agencies, such as the USDA, the FDA, and the EPA. Our diagnostic tests for animal health applications that involve the detection of infectious diseases, including most rapid assay canine and feline SNAP tests and livestock and poultry diagnostic tests, must be approved by the USDA prior to sale in the U.S. Our dairy testing products, as well as the manufacture and sale of our OPTI line of human point-of-care electrolytes and blood gas analyzers, require approval by the FDA before they may be sold commercially in the U.S. The methods used by our water testing products must be approved by the EPA, as a part of its water quality monitoring program, before they can be used by customers in the U.S. Delays in obtaining regulatory approvals for new products or product upgrades could have a negative impact on our growth and profitability.
We are also subject to chemical regulation in the U.S., such as California’s Proposition 65, which requires businesses to provide warnings to California residents about significant risk of exposures to chemicals in products that are known to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm. In addition, governmental authorities in the U.S. are increasingly focused on preventing environmental contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”), which may be contained in certain IDEXX products. For example, current law in Maine will require reporting of intentionally-added PFAS in products beginning in January 2025, and the sale in Maine of any product containing intentionally-added PFAS will be prohibited after
January 1, 2030 (subject to certain exceptions to be promulgated by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection). In addition, federal and state governments and agencies are in various stages of considering and/or implementing laws and regulations requiring the reporting, restriction and/or phase-out of PFAS in products.
The manufacture, import, and sale of our products, as well as our research and development processes, are subject to similar and sometimes more stringent laws in many foreign countries. For example, the European Union regulates the use of certain substances that we currently use in our products or processes. These regulations include, but are not limited to, the Biocidal Products Regulation, which requires the use of approved biocides in our products prior to being manufactured, used, or sold in the European Union; the European Regulation for Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical Substances, or REACH, which regulates and restricts the use of chemicals in the European Union; the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (“RoHS”) Directive, which regulates and restricts certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment; the Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive; and the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive. In addition, European Union regulatory authorities and certain European countries are contemplating regulations to restrict and phase-out PFAS.
Compliance with these and similar laws, directives and regulations in the U.S. and abroad may require registration of the applicable substances, performance of due diligence across our supply chain and reporting thereon, and/or the redesign or reformulation of our products, and may reduce or eliminate the availability of certain parts and components used in our products and services or lead us to change our suppliers in the event our suppliers are unable to comply with our due diligence requests or the applicable regulations in a timely and cost-effective manner. In extreme situations, compliance with these laws, directives and regulations may require us to eliminate or discontinue the use of a part or component in one or more products, but the redesign or reformulation of such products without such parts or components may not be possible, or cause us to relocate the production of certain products. Any redesign or reformulation, change in our suppliers, restrictions in our supply of parts and components, or relocation may negatively affect the availability or performance of our products and services, add testing lead-times for products and reformulated products, reduce our margins, result in additional costs, or have other similar effects. Any inability to redesign or reformulate one or more of our products may preclude us from marketing and selling such products in the applicable regions. In addition, the costs to comply with these regulations may be significant. Any of these could adversely affect our business, financial condition, or results of operations. These legal and regulatory requirements are complex and subject to change, and we continue to evaluate their impact.
In addition, some foreign governments require us to register or certify our products before they can be distributed or sold, and these product registration requirements, which vary among the applicable jurisdictions and change from time to time, are often complex and require us to engage in lengthy and costly processes and provide confidential, proprietary information about those products to foreign regulatory agencies. For example, compliance with extensive country-specific regulatory processes is required in connection with importing, marketing, and selling our diagnostic products in Japan, Germany, Canada, Brazil, the Netherlands, China, and many other countries. There can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain or maintain any product registration required by one or more foreign governments. Any inability to obtain or maintain a required product registration in a jurisdiction could adversely affect our ability to market and sell the applicable product in that jurisdiction, which could have a negative effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. There can also be no assurance that confidential, proprietary information provided to foreign regulatory agencies may not be accessed by unauthorized persons or otherwise stolen, which could negatively impact our ability to protect our proprietary rights in our innovative products and our future success. For more information about the risks related to the protection of our proprietary rights in our products and services, refer to “Our success is heavily dependent on our continued differentiated product and service innovation” below.
There has been a recent focus on laws and regulations related to artificial intelligence, including the current U.S. presidential administration, the U.S. Congress, and U.S. regulators, which cover, among other things, algorithm accountability, privacy, and transparency. For example, the Biden Administration issued an Executive Order aimed at establishing new standards for AI safety and security, privacy, consumer and employee protection and innovation and competition associated with the use of AI. Further, use of artificial intelligence and machine learning may be subject to laws and evolving regulations regarding, among other things, data bias and anti-discrimination. For example, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) enforces consumer protection laws such as Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prohibits unfair and deceptive practices. AI-related legislation has also been introduced in a number of U.S. state legislatures. In December 2023 the European Parliament and Council reached agreement on the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act, which will establish requirements for the provision and use of products that leverage artificial intelligence, machine learning, and similar technologies, and is expected to take effect in stages throughout 2025 and 2026. Additionally, other countries have proposed legal frameworks to regulate artificial intelligence, which is a trend that may continue to increase. Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with such requirements could have an adverse impact on our business.
We are also subject to a variety of federal, state, local, and international laws and regulations governing our global business practices. For example, jurisdictions in which we operate prohibit bribery and corruption, anti-competitive behavior, and money laundering; impose trade compliance requirements and restrictions, such as prohibitions on doing business with certain entities or individuals; determine rules impacting the importation and exportation of our products; and regulate immigration and travel. These legal, regulatory, and sometimes politically motivated requirements differ among jurisdictions around the world and are rapidly changing and increasingly complex. The costs associated with compliance with these legal and regulatory requirements and adjusting to changing legal and political environments are significant and likely to increase in the future.
Any failure by us to comply with applicable legal and regulatory requirements, or to adjust to changing legal and political environments, could result in fines, penalties, and sanctions; product recalls; suspensions or discontinuations of, or limitations or restrictions on, our ability to design, manufacture, market, import, export or sell our products; and damage to our reputation. Any of these could negatively impact our business.
Our success is heavily dependent on our continued differentiated product and service innovation
We believe our future success significantly depends on our ability to continue, on a cost-effective and timely basis, to enhance our existing differentiated product and service offerings, to continue to incorporate AI, machine learning and automation into our products and services and associated business processes and to develop and introduce new and innovative differentiated products and services. As a result, we invest substantial funds and efforts into R&D, investigating new products and technologies being developed by third parties, and obtaining certain such new products and technologies through licenses or acquisitions. There can be no assurance that our R&D, licensing, or acquisition efforts will achieve expected results, when or whether any of our products or services now under development will be launched, or whether we may be able to develop, license or otherwise acquire new products or technologies or successfully incorporate AI capabilities into our products, services or associated business processes. We also cannot predict whether any product or service offering, once launched, will achieve market acceptance, or achieve sales and revenue consistent with our expectations.
We rely on a combination of patent, trade secret, trademark, and copyright laws to protect our proprietary rights. We also license patents and technologies from third parties to enable the use of third-party technologies in the development, production, and provision of our products and services. If we do not have adequate protection of our proprietary rights or are unable to license third-party patents and technologies on reasonable terms, our business may be adversely affected by competitors who utilize substantially equivalent technologies to compete with us.
We cannot ensure that we will obtain issued patents, that any patents issued or licensed to us will remain valid, or that any patents owned or licensed by us will provide protection against competitors with similar technologies. Even if our patents cover products or services sold by our competitors, the time and expense of litigating to enforce our patent rights could be substantial and could have an adverse effect on our results of operations. In addition, expiration of patent rights could result in substantial new competition for products or services previously covered by those patent rights.
In the past, we have received notices claiming that our products or services infringe third-party patents, and we may receive such notices in the future. Patent litigation is complex and expensive, and the outcome of patent litigation can be difficult to predict. We cannot ensure that we will win a patent litigation case or negotiate an acceptable resolution of such a case. If we lose, we may be prohibited from selling certain products or services and/or we may be required to pay damages and/or ongoing royalties as a result of the lawsuit. Any such result could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
Increased competition from and technological advances by our competitors could negatively affect our operating results
We face intense competition, and we expect that future competition will become even more intense as new products, services and technologies become available, the use of AI and machine learning expands, and new competitors enter the space. Our competitors in the veterinary diagnostic sector in the United States and abroad include companies that develop, manufacture, and sell veterinary diagnostic tests and commercial veterinary reference laboratories, certain large and well-funded animal health pharmaceutical companies, as well as corporate hospital chains that operate reference laboratories that serve both their hospitals and unaffiliated hospitals, such as VCA Inc., which is wholly owned by Mars, Incorporated, another operator of corporate hospital chains. Consolidation among our competitors and our customers may intensify the competition we face. While we believe that our offerings are competitively differentiated due to our innovative products and services that offer an integrated, comprehensive diagnostic solution and the quality of our technical and customer service, there can be no assurance that increased consolidation among our competitors or customers (as well as any resulting reference laboratory
vertical integration among our customers) would not have a negative impact on our ability to compete successfully. For more information regarding the risks presented by consolidation and reference laboratory vertical integration among our customers, refer to “Consolidation in our customer base, including through increased corporate hospital ownership, and prevalence of buying consortiums could negatively affect our business” below.
Competition could negatively affect our sales and profitability in a number of ways. New competitors may emerge through the development of innovative new technology (such as the use of AI and machine learning), the acquisition of rights to use existing technologies or the use of existing technologies when patents protecting such existing technologies expire. New or existing competitors may introduce new, innovative, and competitive products and services more quickly, successfully and effectively, and these products and services could be superior, or be perceived by our customers to be superior, to our products and services or lead to the obsolescence of one or more of our products or services. Business combinations and mergers among our competitors may result in competitors that are better positioned to create, market, and sell more compelling product and service offerings. While an important aspect of our strategy is to continue, on a cost-effective and timely basis, to enhance our existing products and services (including through the incorporation of AI capabilities) and to develop and introduce new and innovative products and services, there can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully develop or introduce such products and services or that those products or services will be superior to our competitors’ products or services or otherwise achieve customer acceptance. Some of our competitors and potential competitors may choose to differentiate themselves by offering products and services perceived in the eyes of customers as similar, at substantially lower sales prices, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations through loss of sales and/or revenues or a decision to lower our own sales prices to remain competitive. In addition, our ability to attract and retain customers depends on the effectiveness of our customer marketing and incentive programs, and multiple competitors could bundle product and service offerings through co-marketing or other arrangements, which could enhance their ability to compete with our broad product and service offerings. Certain of our competitors and potential competitors, including large diagnostic and pharmaceutical companies, also have substantially greater financial and managerial resources than us, as well as greater experience in manufacturing, marketing, research and development, and obtaining regulatory approvals than we do.
Consolidation in our customer base, including through increased corporate hospital ownership, and prevalence of buying consortiums could negatively affect our business
Veterinarians are our primary customers for our CAG products and services, and the veterinary services industry in the U.S. and abroad has been consolidating at an accelerating rate in recent years. In the United States, the number of owners of veterinary hospitals has been declining, and an increasing percentage of veterinary hospitals are owned by corporations that are in the business of acquiring veterinary hospitals and/or opening new veterinary hospitals nationally or regionally. Major corporate hospital owners in the U.S. include Mars, Incorporated (owner of Banfield Pet Hospitals, Blue Pearl Veterinary Partners, and VCA Inc.), and National Veterinary Associates, and are joined by dozens of other consolidators. A similar trend exists in other regions such as Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, China, and Brazil. Furthermore, an increasing percentage of individually owned veterinary hospitals in the U.S. are participating in buying consortiums. Corporate owners of veterinary hospitals and buying consortiums often seek to improve profitability by leveraging the buying power they derive from their scale to obtain favorable pricing from suppliers, which could have a negative impact on our profitability and results of operations. While we have strong supplier relationships with several corporate hospital groups and buying consortiums, decisions by larger corporate owners and buying consortiums to shift their purchasing of products and services away from us and to a competitor would have a negative impact on our results of operations from the loss of future business. Under these circumstances, we may receive customer contract resolution payments, which would generally be recorded in other operating income in the period received. Nonetheless, the loss of future revenue may still be significant and adversely affect our future revenue growth rate and profitability. In addition, certain corporate owners also operate reference laboratories that serve both their hospitals and unaffiliated hospitals. Any hospitals acquired by these companies generally attempt to shift all or a large portion of their testing to the reference laboratories operated by these companies, and there can be no assurance that hospitals that otherwise become affiliated with these companies would not shift all or a portion of their testing to such reference laboratories. Furthermore, because these companies compete with us in the reference laboratory services marketplace, hospitals acquired by these companies or those that establish other affiliations with these companies may cease to be customers or potential customers of our other companion animal products and services, which would cause our sales of these products and services to decline.
Changes in testing patterns could negatively affect our operating results
Demand for our companion animal, livestock and poultry diagnostic tests and our dairy and water testing products could be negatively impacted by a number of factors impacting testing practices. The introduction or broad market acceptance of vaccines or preventatives for the diseases and conditions for which we sell diagnostic tests and services could result in a
decline in testing. Changes in accepted medical protocols regarding the diagnosis of certain diseases and conditions could have a similar effect. Eradication or substantial declines in the prevalence of certain diseases also could lead to a decline in diagnostic testing for such diseases. Our livestock and poultry products business in particular is subject to fluctuations resulting from changes in disease prevalence. The outbreak of certain diseases (such as African swine fever) among livestock or poultry, or the adverse impact of climate change-related events (such as hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, and floods), could lead to the widespread death or precautionary destruction of such animals in the affected regions, reducing herd or flock sizes, which could reduce the demand for our testing products for such animals. Changes in government regulations or in the availability of government funds available for monitoring programs could negatively affect sales of our products that are driven by compliance testing, such as our livestock and poultry, dairy and water products. In addition, changes and trends in local dairy, poultry, or other food sectors around the world could negatively affect the related production markets resulting in a decline in demand for our testing products. Economic weakness may also reduce demand for our companion animal, water, livestock, poultry, and dairy products and services, and public health-related guidance and directives, including stay-at-home orders that may be deployed to combat public health issues, and severe weather conditions could result in a decrease in companion animal clinical visits, the delay of elective procedures and wellness visits and disruption of veterinary clinic operations, all of which would have a negative effect on veterinary service providers and result in declines in demand for our CAG products and services. Declines in testing for any reason, including the reasons described above, along with lost opportunities associated with a reduction in veterinary visits, could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
We sell many products through distributors, which presents risks that could negatively affect our operating results
Some of our international product sales occur through third-party distributors. As a result, we are dependent on these distributors to promote and create demand for our products. Our distributors often offer products from several different companies, including our competitors, and may promote our competitors’ products over our own products. We have limited ability, if any, to cause our distributors to devote adequate resources to promoting, marketing, selling, and supporting our products or to maintain certain inventory levels, and changes in our distributors’ inventory levels, compared to comparable prior periods, could negatively impact our revenue growth rates. There can be no assurances made that we will be successful in maintaining and strengthening our relationships with our distributors or establishing relationships with new distributors who have the ability to market, sell, and support our products effectively. We may rely on one or more key distributors for a product or a region, and the loss of these distributors could reduce our revenue. Distributors may face financial difficulties, including bankruptcy, which could harm our collection of accounts receivable and financial results. While we maintain a rigorous distribution compliance program, violations of anti-corruption or similar laws by our distributors could have a material impact on our business and reputation, and any termination of a distributor relationship may result in increased competition in the applicable jurisdiction. Failure to manage the risks associated with our use of distributors outside of the U.S. may reduce sales, increase expenses, and weaken our competitive position, any of which could have a negative effect on our operating results.
GENERAL RISKS
We depend on the efforts of key personnel and talent to succeed and compete effectively
Our continued success is substantially dependent on our ability to attract, develop, and retain highly capable, skilled, and diverse employees and leaders. As we continue to grow our business, expand our geographic scope, and develop and offer innovative, new products and services, we require an engaged, qualified workforce and the organizational talent necessary to ensure effective succession for our senior leadership and other key personnel. Competition for experienced leaders and employees, particularly for persons with specialized skills, can be intense. Our ability to recruit and retain such talent will depend on a number of factors, including compensation and benefits, work location, flexibility regarding virtual and hybrid work arrangements, work environment, corporate culture, and development opportunities. Furthermore, a more competitive labor market has made it more difficult and costly to attract qualified labor, and prolonged shortages could adversely affect our ability to achieve our business objectives.
The loss of the services of, or our failure to recruit or develop and implement effective succession plans for, our senior leadership, other key personnel, and employees may significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our strategic objectives, disrupt our operations, and adversely affect our business and our future success. In addition, even if we effectively develop and implement succession plans and make key leadership transitions, we cannot provide assurances as to whether we may experience management or other challenges in connection with any of those leadership transitions that could adversely affect our future success and could otherwise materially adversely affect our business, reputation, results of operations, and financial condition.
We are increasingly dependent on the continuous and reliable operation of our information technology systems, and a disruption of these systems or significant security breaches could adversely affect our business
We rely on our information systems, as well as our third-party business partners’ and suppliers’ information systems, to provide access to our web-based products and services, keep financial records, analyze results of operations, process customer orders, manage inventory, process shipments to customers, store confidential or proprietary information, and operate other critical functions. In addition, some of our products and services include information systems that collect and use data on behalf of customers (e.g., veterinary practice management systems and customer communication tools and services), and some of these products and services rely on third-party providers for cloud computing and storage. Although we maintain security policies, employ system backup measures, and engage in redundancy planning and processes, such policies, measures, planning and processes, as well as our current disaster recovery plans, may be ineffective or inadequate to address all eventualities. Further, our information systems and our business partners’ and suppliers’ information systems have experienced, and will likely continue to experience, attacks by hackers and other security breaches, including, among other things, computer viruses and malware, ransomware, denial of service actions, the compromise, misappropriation and/or unauthorized acquisition or disclosure of confidential or otherwise protected information and similar events through the internet (including via devices and applications connected to the internet), and through email attachments and persons with access to these information systems, such as our employees or third parties with whom we do business. The continued use of remote working and hybrid work-from-home arrangements may additionally result in some increased risk of attacks associated with a number of our employees accessing our data and systems remotely. In addition, security industry experts and government officials have warned about the risks of hackers and cybersecurity attacks targeting U.S. organizations, such as IDEXX, and recent developments in the cyber threat landscape include the growing use of AI, which could enable or create more sophisticated cybersecurity attacks and increase the volume and frequency of attacks.
As information systems and the use of software and related applications by us, our business partners, suppliers, and customers become more cloud-based and connected to the “Internet of Things,” which is inherently susceptible to cyberattacks, there has been an increase in global cybersecurity vulnerabilities and threats, including more sophisticated and targeted cyber-related attacks that pose a risk to the security of our information systems and networks and the security, confidentiality, availability and integrity of data and information. We process credit card payments electronically over secure networks and also offer products and services that connect to and are part of the “Internet of Things,” such as our connected devices (e.g., IDEXX VetLab instruments). Any such attack or breach could compromise our networks and the information stored thereon could be accessed, publicly disclosed, lost, or stolen. While we have implemented network security and internal control measures, especially for the purpose of protecting our connected products and services from cyberattacks, and invested in our data and information technology infrastructure, these efforts have not always been successful in preventing, and there can be no assurance that these efforts will in the future prevent, a system disruption, attack, or security breach and, as such, there continues to be risk of system disruptions and security breaches from a cyberattack.
We, and some of our third-party vendors, have experienced cybersecurity attacks in the past and will likely experience further attacks in the future, potentially with more frequency. To our knowledge, none have resulted in any material adverse impact to the Company, our business strategy, results of operations or financial condition. We have adopted measures to mitigate potential risks associated with information technology disruptions and cybersecurity threats; however, given the unpredictability of the timing, nature and scope of such disruptions and the evolving nature of cybersecurity threats, which vary in technique and sources, if we or our business partners or suppliers were to experience a system disruption, attack or security breach that impacts any of our critical functions, or our customers were to experience a system disruption, attack or security breach via any of our connected products and services, we could potentially be subject to production downtimes, operational and/or productivity delays, other detrimental impacts on our operations or ability to provide products and services to our customers, the compromise, misappropriation and/or unauthorized acquisition or disclosure of confidential or otherwise protected information, destruction or corruption of data, security breaches, other manipulation or improper use of our systems or networks, financial losses and additional costs from remedial actions, repairs to infrastructure, physical systems or data processing systems, increased cybersecurity and information technology protection costs, loss of business or potential liability, and/or damage to our reputation, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business strategy, competitive position, results of operations, cash flows, financial condition, or prospects. Our customers and/or employees could also face negative consequences such as the compromise of sensitive or critical information or systems. Furthermore, access to, public disclosure of, or other loss of data or information (including any of our confidential or proprietary information or personal data or information) as a result of an attack or security breach has given, and in the future may give, rise to notification obligations to individuals, regulators, customers, employees, and others, and could result in governmental actions or private claims or proceedings, any of which could damage our reputation, cause a loss of confidence in our products and services, damage our ability to develop (and protect our rights to) our differentiated technologies and have a material adverse effect on the Company, our business strategy, financial condition, results of operations or prospects. For more information regarding personal data and
information privacy and data protection risks, refer to “Our operations and reputation may be impaired if we, our products, or our services do not comply with our global privacy policy or evolving laws and regulations regarding data privacy and protection” below.
Factors and events beyond our control could disrupt our operations, supply chain, and logistics network and adversely affect our business
Our business and results of operations could be negatively affected by certain factors and events beyond our control, such as natural disasters, severe weather conditions and/or climate change-related events (such as hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, and floods); public health issues (such as outbreaks, epidemics, or pandemics); civil or military unrest; geopolitical conditions and developments; war, terrorism, armed conflict, or other man-made disasters (including cyberwar, cyberterrorism, or state-sponsored attacks); inflationary pressures, which may increase costs for materials and finished goods; adverse or uncertain macroeconomic conditions, including fears of a global economic downturn or recession; increases in wages that drive up prices; rising interest rates; workforce disruptions; labor shortages or stoppages; the imposition of regulations, trade protection measures, tariffs, duties, import/export restrictions, quotas or embargoes on key components; transportation failures affecting the supply and shipment of materials and finished goods; and the unavailability of raw materials. Any of these events could result in, among other things, damage to or the temporary closure of one or more of our manufacturing or distribution facilities or reference laboratories (damage to one of our facilities or the manufacturing equipment we use could be costly and may require substantial lead-time to repair or replace); damage to or closure of one or more facilities of our third-party business partners or suppliers on which we rely; a temporary lack of an adequate work force in one or more markets; an interruption in power supply; a temporary or long-term disruption in our supply chain or logistics network (including a disruption to our ability to obtain critical components for the manufacture of our products); a temporary disruption in our ability to deliver (or delays in the delivery of) our products or services; and short- or long-term damage to our customers’ businesses (which would adversely impact customer demand for our products and services). For our veterinary customers, these events may negatively affect the number of patient visits and elective procedures, and the volume of diagnostic utilization, and may otherwise disrupt clinical operations, which could adversely affect our revenues. For more information regarding the risks presented by disruption to our suppliers’ operations and supply chain, refer to “Our dependence on third-party suppliers could limit our ability to sell certain products or negatively affect our operating results” above.
We manufacture many of our significant companion animal products, including our rapid assay products and certain instruments and consumables, many of our water testing products and certain of our livestock, poultry, and dairy testing products in Southern Maine. Certain of our companion animal products, as well as our human point-of-care products, are manufactured in Roswell, Georgia. We also manufacture certain of our livestock and poultry testing products in Bern, Switzerland and Montpellier, France. In addition, we maintain major distribution facilities in North America and in the Netherlands and reference laboratories in multiple locations, including Memphis, Tennessee; Kornwestheim, Germany; West Sacramento, California; Elmhurst, Illinois; North Grafton, Massachusetts; Brisbane, Australia; Markham, Ontario; Wetherby, U.K.; and Tokyo, Japan. Interruption of operations at any of our facilities, including the ones described above, due to the occurrence of one or more of the events described above could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
While we maintain plans to continue business under such circumstances, there can be no assurance that such plans will be successful in fully or partially mitigating the effects of such events. We also maintain property and business interruption insurance to insure against the financial impact of certain events of this nature. However, this insurance may be insufficient to compensate us for the full amount of any losses that we may incur. In addition, such insurance will not compensate us for potential long-term competitive or reputational effects of being out of the market for the period of any interruption in operations.
Since our business is global in nature, geopolitical risks and other risks associated with doing business internationally could negatively affect our business, financial condition, and operating results
For the year ended December 31, 2023, approximately 35% of our overall revenue and approximately 32%, 84% and 50% of our CAG, LPD, and Water revenues, respectively, were attributable to sales of products and services to customers outside the U.S. Although we intend to continue to expand our international operations and business, we may not be able to successfully promote, market, import, export, sell, or distribute our products and services outside the U.S. Various risks associated with foreign operations may impact our international sales and operations, including, but not limited to, disruptions in transportation of our products or our supply chain; fluctuations in oil prices; increased border protection and restriction on travel; the differing product and service needs of foreign customers; difficulties in building, staffing, and managing foreign operations (including a geographically dispersed workforce); differing protection of intellectual property; trade protection measures, quotas, embargoes, import/export restrictions, capital controls, tariffs, duties, and regulatory and licensing
requirements; natural and other disasters; public health issues (such as outbreaks, epidemics, or the prospect of a pandemic); ongoing instability or changes in a country’s or region’s regulatory, economic, or political conditions, including inflation, recession, interest rate fluctuations, and actual or anticipated military or political conflicts; geopolitical crises, including terrorism, war, armed conflict, or civil or military unrest; other unfavorable geopolitical conditions; security concerns; and local business and cultural factors that differ from our normal standards and practices, including business practices prohibited by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other anti-corruption laws and regulations.
In addition, to market and sell many of our products outside the U.S., we are subject to product approval and registration requirements that often require us to provide confidential, proprietary information about those products to foreign regulatory agencies. There can be no assurance that the confidential, proprietary information provided to foreign regulatory agencies to comply with product approval and registration requirements may not be accessed by unauthorized persons or otherwise stolen, which could negatively affect our ability to protect our proprietary rights in our innovative products and our future success. We also may forgo marketing and selling some of our products in certain foreign jurisdictions due to the risk of intellectual property theft, which could negatively affect our ability to expand our international operations and business. For more information about the risks related to the protection of our proprietary rights in our products and services, refer to “Our success is heavily dependent on our continued differentiated product and service innovation” above.
Further, prices that we charge to foreign customers may be different than the prices we charge for the same products in the U.S. due to competitive, market or other factors, or changes in foreign currency exchange rates. Our results of operations are also susceptible to changes in foreign currency exchange rates. As a result, the mix of domestic and international sales in a particular period could have an adverse impact on our results of operations for that period.
Climate change, or legal, regulatory or market measures to address climate change, could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operation
We operate in many regions around the world where our businesses and the activities of our customers and suppliers could be disrupted by climate change. We are exposed to physical risks (such as extreme weather conditions or rising sea levels), risks in transitioning to a low-carbon economy (such as additional legal or regulatory requirements, changes in technology, market risk and reputational risk) and social and human effects (such as harm to health and well-being) associated with climate change. These risks can be either acute (short-term) or chronic (long-term).
Potential physical risks from climate change may include altered distribution and intensity of rainfall, prolonged droughts or flooding, increased frequency of wildfires and other natural disasters, rising sea levels, and a rising heat index, any of which could cause negative impacts to our and our customers’ and suppliers’ businesses. Increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events could adversely impact our suppliers, manufacturing locations, logistics, and/or customers. Such impacts may include losses incurred as a result of physical damage to facilities, loss or spoilage of inventory, and business interruption and disruption (e.g., decrease in companion animal clinical visits and diagnostic utilization). Other potential physical impacts due to climate change include reduced access to high-quality water in certain regions and the loss of biodiversity, which could impact future product development. These risks could disrupt our operations and supply chain, which may result in increased costs, or adversely affect our revenues.
New legal or regulatory requirements may be enacted to prevent, mitigate, or adapt to the implications of a changing climate and its effects on the environment. These regulations, which may differ across jurisdictions, could result in our being subject to new or expanded carbon pricing or taxes, increased compliance costs, restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions, investment in new technologies, increased carbon disclosure and transparency, investments in developing data gathering and reporting systems, upgrade of facilities to meet new building codes, increased energy costs, and the redesign of utility systems, which could increase our operating costs. Our supply chain would likely be subject to these same transitional risks and would likely pass along any increased costs to us, which may impact our ability to procure goods or services required for the operation of our business at the quantities and levels we require.
A weak worldwide economy, or economic weakness in any significant geography, could result in reduced demand for our products and services or increased customer credit risk
A substantial percentage of our sales are made worldwide to the companion animal veterinary industry. Demand for our companion animal diagnostic products and services is driven in part by the number of patient visits to veterinary hospitals and the practices of veterinarians with respect to the recommendations for diagnostic testing, as well as pet owner compliance with these recommendations. Pet owners generally pay cash out of pocket for health care services for their pets from veterinary practices. Economic weakness in any of our significant geographies could cause pet owners in those regions to forgo or defer
visits to veterinary hospitals or affect their willingness to approve certain diagnostic tests, comply with a treatment plan or, even more fundamentally, continue to own a pet. In addition, concerns about the financial resources of pet owners could cause veterinarians to be less likely to recommend certain diagnostic tests, and concerns about the economy may cause veterinarians to defer purchasing capital items such as our instruments and systems. These conditions, if they continue, could result in a decrease in sales or decrease in sales growth, of diagnostic products and services, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
Demand for our water products is driven in part by the availability of funds at government laboratories, water utilities, and private certified laboratories that utilize our products. Availability of funds also affects demand by government laboratories and cattle, swine and poultry producers that utilize our livestock and poultry diagnostic products, and by users of our human diagnostic products and services. Economic weakness and the other factors described above have caused and could continue to cause our customers to reduce their investment in such testing, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
A weak economy may also cause deterioration in the financial condition of our distributors and customers, which could inhibit their ability to pay us amounts owed for products delivered or services provided in a timely fashion or at all.
We are subject to risks associated with public health issues, including pandemics, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations
We are subject to risks associated with public health issues, including pandemics and other events beyond our control. Public health issues and crises may adversely impact our operations, supply chain and logistics network if the locations where we operate, manufacture or distribute our products; where our raw materials or product components are sourced, manufactured or distributed; or where our third-party distributors, suppliers and other service providers operate, are disrupted, temporarily closed or experience worker shortages for a sustained period of time. In addition, public health issues and crises may adversely impact our customers’ businesses due to business lockdowns, decreased companion animal clinical visits, labor shortages, the delay of elective procedures and wellness visits, and disruption of veterinary clinic and other customer operations, all of which could cause a decline in demand for our products and services. These disruptions could also cause economic slowdowns or increased economic uncertainty.
A future public health issue, pandemic, or outbreak of COVID-19 could lead to delays in the manufacturing and supply of products, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Moreover, any future public health issue such as a resurgence in COVID-19 infections, including due to new variants of the virus for which current vaccines may not be effective, could result in the imposition of new governmental restrictions, quarantine requirements or other measures to slow the spread of the virus, which could result in closures or other restrictions that significantly disrupt our operations or those of our third-party distributors, suppliers or other service providers, or otherwise adversely affect our customers’ businesses or operations, or result in economic weakness or slowdowns in one or more of our key geographies, any of which could adversely affect our financial condition.
Our operations and reputation may be impaired if we, our products, or our services do not comply with our global privacy policy or evolving laws and regulations regarding data privacy and protection
The nature of our business involves the receipt, storage and use of information, including personal data, about our customers, pet owners, suppliers, and employees. We collect and use personal data in a variety of ways. We offer products and services that collect and use personal data, including veterinary practice management systems, online customer communication tools and services, VetConnect PLUS, and two-way integration technology. Some of these products and services rely on third-party providers for cloud computing and storage. We also engage in e-commerce through various websites and collect contact and other personal data from our customers and website visitors. In addition, we transfer information, including personal data, among IDEXX, our subsidiaries and third parties with which we have commercial relations for business purposes. Our collection, transfer, protection, security, retention, storage, disclosure, sharing and use of personal data described above are subject to expanding and increasingly complex laws and regulations in the U.S. and abroad. In addition, these laws and regulations continue to develop and are subject to frequent revisions (and generally have become more stringent over time), are subject to differing interpretations, may be applied inconsistently from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and could be deemed to be inconsistent with our current global privacy policy and data protection practices.
While we maintain a program to monitor, assess, and comply with applicable global data privacy laws, compliance with these evolving requirements can be costly, require us to change our business practices in a manner adverse to our business or delay or impede the development and offering of innovative products and services. Additionally, public perception and standards related to the privacy of personal data can shift rapidly, in ways that may affect our reputation or influence regulators in the U.S. and abroad to expand or adopt more stringent regulations and laws. Examples of laws and regulations that have impacted and could, in the future, impact our business include (but are not limited to):
•The California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”), as well as other similar U.S. state laws that may apply to our business operations within a respective state and/or a U.S. federal privacy law that may be passed in the future, all of which may have conflicting requirements that would make compliance challenging.
•The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and similar requirements adopted by the United Kingdom (“UK”) following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union (“EU”) and the European Economic Area (“EEA”), which impose stringent operational requirements for controllers and processors of personal data of individuals in the EEA and UK.
•The China Personal Information Protection Law, the Brazilian General Data Protection Law, the South African Protection of Personal Information Act, the Amendments to the Japanese Act on the Protection of Personal Information, the New Zealand Privacy Act, and the India Digital Personal Data Protection Act.
An additional area of complexity concerns the restrictions on transfers of personal data from certain countries to others. For example, in July 2020 the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) invalidated the EU-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Frameworks, calling into question data transfers carried out under the European Commission's (“EC”) Standard Contractual Clauses (“SCCs”), which has created challenges for our transfer of personal data from the EEA, EU, and/or Switzerland to the U.S. and other third countries. Although the EC adopted an adequacy decision for the newly-authorized EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (“EU-U.S. DPF”) administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce in July 2023 enabling U.S. companies who certify to the EU-U.S. DPF to rely on it as a valid data transfer mechanism, the adequacy decision is likely to face challenge, including at the CJEU. In July 2023, the Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (“Swiss-U.S. DPF”) went into effect, governing transfers of Swiss personal data, and in October 2023, the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. DPF came into force, to facilitate transfers of personal data from the UK to the U.S. We currently rely on a mixture of mechanisms to transfer certain personal data from the EEA, Switzerland, and the UK to the U.S. and other third countries including the EU-U.S. DPF, the Swiss-U.S. DPF, and the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. DPF. We expect the existing legal complexity and uncertainty regarding international personal data transfers to continue. In particular, we expect the EU-U.S. DPF adequacy decision to be challenged and international transfers to the U.S. and to other jurisdictions more generally to continue to be subject to enhanced scrutiny by regulators. Any transfers by us or our vendors of personal data are subject to potential regulatory scrutiny and may increase our exposure under the GDPR, UK GDPR, and similar laws which contain cross-border personal data transfer heightened requirements and restrictions (such as the new Chinese government standard contract for cross-border personal data transfers).
Any failure or perceived failure by us, the third parties with whom we work or our products and services to comply with all applicable privacy-related laws and regulations, as well as our contractual obligations, could result in damage to our reputation or legal proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities or others, any of which could have an adverse effect on our business. In addition, concerns about our practices with regard to the collection, use, retention, disclosure, or security of personal data or other privacy-related matters, even if unfounded and even if we are in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, could damage our reputation and harm our business.
Failure to meet environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) regulations, standards, or expectations or to achieve our ESG goals or targets could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition, reputation, or stock price
U.S. and international regulators, as well as our investors, customers, employees, and other stakeholders, are increasingly focused on ESG matters, including climate-related issues; diversity, equity, and inclusion; human capital matters; and responsible sourcing, human rights, and supply chain. Regulators in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere are considering or have proposed or adopted various laws, directives or regulations regarding ESG matters, which include specific, target-driven disclosure requirements or obligations, including the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the proposed EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. Furthermore, our investors, customers and other stakeholders have additional (and sometimes different) ESG expectations for companies such as IDEXX. Meeting these emerging and evolving regulations, standards and expectations will require us to make investments, incur compliance costs and create new practices, processes, and
procedures. In addition, if we fail to comply with applicable ESG regulations, or our ESG practices do not meet evolving investor, customer or other stakeholder expectations and standards, then our reputation, our ability to attract or retain employees, our relationships with some customers, and our attractiveness as an investment, business partner, acquiror or product or service provider could be negatively impacted, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition, reputation, or stock price.
We have publicly established certain ESG goals and targets aligned with our business strategy. Our ability to achieve any ESG goal or target is subject to numerous risks, many of which are outside of our control and depend in part on third-party performance or data, and there can be no assurance that we will achieve them. Our failure to adequately update, accomplish or accurately track and report on these goals and targets on a timely basis, or at all, could adversely affect our reputation and expose us to increased scrutiny from the investment community, special interest groups and enforcement authorities.
Future operating results could be negatively affected by changes in tax rates, the adoption of new tax legislation or exposure to additional tax liabilities
The nature of our global operations subjects us to local, state, regional and federal tax laws in jurisdictions around the world. Our future tax expense could be affected by changes in the mix of earnings in countries with differing statutory tax rates, changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities or changes in tax laws or their interpretation. Specifically, many jurisdictions have committed to adopting the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”) Pillar Two Global Minimum Tax. Pillar Two is designed to ensure large multinational enterprises pay a minimum effective tax of at least 15% on income in each jurisdiction. As of December 31, 2023, various countries have enacted aspects of Pillar Two while committing to enact additional aspects in future years. While we do not expect these rules to have a material impact on our effective tax rate, we continue to monitor these initiatives on a global basis.
While we have taken, and may take further, actions intended to align our corporate structure and intercompany relationships with supporting our growth in international geographies and maintaining operational and tax efficiency and continue to consider all of these developments within our overall tax strategy, changes in tax law in the U.S. and other countries in which we operate or have a presence may materially and adversely impact our income tax liability, provision for income taxes, effective tax rate and results of operation, and there can be no assurance that any actions we take to maintain operational and tax efficiency will effectively mitigate these impacts. Moreover, these actions may increase our operating costs, and if ineffectual, could increase our income tax liabilities and our global effective tax rate.
Our income tax filings are subject to examination by various tax authorities, and the final determination of tax audits could be materially different from that which is reflected in historical income tax provisions and accruals. Significant judgment is required in determining our worldwide provision for income taxes. We regularly assess our exposures related to our worldwide provision for income taxes to determine the adequacy of our provision for taxes. Any reduction in these contingent liabilities or additional assessments would increase or decrease income, respectively, in the period such determination is made. If the ultimate determination of taxes owed is for an amount in excess of amounts previously accrued, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.
Strengthening of the rate of exchange for the U.S. dollar has a negative effect on our business
We are a global business, with 35% of our revenue during the year ended December 31, 2023, attributable to sales of products and services to customers outside of the U.S. Any strengthening of the rate of exchange for the U.S. dollar against foreign currencies, and in particular the euro, British pound, Canadian dollar, Chinese renminbi, Japanese yen, Australian dollar and Brazilian real, adversely affects our results, as it reduces the dollar value of sales and profits that are made in those currencies. The strengthening of the U.S. dollar has a greater adverse effect on the profits from products manufactured or sourced in U.S. dollars that are exported to international geographies and a lesser effect on profits from foreign sourced products and services due to a natural hedge from international expenses denominated in the corresponding foreign currencies.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, approximately 21% of our consolidated revenue was derived from products manufactured or sourced in U.S. dollars and sold internationally in local currencies, compared to 21% for the year ended December 31, 2022, and 23% for the year ended December 31, 2021. A strengthening U.S. dollar could also negatively impact the ability of customers outside the U.S. to pay for purchases denominated in U.S. dollars as well as affect our overall competitiveness in international geographies. The accumulated impacts from any continued, longer-term growth in the value of the U.S. dollar against foreign currencies may have a material adverse effect on our operating results. Refer to “Part II, Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk” included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information regarding currency impact.
Our foreign currency hedging activities (refer to “Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, Note 19. Hedging Instruments” in the accompanying Notes to consolidated financial statements), which are designed to minimize and delay, but not to eliminate, the effects of foreign currency fluctuations, may not sufficiently offset the adverse financial effect of unfavorable movements in foreign exchange rates on our financial results over the limited time the hedges are in place. In addition, our hedging activities involve costs and risks, such as transactions costs and the risk that our hedging counterparties will default on their obligations.
We primarily hedge intercompany product purchases and sales denominated in the euro, British pound, Canadian dollar, Japanese yen, and Australian dollar. Other foreign currency exposures related to foreign sourced services and emerging markets may not be practical to hedge. In certain cases, these exposures are not offset by foreign currency denominated costs. As we primarily use foreign currency exchange contracts with durations of less than 24 months and enter into contracts to hedge incremental portions of anticipated foreign currency transactions on a quarterly basis for the current and following year, the effectiveness of our foreign currency hedging activities to offset longer-term appreciation in the value of the U.S. dollar against non-U.S. currencies may be limited. Factors that could affect the effectiveness of our hedging activities include accuracy of sales and other forecasts, volatility of currency markets, and the cost and availability of hedging instruments. Since our hedging activities are designed to minimize volatility, they not only temporarily reduce the negative impact of a stronger U.S. dollar, but they also temporarily reduce the positive impact of a weaker U.S. dollar. Our future financial results could be significantly affected by a strengthening value of the U.S. dollar in relation to the foreign currencies in which we conduct business. The degree to which our financial results are affected for any given time period will depend in part upon our hedging activities.
Restrictions in our debt agreements or our inability to obtain financing on favorable terms may increase our cost of borrowing and limit our activities
Our ability to make scheduled payments and satisfy our other obligations under our Credit Facility and senior notes depends on our future operating performance and on economic, financial, competitive, and other factors beyond our control. Our business may not generate sufficient cash flows to meet these obligations or generate sufficient levels of earnings to satisfy the applicable affirmative, negative, and financial covenants. Our failure to comply with these covenants and the other terms of the Credit Facility and senior notes could result in an event of default and acceleration of our obligations under these agreements, which may require us to seek additional financing or restructure existing debt on unfavorable terms. In addition, adverse changes in credit markets could increase our cost of borrowing and make it more difficult for us to obtain financing, which could limit our ability to execute certain strategies and have an adverse effect on our revenue growth and profitability.
Our senior notes include provisions which stipulate a prepayment penalty for which we will be obligated in the event that we elect to repay the notes prior to their stated maturity dates. Should we elect to repay some or all of the outstanding principal balance on our senior notes, the prepayment penalty we incur could adversely affect our results of operations and cash flows.
We fund our operations, capital purchase requirements and strategic growth needs through cash on hand, funds generated from operations, amounts available under our Credit Facility and senior note financings. If we are unable to obtain financing on favorable terms, we could face restrictions that would limit our ability to execute certain strategies, which could have an adverse effect on our revenue growth and profitability.
Borrowings under our Credit Facility bear interest at variable rates, including rates based on the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”), exposing us to interest rate risk. The recent rise in interest rates has increased our cost of borrowing. If interest rates were to continue to increase, our debt service obligations under our variable-rate Credit Facility would increase even if the principal amount borrowed remained the same.
RISKS RELATED TO AN INVESTMENT IN OUR SECURITIES
Fluctuations in our quarterly or annual results may cause our stock price to decline
Our prior operating results have fluctuated due to a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control, including seasonality of certain product lines; changes in our accounting estimates; the impact of acquisitions; timing of distributor purchases, product launches, operating expenditures, and customer marketing and incentive programs; changes in the number and type of competitors and their product and service offerings; changes in our sales and distribution model; changes in the economy affecting consumer spending; and other matters. Similarly, our future operating results may vary
significantly from quarter to quarter or year to year due to these and other factors. If our operating results or projections of future operating results do not meet the expectations of securities analysts or investors in future periods, our stock price may fall.
The market price of our common stock may be highly volatile, and you may not be able to resell your shares at or above the price you paid
The trading price of our common stock may be volatile. Securities markets worldwide experience significant price and volume fluctuations. This market volatility, as well as other general economic, market, or political conditions, could reduce the market price of our common stock rapidly and unexpectedly, in spite of our operating performance. Factors that may impact the market price of our common stock include the factors described in this “Risk Factors” section and elsewhere in this Form 10-K, as well as:
•Our stock repurchase program and changes in our capital structure or cost of capital, including the issuance of additional debt;
•Public announcements (including the timing of these announcements) regarding our business, financial performance and prospects or new products or services, product enhancements or technological advances by our competitors or us;
•Trading activity in our stock, including portfolio transactions in our stock by us, our executive officers and directors, and significant stockholders; trading activity that results from the ordinary course rebalancing of stock indices in which we may be included, such as the S&P 500 Index; trading activity related to our inclusion in, or removal from, any stock indices; and short interest in our common stock, which could be significant from time to time;
•Investor perception of us and the industry and sectors in which we operate, including changes in earnings estimates or buy/sell recommendations by securities analysts; and whether or not we meet earnings estimates of securities analysts who follow us; and
•General financial, domestic, international, economic, and market conditions, including overall fluctuations in the U.S. equity and credit markets, which may experience extreme volatility that, in some cases, is unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of particular companies.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
Not applicable.
ITEM 1C. CYBERSECURITY
Our Cybersecurity Risk Management Program
Like other companies, we currently inhabit an environment of increasing global cybersecurity vulnerabilities and threats. We aim to effectively assess, identify, and manage material risks from these cybersecurity threats through our cybersecurity risk management program.
Our cybersecurity risk management program includes processes that incorporate and utilize certain principles from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) Cybersecurity Framework, the COBIT 2019 Framework and the IT Infrastructure Library (“ITIL”) Framework. The program aims to protect and preserve the security, availability, integrity, confidentiality, and privacy of our information systems and information residing on those systems and includes controls and procedures for the prevention, identification, containment, and remediation of cybersecurity threats through the use of various technologies, tools, policies, standards, and practices. Features of our cybersecurity risk management program include:
•An expectation, set forth in our Code of Ethics, that all employees are responsible for protecting our data, operations and environment from unauthorized access and use;
•Regular cybersecurity risk assessments and benchmarking;
•Policies and processes related to the detection and reporting of and response to cybersecurity events;
•Cybersecurity training for all newly hired employees upon onboarding;
•Individualized, biannual employee information security assessments, coupled with tailored follow-on employee trainings;
•Phishing tests conducted at least quarterly on a global basis, with additional periodic phishing tests conducted with high-risk employee groups;
•Channels for employees to report suspicious emails or other activity and the actual or suspected loss, theft, improper use of or access to IDEXX systems or information;
•Deployment and ongoing assessment of the effectiveness of technological tools aimed at preventing, detecting, and mitigating cybersecurity threats;
•Policies and procedures to assess third-party service provider cybersecurity risks and security controls and measures (as part of our procurement process and periodically/regularly thereafter);
•Performance of cybersecurity tabletop exercises;
•Regular review of and, as applicable, updates to our cyber incident response plan and protocols, system backup measures, redundancy planning and disaster recovery plans; and
•Maintenance of a cyber risk insurance policy to help address risk of loss due to certain types of cybersecurity events.
A review of cybersecurity risks is integrated into our annual enterprise risk assessment that occurs as part of our annual strategic planning process and is included in our quarterly disclosure controls and procedures. Our annual enterprise risk assessment process involves the identification and assessment by senior line-of-business and functional leaders, as well as our Chief Information Security Officer (“CISO”) and Chief Information Officer (“CIO”), of the risks relevant to their lines of business and functional areas, the materiality of those risks, our risk tolerances and our plans to manage and mitigate the risks to the extent prudent and feasible.
From time to time, we engage third parties, including assessors, consultants, legal counsel, and others to conduct penetration testing, assess our program, provide recommendations for improvement, and advise us on best practices.
Material Effects from Risks of Cybersecurity Threats
We do not believe any risks from cybersecurity threats (including from any prior cybersecurity incidents) have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect us, including our business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition. There can be no assurances, however, that we or our business partners or suppliers will not experience a future system disruption, attack or security breach that materially impacts our business, operations, results of operations, or financial condition. For more information refer to “Item 1A. Risk Factors, General Risks, We are increasingly dependent on the continuous and reliable operation of our information technology systems, and a disruption of these systems or significant security breaches could adversely affect our business.”
Governance of our Cybersecurity Risk Management Program
Role of Management
Our cybersecurity risk management program and activities are led by our CISO, who reports to Ken Grady, our Senior Vice President and CIO, and oversees a team of information security professionals. At this time, Mr. Grady is our acting CISO while we are conducting a search to hire a new CISO. Mr. Grady, who joined IDEXX as our CIO in 2014, has more than twenty years of experience leading information technology teams, including cybersecurity teams, at healthcare companies. Our CIO is responsible for our cybersecurity-related governance programs, overseeing testing of our compliance with standards and remediation of known risks, and leads our employee training program.
Our CIO and CISO are responsible for providing information regarding our cybersecurity risk management program, as well as cybersecurity risks and incidents, to a senior management-level cybersecurity steering committee. Within our cybersecurity risk governance model, the steering committee, which includes our CIO, CISO, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Audit Executive, Chief Human Resources Officer and other senior functional and business leaders, meets quarterly, and more frequently as warranted, to review and discuss, among other things, cybersecurity risk assessments, prioritization of initiatives, training plans and incident response plan, protocols and testing. This committee regularly provides updates on its discussions and decisions to our Chief Executive Officer.
Role of the Board of Directors
In December 2023, the Board delegated responsibility for overseeing our cybersecurity risk management to the Audit Committee. In accordance with the Audit Committee’s charter, the Audit Committee will at least annually review and discuss with management, including the CIO and CISO, our processes, policies, procedures, and protocols related to cybersecurity and information security, and it is anticipated that the full Board will participate in this annual review. In addition, in accordance with the Audit Committee’s charter, the Audit Committee will throughout the year regularly review and discuss with management, including the CIO and CISO, cybersecurity program assessments and audits, planned improvements and the status of any information security initiatives, as well as risks from cybersecurity threats pertinent to us and any previous cybersecurity incidents experienced by us, including any material impact or reasonably likely material impact on the Company, our business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition. The Audit Committee will provide reports to the Board at each regularly scheduled Board meeting of the matters it has recently addressed, including relating to the oversight of our cybersecurity risk management, and the full Board may participate from time to time, as warranted, in the Audit Committee’s sessions on cybersecurity risk management. Outside advisors also may meet from time to time with the Audit Committee or Board, as warranted, to review and discuss cybersecurity matters.
Prior to December 2023, our entire Board oversaw cybersecurity risk management, and our CIO and CISO reviewed our cybersecurity risks and risk management program and activities with the Board at least annually. The Board also received additional updates on changes in our cybersecurity risks and related risk management program and activities from time to time throughout the year, as warranted. Management also shared, and will continue to share, the results of our annual enterprise risk assessment, which includes a review of cybersecurity risk, with our full Board.
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
Our worldwide headquarters and principal executive offices are located in Westbrook, Maine where we engage in manufacturing, research and development, marketing, sales, and general and administrative support functions.
Primary Facility Locations
| | | | | | | | |
Location | Functions | Own/Lease |
Westbrook, Maine | Worldwide Headquarters, principal executive offices | Own |
Hoofddorp, Netherlands | Distribution center, warehousing, International administrative offices | Lease |
Baar, Switzerland | EMEA administrative offices | Lease |
Scarborough, Maine | Water, LPD and Supply Chain | Own |
Memphis, Tennessee | Distribution Center and Reference Lab | Lease |
North Grafton, Massachusetts | Reference Lab | Own |
West Sacramento, California | Reference Lab | Own |
Kornwestheim, Germany | Reference Lab | Own |
Wetherby, United Kingdom | Reference Lab | Lease |
Newmarket, United Kingdom | Water manufacturing | Lease |
Bern, Switzerland | LPD manufacturing | Lease |
Montpellier, France | LPD manufacturing | Lease |
Roswell, Georgia | OPTI Medical manufacturing | Lease |
Including the locations above, we have over 50 reference laboratories throughout the United States and over 25 reference laboratories internationally, including locations in Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and South Africa. The majority of our reference laboratories are leased, with the remainder being owned. We also lease space in various locations worldwide for administrative support, manufacturing, sales, distribution, and storage. We believe that our leased and owned properties are generally in good condition, are well-maintained, and are generally suitable and adequate to carry on our business.
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Due to the nature of our activities, we are at times subject to pending and threatened legal actions that arise out of the ordinary course of business. In the opinion of management, based in part upon advice of legal counsel, the disposition of any such currently pending or threatened matters is not expected to have a material effect on our results of operations, financial condition, or cash flows. However, the results of legal actions cannot be predicted with certainty. Therefore, it is possible that our results of operations, financial condition or cash flows could be materially adversely affected in any particular period by the unfavorable resolution of one or more legal actions.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
PART II
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR THE REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Market Information
Our common stock is quoted on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol IDXX.
Holders of Common Stock
As of February 12, 2024, there were 362 holders of record of our common stock. Because the majority of our common stock is held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of stockholders, we are unable to estimate the total number of stockholders represented by these record holders.
Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer
During the three months ended December 31, 2023, we repurchased shares of common stock as described below:
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Period | | Total Number of Shares Purchased (a) | | Average Price Paid per Share (b) | | Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs (1) (c) | | Maximum Number of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs (1) (d) |
| | | | | | | | |
October 1, 2023 to October 31, 2023 | | 27,000 | | | $ | 404.85 | | | 27,000 | | | 2,936,817 | |
November 1, 2023 to November 30, 2023 | | 62,509 | | | $ | 426.15 | | | 62,509 | | | 2,874,308 | |
December 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023 | | 141 | | | $ | 482.60 | | | — | | | 2,874,308 | |
Total | | 89,650 | | (2) | | | 89,509 | | | 2,874,308 | |
| | | | | | | | |
(1)As of December 31, 2023, our Board of Directors had approved the repurchase of up to 73 million shares of our common stock in the open market or in negotiated transactions pursuant to the Company’s share repurchase program. The program was approved and announced on August 13, 1999, and the maximum number of shares that may be purchased under the program has been increased by the Board of Directors on numerous occasions. There is no specified expiration date for this repurchase program. There were no other repurchase programs outstanding during the three months ended December 31, 2023, and no repurchase programs expired during the period.
(2)During the three months ended December 31, 2023, we received 141 shares of our common stock that were surrendered by employees in payment for the required withholding taxes due on the vesting of restricted stock units and settlement of deferred stock units. In the above table, these shares are included in columns (a) and (b) but excluded from columns (c) and (d). These shares do not reduce the number of shares that may yet be purchased under the repurchase program.
During the year ended December 31, 2023, we repurchased approximately 0.2 million shares of our common stock in transactions made pursuant to our repurchase program and received approximately 0.02 million shares of our common stock that were surrendered by employees in payment for the minimum required withholding taxes due on the vesting of restricted stock units and settlement of deferred stock units. Refer to “Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, Note 20. Repurchases of Common Stock” to the consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023, included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.
Dividends
We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock. From time to time our Board of Directors may consider the declaration of a dividend. However, we have no intention to declare or pay a dividend at this time.
Stock Performance
This graph compares our total stockholder returns, the Total Return for the Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) 500 Index, the Total Return for the S&P 500 Health Care Index, and the Total Return for the NASDAQ Stock Market Index (U.S. Companies) (the “NASDAQ Index”) prepared by the Center for Research in Security Prices. This graph assumes the investment of $100 on December 31, 2018, in IDEXX’s common stock, the S&P 500 Index, the S&P 500 Health Care Index, and the NASDAQ Index and assumes dividends, if any, are reinvested. Measurement points are the last trading days of the years ended December 2018 to 2023. Historic stock price performance should not be relied on as being indicative of future stock price performance.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | 2018 | | 2019 | | 2020 | | 2021 | | 2022 | | 2023 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. | | $100.00 | | $140.38 | | $268.72 | | $353.97 | | $219.31 | | $298.38 |
NASDAQ Index | | $100.00 | | $136.69 | | $198.10 | | $242.03 | | $163.28 | | $236.17 |
S&P 500 Index | | $100.00 | | $131.49 | | $155.68 | | $200.37 | | $164.08 | | $207.21 |
S&P 500 Health Care Index | | $100.00 | | $120.82 | | $137.07 | | $172.89 | | $169.51 | | $172.99 |
ITEM 6. [RESERVED]
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10‑K. The discussion of our financial condition and results of operations and liquidity and capital resources for the year ended December 31, 2021, and year-over-year comparisons between 2022 and 2021, is included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, within Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, and is incorporated by reference herein.
We have included certain terms and abbreviations used throughout this Annual Report on Form 10-K in the “Glossary of Terms and Selected Abbreviations.”
Description of Business Segments. We operate primarily through three business segments: diagnostic and information management-based products and services for the companion animal veterinary industry, which we refer to as the Companion Animal Group (“CAG”); water quality products (“Water”); and diagnostic products and services for livestock and poultry health and to ensure the quality and safety of milk and improve producer efficiency, which we refer to as Livestock, Poultry and Dairy (“LPD”). Our Other operating segment combines and presents our human medical diagnostic products and services business (“OPTI Medical”) with our out-licensing arrangements because they do not meet the quantitative or qualitative thresholds for reportable segments. Refer to “Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, Note 3. Revenue and Note 17. Segment Reporting” to the consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023, included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for financial information about our segments, including our product and service categories, and our geographic areas.
The following is a discussion of the strategic and operating factors that we believe have the most significant effect on the performance of our business.
Companion Animal Group
Our strategy is to provide veterinarians with the highest quality diagnostic information, software products and services, and medical evidence to support more advanced medical care and information management solutions that help demonstrate the value of diagnostics to pet owners and enable efficient and effective practice management. By doing so, we are able to build a mutually successful relationship with our veterinarian customers based on healthy pets, loyal customers, staff efficiency, and expanding practice revenues.
CAG Diagnostics. We provide diagnostic capabilities that meet veterinarians’ diverse needs through a variety of modalities including in-clinic diagnostic solutions and outside reference laboratory services. Veterinarians that utilize our full line of diagnostic modalities obtain a single view of a patient’s diagnostic results, which allows them to track and evaluate trends and achieve greater medical insight.
Our diagnostic capabilities generate both recurring and non-recurring revenues. Revenues related to capital placements of our in-clinic IDEXX VetLab suite of instruments and our SNAP Pro Analyzer are non-recurring in nature in that they are sold to a particular customer only once. Revenues from the associated IDEXX VetLab consumables, SNAP rapid assay test kits, reference laboratory and consulting services, and extended maintenance agreements and accessories related to our IDEXX VetLab instruments, and our SNAP Pro Analyzer are recurring in nature, in that they are regularly purchased by our customers, typically as they perform diagnostic testing as part of ongoing veterinary care services. Our recurring revenues, most prominently IDEXX VetLab consumables and rapid assay test kits, have significantly higher gross margins than those provided by our instrument sales. Therefore, the sales mix of recurring and non-recurring revenues in a particular period will impact our gross margins.
Diagnostic Capital Revenue. Revenues related to the placement of the IDEXX VetLab suite of instruments are non-recurring in nature, in that the customer will buy an instrument once over its respective product life cycle, but will purchase consumables for that instrument on a recurring basis as they use that instrument for diagnostic testing purposes. Many instruments are placed through our customer commitment arrangements in exchange for multi-year customer commitments to purchase recurring products and services.
Below is a table showing active installed base units of our premium diagnostic instruments as of the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021:
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
(units in thousands) | | Installed Base |
Instrument | | December 31, 2023 | | December 31, 2022 | | December 31, 2021 |
Catalyst | | 69.1 | | 63.1 | | 56.6 |
Premium Hematology | | 47.8 | | 43.1 | | 38.2 |
SediVue | | 18.1 | | 15.6 | | 13.2 |
Our long-term success in the continuing growth of our CAG recurring diagnostic products and services is dependent upon: growing volumes at existing customers by increasing their utilization of existing and new test offerings, acquiring new customers, maintaining high customer loyalty and retention, and realizing annual price increases based on our differentiated products and the growing value of our diagnostic offering. We continuously seek opportunities to enhance the care that veterinary professionals give to their patients and clients through supporting the implementation of real-time care testing workflows, which is performing tests and sharing test results with the client at the time of the patient visit. Our latest generation of chemistry, hematology, and urinalysis instruments demonstrates this commitment by offering enhanced ease of use, faster time to results, broader test menu and connectivity to various information technology platforms that enhance the value of the diagnostic information generated by the instruments. In addition, we provide marketing tools and customer support that help drive efficiencies in veterinary practice processes and allow practices to increase the number of clients they see on a daily basis.
With all of our instrument product lines, we seek to differentiate our products from our competitors’ products based on time-to-result, ease-of-use, throughput, breadth of diagnostic menu, flexibility of menu selection, accuracy, reliability, ability to handle compromised samples, analytical capability of diagnostics software, integration with the IVLS and VetConnect PLUS, client communications capabilities, education and training, and superior sales and customer service. Our success depends, in part, on our ability to differentiate our products in a way that justifies a premium price.
Recurring Diagnostic Revenue. Revenues from our IDEXX VetLab consumable products, our SNAP rapid assay test kits, outside reference laboratory and consulting services, and extended maintenance agreements and accessories related to our CAG Diagnostics instruments are considered recurring in nature. For the year ended December 31, 2023, recurring diagnostic revenue, which is both highly durable and profitable, accounted for approximately 80% of our consolidated revenue.
Our in-clinic diagnostic solutions, consisting of our IDEXX VetLab consumable products and SNAP rapid assay test kits, provide real-time reference lab quality diagnostic results for a variety of companion animal diseases and health conditions. Our outside reference laboratories provide veterinarians with the benefits of a more comprehensive list of diagnostic tests and access to consultations with board-certified veterinary specialists and pathologists, combined with the benefit of same-day or next-day turnaround times.
We derive substantial revenues and margins from the sale of consumables that are used in IDEXX VetLab instruments, and the multi-year consumable revenue stream is significantly more valuable than the placement of the instrument. Our strategy is to increase diagnostic testing within veterinary practices by placing IDEXX VetLab instruments and increasing instrument utilization of consumables. Utilization can increase due to a greater number of patient samples being run or to an increase in the number of tests being run per patient sample. Our strategy is to increase both drivers. To increase utilization, we seek to educate veterinarians about best medical practices that emphasize the importance of chemistry, hematology, and urinalysis testing for a variety of diagnostic purposes, as well as by introducing new testing capabilities that were previously not available to veterinarians.
Our in-clinic diagnostic solutions also include SNAP rapid assay tests that address important medical needs for particular diseases prevalent in the companion animal population. We seek to differentiate these tests from those of other in-clinic test providers and reference laboratory diagnostic service providers based on critically important sensitivity and specificity, as demonstrated by peer-reviewed third-party research, as well as overall superior performance and ease of use by providing our customers with combination tests that test a single sample for up to six diseases at once, including the ability to utilize our SNAP Pro Analyzer. We further augment our product development and customer service efforts with sales and marketing programs that enhance medical awareness and understanding regarding certain diseases and the importance of diagnostic testing.
The prevalence of in-clinic testing, as opposed to outside reference laboratories such as IDEXX Reference Laboratories, may vary by region. We attempt to differentiate our reference laboratory testing services from those of competitive reference laboratories and competitive in-clinic offerings primarily on the basis of a differentiated test menu, technology employed, quality, turnaround time, customer service and tools such as VetConnect PLUS that demonstrate the complementary manner in which our laboratory services work with our in-clinic offerings.
Profitability in our lab business is supported, in part, by our expanding business scale globally. Profit improvements also reflect benefits from price increases and our ability to achieve operational efficiencies. When possible, we utilize core reference laboratories to service samples from other states or countries, expanding our customer reach without an associated expansion in our reference laboratory footprint. New laboratories may operate at a loss until testing volumes achieve sufficient scale. Acquired laboratories frequently operate less profitably than our existing laboratories and acquired laboratories may not achieve the profitability of our existing laboratory network for several years until we complete the implementation of operating improvements and efficiencies. Therefore, in the short term, new and acquired reference laboratories generally may have a negative effect on our operating margin.
Recurring reference lab revenue growth is achieved both through increased testing volumes with existing customers and through the acquisition of new customers, net of customer losses. We believe the increased number of customer visits by our sales professionals as a result of the growth in our field sales organization has led to increased reference laboratory opportunities with customers who already use one of our in-clinic diagnostic modalities. Recurring reference laboratory diagnostic and consulting revenues have also increased as a result of our customer commitment arrangements, and customer gains from reference laboratory acquisitions, customer list acquisitions, and the opening of new reference laboratories, including laboratories that are co-located with large practice customers.
Veterinary Software, Services and Diagnostic Imaging Systems. Our portfolio of practice management offerings is designed to serve the full range of customers primarily within the North American, Australian, New Zealand, and European regions. Cornerstone, ezyVet, Animana, IDEXX Neo, and DVMAX practice management systems provide integrated information solutions, backed by customer support and education. These practice management systems support the veterinarian’s ability to practice better medicine and achieve the practice’s business objectives, including a quality client experience, staff efficiency and practice effectiveness and profitability. We market Cornerstone, ezyVet, IDEXX Neo, and DVMAX practice management systems to customers primarily in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. We market our Animana offering to customers primarily throughout Europe.
Our diagnostic imaging systems offer a convenient radiographic solution that provides superior image quality and the ability to share images with clients virtually anywhere. IDEXX imaging software enables enhanced diagnostic features and streamlined integration with our other products and services. Our digital radiography systems enable low-dose radiation image capture without sacrificing clear, high-quality diagnostic images, reducing the risk posed by excess radiation exposure for veterinary professionals.
Recurring Revenue. Animana, ezyVet, and IDEXX Neo practice management systems are subscription-based SaaS offerings designed to provide flexible pricing and a durable, recurring revenue stream, while utilizing cloud technology instead of a client server platform. While we continue to support our licensed-based Cornerstone and DVMAX software, we are growing our installed base of subscription-based practice management offerings for new customers of IDEXX practice management systems. Our Cornerstone and DVMAX customer base continues to be an important driver of growth through diagnostic integrations and add-on subscription services, such as Pet Health Network Pro, Petly Plans, and credit card processing, and we continue to make investments to enhance the customer experience of all of our license-based software offerings. We also offer rVetLink, a comprehensive referral management solution for specialty care hospitals that streamlines the referral process between primary care and specialty care veterinarians. rVetLink’s cloud technology integrates with major specialty hospital management systems, including Cornerstone Software and DVMAX Software. Our large practice management systems installed base provides access to veterinary channel transaction activity, enabling a syndicated data offering.
With our SmartFlow and Vet Radar cloud technology, we are able to improve overall patient management through coordination and tracking of every step in a patient workflow. Pet Health Network Pro online client communication and education service complements the entire IDEXX product offering by educating pet owners and building loyalty through engaging the pet owner before, during and after the visit, thereby building client loyalty and driving more patient visits.
Placements of imaging systems are important to the growth of revenue streams that are recurring in nature, including extended maintenance agreements and IDEXX Web PACS, which is our cloud-based SaaS offering for viewing, accessing,
storing, and sharing multi-modality diagnostic images. We derive relatively higher margins from our subscription-based products. IDEXX Web PACS is integrated with Cornerstone, ezyVet, IDEXX Neo, DVMAX, and IDEXX VetConnect PLUS to provide centralized access to diagnostic imaging results alongside patient diagnostic results from any internet connected device.
Systems and hardware. We differentiate our practice management systems through enhanced functionality, ease of use, and embedded integration with in-clinic IDEXX VetLab instruments and outside reference laboratory test results. Software, hardware, and integrated services that run key functions of veterinary clinics, including managing patient electronic health records, scheduling, client communication, billing, and inventory management. We also provide installation and advisory services associated with our systems and hardware placements.
Our diagnostic imaging systems capture radiographic images in digital form, replacing traditional x-ray film and the film development process, which generally requires the use of hazardous chemicals and darkrooms. We market and sell two diagnostic imaging systems primarily used in small animal veterinary applications: the IDEXX ImageVue DR50 and the IDEXX ImageVue DR30.
Water
Our strategy in the water testing business is to develop, manufacture, market and sell products that test primarily for the presence of microbial contamination in water matrices, including drinking water supplies, with superior performance, supported by exceptional customer service. Our customers primarily consist of water utilities, government laboratories and private certified laboratories that highly value strong relationships and customer support. We expect that future growth in this business will be partially dependent on our ability to increase international sales. Growth also will be dependent on our ability to enhance and broaden our product line. Most water microbiological testing is driven by regulation, and, in many countries, a test may not be used for compliance testing unless it has been approved by the applicable regulatory body and integrated into customers’ testing protocols. As a result, we maintain an active regulatory program that involves applying for a growing number of regulatory approvals in a number of countries, primarily in Europe. Further, we seek to receive regulatory approvals from governing agencies as a means to differentiate our products from the competition.
Livestock, Poultry and Dairy
We develop, manufacture, market, and sell a broad range of tests and perform services for various livestock diseases and conditions, and have active research and development and in-licensing programs in this area. Our strategy is to offer differentiated tests with superior performance characteristics for use in government programs to control or eradicate disease and disease outbreaks and in livestock and poultry producers’ disease, reproductive, and herd health and production management programs. Our Alertys Ruminant Pregnancy Test, Rapid Visual Pregnancy Test and Alertys On-Farm Pregnancy Test for cattle can detect pregnancy 28 days after breeding. These tests provide a quick and accurate identifier using whole blood samples.
Disease outbreaks are episodic and unpredictable, and certain diseases that are prevalent at one time may be substantially contained or eradicated at a later time. In response to outbreaks, testing initiatives may lead to exceptional demand for certain products in certain periods. Conversely, successful eradication programs may result in significantly decreased demand for certain products. In addition, increases in government funding may lead to increased demand for certain products and budgetary constraints may lead to decreased demand for certain products. As a result, the performance in certain sectors of this business can fluctuate.
Our strategy in the dairy testing business is to develop, manufacture and sell antibiotic residue and contaminant testing products that satisfy applicable regulatory requirements or dairy processor standards for testing of milk and provide reliable field performance. The manufacture of these testing products leverages the SNAP platform and production assets that also support our rapid assay business, which also leverages the SNAP platform. The dairy SNAP products incorporate customized reagents for antibiotic and contaminant detection.
Other
OPTI Medical. Our strategy in the OPTI Medical business for the human market is to develop, manufacture, and sell electrolyte and blood gas analyzers, and related consumable products for the medical point-of-care diagnostics sector worldwide, with a focus on small to mid-sized hospitals. We seek to differentiate our products based on ease of use, convenience, international distribution and service and instrument reliability. Similar to our veterinary instruments and
consumables strategy, a substantial portion of the revenues from this product line is derived from the sale of consumables for use on the installed base of electrolyte and blood gas analyzers.
Beginning in 2020, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we provided human testing solutions for the detection of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. During the first quarter of 2023, we discontinued actively marketing our COVID-19 testing products and services.
Our facility in Roswell, Georgia develops and manufactures the OPTI product lines using the same or similar technology to support the electrolyte requirements of certain CAG products. We leverage this facility’s know-how, intellectual property, and manufacturing capability to continue to expand the menu and instrument capability of the VetStat and Catalyst platforms for veterinary applications, while reducing our cost of consumables by leveraging experience and economies of scale.
CRITICAL ACCOUNTING ESTIMATES AND ASSUMPTIONS
The discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based upon the consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. We evaluate our estimates on an ongoing basis. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates. Refer to “Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, Note 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” to the consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a description of the significant accounting policies used in preparation of these consolidated financial statements.
We believe the following critical accounting estimates and assumptions may have a material impact on reported financial condition and operating performance and involve significant levels of judgment to account for highly uncertain matters or are susceptible to significant change.
Revenue Recognition
Refer to “Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, Note 3. Revenue” to the consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023, included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information about our revenue recognition policy and criteria for recognizing revenue.
We enter into contracts where customers purchase combinations of IDEXX products and services. Determining whether products and services are considered distinct performance obligations that should be accounted for separately requires judgment. We determine the transaction price for a contract based on the total consideration we expect to receive in exchange for the transferred goods or services. To the extent the transaction price includes variable consideration, such as volume rebates or expected price adjustments, we apply judgment in constraining the estimated variable consideration due to factors that may cause reversal of revenue recognized. We evaluate constraints based on our historical and projected experience with similar customer contracts.
We allocate revenue to each performance obligation in proportion to the relative standalone selling prices and recognize revenue when control of the related goods or services is transferred for each obligation. We utilize the observable standalone selling price when available, which represents the price charged for the promised product or service when sold separately. When standalone selling prices for our products or services are not directly observable, we determine the standalone selling prices using relevant information available and apply suitable estimation methods including, but not limited to, the cost plus a margin approach.
Our customer commitment arrangements that include free or discounted instruments and systems, such as our IDEXX 360 program, provide customers with free or discounted instruments or systems upon entering into multi-year arrangements to purchase annual minimum amounts of products and services. We allocate total consideration, including future committed purchases and expected price adjustments, based on relative standalone selling prices, to identified performance obligations and recognize instrument revenue and cost at the time of installation and customer acceptance in advance of billing the customer, which is also when the customer obtains control of the instrument based on legal title transfer. Our right to future consideration related to instrument revenue is recorded as a contract asset within other current and long-term assets. The contract asset is transferred to accounts receivable when customers are billed for products and services over the term of the arrangement. We
estimate, based on historical experience, and apply judgment to predict the amounts of future customer purchases and expected price adjustments related to these multi-year arrangements. Differences between estimated and actual customer purchases may impact the timing and amount of revenue recognition during the term of the customer arrangement, and a 10% change in these estimates would have increased or reduced contract assets and cumulative recognized revenue related to these programs by approximately $5.5 million at December 31, 2023.
Our customer commitment arrangements that include up-front consideration paid to customers provide customers with incentives in the form of IDEXX Points or, from time to time, cash, upon entering into multi-year arrangements to purchase annual minimum amounts of future products or services. If a customer breaches their agreement, they are required to refund all or a portion of the up-front consideration, or make other repayments, remedial actions, or both. Up-front incentives to customers are not made in exchange for distinct goods or services and are capitalized as consideration paid to customers (previously referred to as “customer acquisition costs”) within other current and long-term assets, which are subsequently recognized as a reduction to revenue over the term of the customer arrangement. If these up-front incentives are subsequently utilized to purchase instruments, we allocate total consideration, including future committed purchases less up-front incentives and estimates of expected price adjustments, based on relative standalone selling prices, to identified performance obligations and recognize instrument revenue and cost at the time of installation and customer acceptance. We estimate, based on historical experience, and apply judgment to predict the amounts of future customer purchases and expected price adjustments related to these multi-year arrangements. Differences between estimated and actual customer purchases may impact the timing and amount of revenue recognition during the term of the customer arrangement, and a 10% change in these estimates would have increased or reduced cumulative recognized revenue related to these programs by approximately $1.3 million at December 31, 2023.
Our rebate arrangements provide customers the opportunity to earn future rebates based on the volume of products and services they purchase over the term of the arrangement. We account for the customer’s right to earn rebates on future purchases as a separate performance obligation and determine the standalone selling price based on an estimate of rebates the customer will earn over the term of the program. Total consideration allocated to identified performance obligations is limited to goods and services that the customer is presently obligated to purchase and does not include estimates of future purchases that are optional. We allocate total consideration to identified performance obligations, including the customer’s right to earn rebates on future purchases, which is deferred and subsequently recognized upon the purchase of products and services, partly offsetting rebates as they are earned. We estimate, based on historical experience, and apply judgment to predict the amounts of future customer rebates related to these multi-year arrangements. Differences between estimated and actual customer rebates may impact the timing and amount of revenue recognition during the term of the customer arrangement, and a 10% change in these estimates would have increased or reduced deferred revenue and cumulative recognized revenue related to these programs by approximately $0.1 million at December 31, 2023.
Future market conditions and changes in product offerings may cause us to change marketing strategies to increase or decrease customer incentive offerings, possibly resulting in incremental reductions of revenue in future periods compared to reductions in the current or prior periods. Additionally, certain customer arrangements require us to estimate, based on historical experience, and apply judgment to predict the amounts of future customer purchases, customer rebates and other incentive payments, and price adjustments related to multi-year arrangements. Differences between estimated and actual customer purchases may impact the timing and amount of revenue recognition as described above.
Income Taxes
The provision for income taxes is determined using the asset and liability approach of accounting for income taxes. Under this approach, deferred taxes represent the estimated future tax effects of temporary differences between book and tax treatment of assets and liabilities and carryforwards to the extent they are realizable.
We assess our current and projected earnings by jurisdiction to determine whether or not our earnings during the periods when the temporary differences become deductible will be sufficient to realize the related future tax benefits. Should we determine that we would not be able to realize all or part of our net deferred tax asset in a particular jurisdiction in the future, an adjustment to the deferred tax asset would be charged to income in the period such determination was made.
For those jurisdictions where tax carryforwards are likely to expire unused or the projected operating results indicate that realization is not more likely than not, a valuation allowance is recorded to offset the deferred tax asset within that jurisdiction. In assessing the need for a valuation allowance, we consider future taxable income and ongoing prudent and feasible tax planning strategies. In the event that we determine that we would be able to realize our deferred tax assets in the future in excess of the net recorded amount, a reduction of the valuation allowance would increase income in the period such
determination was made. Likewise, should we determine that we would not be able to realize all or part of our net deferred tax asset in the future, a reduction to the deferred tax asset would be charged against income in the period such determination was made.
Our net taxable temporary differences and tax carryforwards are recorded using the enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the periods in which the deferred tax liability or asset is expected to be settled or realized. Should the expected applicable tax rates change in the future, an adjustment to our deferred taxes would be credited or charged, as appropriate, to income in the period such determination was made.
We periodically assess our exposures related to our worldwide provision for income taxes and believe that we have appropriately accrued taxes for contingencies. Any reduction of these contingent liabilities or additional assessment would increase or decrease income, respectively, in the period such determination was made.
We record a liability for uncertain tax positions that do not meet the more likely than not standard as prescribed by the authoritative guidance for income tax accounting. We record tax benefits for only those positions that we believe will more likely than not be sustained. For positions that we believe that it is more likely than not that we will prevail, we record a benefit considering the amounts and probabilities that could be realized upon ultimate settlement. If our judgment as to the likely resolution of the uncertainty changes, if the uncertainty is ultimately settled or if the statute of limitation related to the uncertainty expires, the effects of the change would be recognized in the period in which the change, resolution or expiration occurs. Our net liability for uncertain tax positions was $25.0 million as of December 31, 2023, and $25.8 million as of December 31, 2022, which includes estimated interest expense and penalties. Refer to “Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, Note 14. Income Taxes” in the accompanying Notes to consolidated financial statements for more information.
RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS
Refer to “Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data, Note 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (v) and (w)” to the consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023, included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a complete discussion of recent accounting pronouncements adopted and not adopted.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS AND TRENDS
Effects of Certain Factors on Results of Operations
CAG Trends. Global trends in companion animal healthcare, including growth in demand for clinical services, continue to support solid growth for companion animal diagnostic products and services across regions. In the U.S., average diagnostics revenue per practice grew approximately 8% on a same-store basis during 2023, faster than approximately 6% growth in overall clinic revenues. U.S. same-store clinical visits at veterinary practices declined approximately 0.5% in 2023, impacted by ongoing veterinary practice productivity and capacity constraints. Our products and services include solutions that help improve staff productivity and create additional capacity at veterinary clinics. For example, during January 2024, we announced the launch of our new slide-free cellular analyzer, IDEXX inVue Dx, that detects the most common cytologic changes found in ear and blood samples, targeted for late 2024 release.
Supply Chain and Logistics Challenges. We believe that building and maintaining a well-managed and disciplined infrastructure have helped minimize impacts of supply chain constraints, including product and component availability issues, logistics challenges, including extended shipping periods and delays, and inflationary pressures. Our proactive approach to managing our operational processes, including forward planning with a focus on working closely with our suppliers and logistics partners, enables us to maintain continued high levels of product and service availability and customer service. We believe we are well-positioned to enable sustained high growth in our businesses and to effectively manage the impacts of potentially relatively higher costs in certain areas to support these growth plans. However, there can be no assurance as to the duration or severity of the supply chain and logistics challenges or the effectiveness of our mitigating activities.
Effect of Geopolitical Conflicts. The overall financial performance of our business may be impacted by geopolitical instability and macroeconomic conditions, including the effects of conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, tensions across the Taiwan Strait, the Israel-Hamas conflict, as well as other conflicts in the Middle East, and resulting uncertainty in the markets, volatility in exchange rates, and inflationary trends. In June 2022 we decided to liquidate our sole Russian subsidiary and suspend our direct Russian operations, which consisted of marketing and selling diagnostic products for veterinary clinics in Russia. A limited number of our products, which are important for human or animal healthcare, continue to be sold in Russia pursuant to ongoing third-party distribution agreements. Suspending our direct Russian operations and liquidating our Russian subsidiary did not have a material impact on our financial statements.
Currency Impact. For the year ended December 31, 2023, approximately 21% of our consolidated revenue was derived from products manufactured or sourced in U.S. dollars and sold internationally in local currencies, compared to 21% for the year ended December 31, 2022, and 23% for the year ended December 31, 2021. Strengthening of the rate of exchange for the U.S. dollar relative to other currencies has a negative impact on our revenues derived in currencies other than the U.S. dollar and on profits of products manufactured or purchased in U.S. dollars and sold internationally, and a weakening of the U.S. dollar has the opposite effect. Similarly, to the extent that the U.S. dollar is stronger in current or future periods relative to the exchange rates in effect in the corresponding prior periods, our growth rate will be negatively affected. The impact of foreign currency denominated operating expenses and foreign currency denominated supply contracts partly offsets this exposure. Additionally, our designated hedges of intercompany inventory purchases and sales help delay the impact of certain exchange rate fluctuations on non-U.S. denominated revenues. Refer to “Part II, Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk” included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information regarding currency impact. Our future income tax expense could also be affected by changes in the mix of earnings, including as a result of changes in the rate of exchange for the U.S. dollar relative to currencies in countries with differing statutory tax rates. Refer to “Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors” included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information regarding tax impacts.
Effects of Economic Conditions. Demand for our products and services is vulnerable to changes in the economic environment, including slow economic growth, high unemployment, and credit availability. Negative or cautious consumer sentiment can lead to reduced or delayed consumer spending, resulting in a decreased number of patient visits to veterinary clinics. Unfavorable economic conditions can impact sales of instruments, diagnostic imaging, and practice management systems, which are larger capital purchases for veterinarians. Additionally, economic turmoil, fears of a global economic downturn or recession, and inflationary pressure can cause our customers to remain sensitive to the pricing of our products and services. In the U.S., we monitor patient visits and clinic revenue data provided by a subset of our CAG customers. Although this data is a limited sample, and may be susceptible to short-term impacts, we believe that this data provides a fair and meaningful long-term representation of the trend in patient visit activity in the U.S., providing us insight regarding demand for our products and services.
Economic conditions can also affect the purchasing decisions of our Water and LPD business customers. Water testing volumes may be susceptible to declines in discretionary testing for existing home and commercial sales and in mandated testing as a result of decreases in home and commercial construction. In addition, fiscal difficulties can also reduce government funding for water and herd health screening services.
We believe that the diversity of our products and services and the geographic diversity of our customers partially mitigate the potential effects of the economic environment and negative consumer sentiment on our revenue growth rates.
Distributor Purchasing and Inventories. When selling our products through distributors, changes in distributors’ inventory levels can impact our reported sales, and these changes may be affected by many factors, which may not be directly related to underlying demand for our products by veterinary practices, which are the end users. If during a quarter or year, distributors’ inventories grew by less than those inventories grew in the comparable period of the prior year, then changes in distributors’ inventories would have an unfavorable impact on our reported sales growth in the current period. Conversely, if during a quarter or year, distributors’ inventories grew by more than those inventories grew in the comparable period of the prior year, then changes in distributors’ inventories would have a favorable impact on our reported sales growth in the current period.
In certain countries, we sell our products through third-party distributors and may be unable to obtain data for sales to end users. We do not believe the impact of changes in these distributors’ inventories had or would have a material impact on our growth rates. Refer to “Part I, Item 1. Business, Marketing and Distribution” included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information regarding distribution channels.
Effects of Patent Expiration. Although we have several patents and licenses of patents and technologies from third parties that expired during 2023, and several that are expected to expire in 2024 and beyond, the expiration of these patents or licenses, individually or in the aggregate, is not expected to have a material effect on our financial position or future operations due to a range of factors as described in “Part I, Item 1. Business, Patents and Licenses.”
Non-GAAP Financial Measures. The following revenue analysis and discussion focuses on organic revenue growth, and references in this analysis and discussion to “revenue,” “revenues” or “revenue growth” are references to “organic revenue growth.” Organic revenue growth is a non-GAAP financial measure and represents the percentage change in revenue during the current year, compared to the same period for the prior year, net of the effect of changes in foreign currency exchange rates, certain business acquisitions, and divestitures. Organic revenue growth should be considered in addition to, and not as a replacement for, or as a superior measure to, revenues reported in accordance with U.S. GAAP, and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. Management believes that reporting organic revenue growth provides useful information to investors by facilitating easier comparisons of our revenue performance with prior and future periods and to the performance of our peers.
We exclude from organic revenue growth the effect of changes in foreign currency exchange rates because changes in foreign currency exchange rates are not under management’s control, are subject to volatility and can obscure underlying business trends. We calculate the impact on revenue resulting from changes in foreign currency exchange rates by applying the difference between the weighted average exchange rates during the current year period and the comparable prior year period to foreign currency denominated revenues for the prior year period.
We also exclude from organic revenue growth the effect of certain business acquisitions and divestitures because the nature, size and number of these transactions can vary dramatically from period to period, and because they either require or generate cash as an inherent consequence of the transaction, and therefore can also obscure underlying business and operating trends. We consider acquisitions to be a business when all three elements of inputs, processes and outputs are present, consistent with ASU 2017-01, “Business Combinations: (Topic 805) Clarifying the Definition of a Business.” In a business combination, if substantially all the fair value of the assets acquired is concentrated in a single identifiable asset or group of similar identifiable assets, we do not consider these assets to be a business. A typical acquisition that we do not consider a business is a customer list asset acquisition, which does not have all elements necessary to operate a business, such as employees or infrastructure. We believe the efforts required to convert and retain these acquired customers are similar in nature to our existing customer base and therefore are included in organic revenue growth.
We also use Adjusted EBITDA, gross debt, net debt, gross debt to Adjusted EBITDA ratio and net debt to Adjusted EBITDA ratio, all of which are non-GAAP financial measures that should be considered in addition to, and not as a replacement for, financial measures presented according to U.S. GAAP. Management believes that reporting these non-GAAP financial measures provides supplemental analysis to help investors further evaluate our business performance and available borrowing capacity under our Credit Facility.
Comparisons to Prior Periods. Our fiscal years end on December 31. Unless otherwise stated, the analysis and discussion of our financial condition, results of operations and liquidity, including references to growth and organic growth and increases and decreases, are being compared to the equivalent prior year period.
Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2023, Compared to Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2022
Total Company
The following table presents revenue by operating segment by U.S. and non-U.S., or international geographies:
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| | For the Years Ended December 31, | | | | | | | | | | |
Net Revenue (dollars in thousands) | | 2023 | | 2022 | | Dollar Change | | Reported Revenue Growth (1) | | Percentage Change from Currency | | Percentage Change from Acquisitions | | Organic Revenue Growth (1) |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
CAG | | $ | 3,352,356 | | | $ | 3,058,793 | | | $ | 293,563 | | | 9.6 | % | | (0.2 | %) | | — | | | 9.8 | % |
United States | | 2,282,507 | | | 2,073,222 | | | 209,285 | | | 10.1 | % | | — | | | — | | | 10.1 | % |
International | | 1,069,849 | | | 985,571 | | | 84,278 | | | 8.6 | % | | (0.6 | %) | | — | | | 9.1 | % |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Water | | $ | 168,149 | | | $ | 155,720 | | | $ | 12,429 | | | 8.0 | % | | (0.3 | %) | | 1.1 | % | | 7.2 | % |
United States | | 83,838 | | | 76,875 | | | 6,963 | | | 9.1 | % | | — | | | 0.5 | % | | 8.5 | % |
International | | 84,311 | | | 78,845 | | | 5,466 | | | 6.9 | % | | (0.6 | %) | | 1.6 | % | | 5.9 | % |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
LPD | | $ | 121,659 | | | $ | 122,607 | | | $ | (948) | | | (0.8 | %) | | — | | | — | | | (0.8 | %) |
United States | | 18,961 | | | 16,633 | | | 2,328 | | | 14.0 | % | | — | | | — | | | 14.0 | % |
International | | 102,698 | | | 105,974 | | | (3,276) | | | (3.1 | %) | | 0.1 | % | | — | | | (3.1 | %) |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Other | | $ | 18,789 | | | $ | 30,204 | | | $ | (11,415) | | | (37.8 | %) | | — | | | — | | | (37.8 | %) |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Total Company | | $ | 3,660,953 | | | $ | 3,367,324 | | | $ | 293,629 | | | 8.7 | % | | (0.2 | %) | | 0.1 | % | | 8.8 | % |
United States | | 2,391,427 | | | 2,182,959 | | | 208,468 | | | 9.5 | % | | — | | | — | | | 9.5 | % |
International | | 1,269,526 | | | 1,184,365 | | | 85,161 | | | 7.2 | % | | (0.5 | %) | | 0.1 | % | | 7.6 | % |
(1)Reported revenue growth and organic revenue growth may not recalculate due to rounding.
Total Company Revenue. The increase in organic revenue reflects benefits from higher realized prices and continued demand for companion animal diagnostics globally, supported by increases in CAG Diagnostics recurring revenues. Increases in our veterinary software and diagnostic imaging services recurring revenue also contributed to higher revenue supported by demand for subscription-based software. Higher revenue in our Water business was primarily due to the benefit of price increases and higher testing volumes in certain international regions, as well as the benefit of an acquisition in the third quarter of 2022. The decline in our LPD business was primarily due to lower herd health screening volume, partially offset by higher realized prices and volume growth in North America, Europe, and South America. The decrease in Other revenue was primarily due to lower sales of OPTI COVID-19 PCR testing products and services, following the discontinuation of active marketing of such products and services in the first quarter of 2023.The impact of currency movements decreased total revenue growth by 0.2%, while the impact of acquisitions increased total revenue growth by 0.1%.
The following table presents our total Company results of operations:
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| | For the Years Ended December 31, | | Change |
Total Company - Results of Operations (dollars in thousands) | | 2023 | | Percent of Revenue | | 2022 | | Percent of Revenue | | Amount | | Percentage |
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Revenues | | $ | 3,660,953 | | | | | $ | 3,367,324 | | | | | $ | 293,629 | | | 8.7 | % |
Cost of revenue | | 1,470,983 | | | | | 1,362,986 | | | | | 107,997 | | | 7.9 | % |
Gross profit | | 2,189,970 | | | 59.8 | % | | 2,004,338 | | | 59.5 | % | | 185,632 | | | 9.3 | % |
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Operating Expenses: | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Sales and marketing | | 566,066 | | | 15.5 | % | | 524,505 | | | 15.6 | % | | 41,561 | | | 7.9 | % |
General and administrative | | 335,825 | | | 9.2 | % | | 326,248 | | | 9.7 | % | | 9,577 | | | 2.9 | % |
Research and development | | 190,951 | | | 5.2 | % | | 254,820 | | | 7.6 | % | | (63,869) | | | (25.1 | %) |
Total operating expenses | | 1,092,842 | | | 29.9 | % | | 1,105,573 | | | 32.8 | % | | (12,731) | | | (1.2 | %) |
Income from operations | | $ | 1,097,128 | | | 30.0 | % | | $ | 898,765 | | | 26.7 | % | | $ | 198,363 | | | 22.1 | % |
Gross Profit. Gross profit increased due to higher pricing and sales volumes, which supported a 30 basis point increase in the gross profit margin. The impact from foreign currency movements decreased the gross profit margin by approximately 60 basis points, primarily from the impact of lower hedge gains in the current year compared to the prior year. Excluding the impact of foreign currency movements, the increase in the gross profit margin was supported by recurring revenue net price gains, which mitigated the inflationary cost impacts that contributed to higher product and labor costs. Sales mix, including effects from high CAG Diagnostic consumable growth; software services gross margin expansion; and productivity gains in our reference laboratories also contributed to the increase in our gross profit margin.
Operating Expenses. Sales and marketing expense increased primarily due to higher personnel-related and travel costs, including investments in our global commercial capability. General and administrative expense increased primarily due to higher personnel-related costs, partially offset by a $16 million customer contract resolution gain recognized during the first quarter of 2023. Research and development expense decreased primarily due to the comparison to the prior year acquisition of rights to use certain technology for $84 million, partially offset by higher personnel-related and project costs. The overall change in foreign currency exchange rates was not significant to operating expense growth.
Companion Animal Group
The following table presents revenue by product and service category for CAG:
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| | For the Years Ended December 31, | | | | | | | | | | |
Net Revenue (dollars in thousands) | | 2023 | | 2022 | | Dollar Change | | Reported Revenue Growth (1) | | Percentage Change from Currency | | Percentage Change from Acquisitions | | Organic Revenue Growth (1) |
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CAG Diagnostics recurring revenue: | | $ | 2,935,425 | | | $ | 2,660,280 | | | $ | 275,145 | | | 10.3 | % | | (0.2 | %) | | — | | | 10.5 | % |
IDEXX VetLab consumables | | 1,188,261 | | | 1,057,236 | | | 131,025 | | | 12.4 | % | | (0.3 | %) | | — | | | 12.7 | % |
Rapid assay products | | 344,494 | | | 313,667 | | | 30,827 | | | 9.8 | % | | (0.2 | %) | | — | | | 10.0 | % |
Reference laboratory diagnostic and consulting services | | 1,278,617 | | | 1,178,113 | | | 100,504 | | | 8.5 | % | | (0.1 | %) | | — | | | 8.6 | % |
CAG Diagnostics services and accessories | | 124,053 | | | 111,264 | | | 12,789 | | | 11.5 | % | | (0.3 | %) | | — | | | 11.8 | % |
CAG Diagnostics capital - instruments | | 137,603 | | | 147,326 | | | (9,723) | | | (6.6 | %) | | (0.1 | %) | | — | | | (6.5 | %) |
Veterinary software, services and diagnostic imaging systems: | | 279,328 | | | 251,187 | | | 28,141 | | | 11.2 | % | | (0.2 | %) | | — | | | 11.4 | % |
Recurring revenue | | 214,597 | | | 180,973 | | | 33,624 | | | 18.6 | % | | (0.2 | %) | | — | | | 18.8 | % |
Systems and hardware | | 64,731 | | | 70,214 | | | (5,483) | | | (7.8 | %) | | (0.2 | %) | | — | | | (7.6 | %) |
Net CAG revenue | | $ | 3,352,356 | | | $ | 3,058,793 | | | $ | 293,563 | | | 9.6 | % | | (0.2 | %) | | — | | | 9.8 | % |
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(1) Reported revenue growth and organic revenue growth may not recalculate due to rounding. |
CAG Diagnostics Recurring Revenue. The increase in CAG Diagnostics recurring revenue was primarily due to higher realized prices and increased volumes across modalities, primarily in the U.S. International growth was constrained by macroeconomic conditions. The impact of foreign currency movements decreased CAG Diagnostics recurring revenue growth by 0.2%.
The increase in IDEXX VetLab consumables revenue was primarily due to higher price realization and higher sales volumes, supported by the expansion of our installed base of instruments and our expanded menu of available tests. The impact of currency movements decreased revenue growth by 0.3%.
The increase in rapid assay revenue resulted primarily from higher price realization and higher clinic testing levels, primarily from SNAP 4Dx Plus. The impact of currency movements decreased revenue growth by 0.2%.
The increase in reference laboratory diagnostic and consulting services revenue was primarily due to higher realized price and higher testing volumes in our U.S. labs. Growth in other regions was primarily due to higher price realization, partially offset by lower international volumes. The impact of currency movements decreased revenue growth by 0.1%.
CAG Diagnostics services and accessories revenue growth was primarily a result of the 11% increase in our active installed base of instruments. The impact of currency movements decreased revenue growth by 0.3%.
CAG Diagnostics Capital – Instrument Revenue. The decrease in instrument revenue was primarily due to instrument sales mix, program pricing effects and the regional mix of instrument placements, partially offset by higher premium instrument placements. The impact of currency movements decreased revenue growth by 0.1%.
Veterinary Software, Services, and Diagnostic Imaging Systems Revenue. The increase in recurring revenue was primarily due to an expansion of our active installed base, resulting in higher subscription and support revenue, and higher realized prices. The decrease in our systems and hardware revenue imaging systems revenue was primarily due to marketing program price effects, partially offset by higher instrument placements. The impact of currency movements decreased revenue growth by 0.2%.
The following table presents the CAG segment results of operations:
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| | For the Years Ended December 31, | | Change |
Results of Operations (dollars in thousands) | | 2023 | | Percent of Revenue | | 2022 | | Percent of Revenue | | Amount | | Percentage |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Revenues | | $ | 3,352,356 | | | | | $ | 3,058,793 | | | | | $ | 293,563 | | | 9.6 | % |
Cost of revenue | | 1,349,930 | | | | | 1,252,216 | | | | | 97,714 | | | 7.8 | % |
Gross profit | | 2,002,426 | | | 59.7 | % | | 1,806,577 | | | 59.1 | % | | 195,849 | | | 10.8 | % |
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Operating Expenses: | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Sales and marketing | | 517,258 | | | 15.4 | % | | 480,655 | | | 15.7 | % | | 36,603 | | | 7.6 | % |
General and administrative | | 299,701 | | | 8.9 | % | | 288,746 | | | 9.4 | % | | 10,955 | | | 3.8 | % |
Research and development | | 172,727 | | | 5.2 | % | | 236,227 | | | 7.7 | % | | (63,500) | | | (26.9 | %) |
Total operating expenses | | 989,686 | | | 29.5 | % | | 1,005,628 | | | 32.9 | % | | (15,942) | | | (1.6 | %) |
Income from operations | | $ | 1,012,740 | | | 30.2 | % | | $ | 800,949 | | | 26.2 | % | | $ | 211,791 | | | 26.4 | % |
Gross Profit. Gross profit increased primarily due to higher pricing and sales volumes, which supported a 60 basis point increase in the gross profit margin. The impact from foreign currency movements decreased the gross profit margin by approximately 40 basis points, primarily from the impact of lower hedge gains in the current year compared to the prior year. Excluding the impact of foreign currency movements, the increase in the gross profit margin was supported by recurring revenue net price gains, which mitigated the inflationary cost impacts that contributed to higher product and labor costs. Sales mix, including effects from high CAG Diagnostic consumable growth; software services gross margin expansion; and productivity gains in our reference laboratories also contributed to the increase in our gross profit margin.
Operating Expenses. Sales and marketing expense increased primarily due to higher personnel-related and travel costs, including investments in our global commercial capability. General and administrative expense increased primarily due to higher personnel-related costs, partially offset by a $16 million customer contract resolution gain recognized during the first quarter of 2023. Research and development expense decreased primarily due to the comparison to the prior year acquisition of rights to use certain technology for $84 million, partially offset by higher personnel-related and project costs. The overall change in foreign currency exchange rates was not significant to operating expense growth.
Water
The following table presents the Water segment results of operations:
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| | For the Years Ended December 31, | | Change |
Results of Operations (dollars in thousands) | | 2023 | | Percent of Revenue | | 2022 | | Percent of Revenue | | Amount | | Percentage |
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Revenues | | $ | 168,149 | | | | | $ | 155,720 | | | | | $ | 12,429 | | | 8.0 | % |
Cost of revenue | | 52,148 | | | | | 45,861 | | | | | 6,287 | | | 13.7 | % |
Gross profit | | 116,001 | | | 69.0 | % | | 109,859 | | | 70.5 | % | | 6,142 | | | 5.6 | % |
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Operating Expenses: | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Sales and marketing | | 21,249 | | | 12.6 | % | | 18,564 | | | 11.9 | % | | 2,685 | | | 14.5 | % |
General and administrative | | 15,655 | | | 9.3 | % | | 14,353 | | | 9.2 | % | | 1,302 | | | 9.1 | % |
Research and development | | 4,757 | | | 2.8 | % | | 4,423 | | | 2.8 | % | | 334 | | | 7.6 | % |
Total operating expenses | | 41,661 | | | 24.8 | % | | 37,340 | | | 24.0 | % | | 4,321 | | | 11.6 | % |
Income from operations | | $ | 74,340 | | | 44.2 | % | | $ | 72,519 | | | 46.6 | % | | $ | 1,821 | | | 2.5 | % |
Revenue. The increase in our Water business revenue was primarily due to higher realized price and, to a lesser extent, higher volumes. The impact of the acquisition completed during the third quarter of 2022 increased revenue growth by 1.1%. The impact of currency movements decreased revenue growth by 0.3%.
Gross Profit. Gross profit for Water increased due to higher sales volumes, partially offset by a 150 basis point decrease in the gross profit margin. The impact from foreign currency movements decreased the gross profit margin by approximately 160 basis points, including the impact of lower hedge gains in the current year compared to the prior year. Excluding the impact of foreign currency movements, the increase in the gross profit margin was primarily due to higher realized prices, partially offset by higher product costs.
Operating Expenses. Sales and marketing expense increased primarily due to higher personnel-related and travel costs. General and administrative expense increased primarily due to higher personnel-related costs. Research and development expense increased primarily due to higher personnel-related costs and project costs, offset by lower third-party costs. The overall change in foreign currency exchange rates was not significant to operating expense growth.
Livestock, Poultry and Dairy
The following table presents the LPD segment results of operations:
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| | For the Years Ended December 31, | | Change |
Results of Operations (dollars in thousands) | | 2023 | | Percent of Revenue | | 2022 | | Percent of Revenue | | Amount | | Percentage |
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Revenues | | $ | 121,659 | | | | | $ | 122,607 | | | | | $ | (948) | | | (0.8 | %) |
Cost of revenue | | 56,219 | | | | | 49,606 | | | | | 6,613 | | | 13.3 | % |
Gross profit | | 65,440 | | | 53.8 | % | | 73,001 | | | 59.5 | % | | (7,561) | | | (10.4 | %) |
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Operating Expenses: | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Sales and marketing | | 25,798 | | | 21.2 | % | | 23,491 | | | 19.2 | % | | 2,307 | | | 9.8 | % |
General and administrative | | 17,174 | | | 14.1 | % | | 17,119 | | | 14.0 | % | | 55 | | | 0.3 | % |
Research and development | | 12,493 | | | 10.3 | % | | 12,582 | | | 10.3 | % | | (89) | | | (0.7 | %) |
Total operating expenses | | 55,465 | | | 45.6 | % | | 53,192 | | | 43.4 | % | | 2,273 | | | 4.3 | % |
Income from operations | | $ | 9,975 | | | 8.2 | % | | $ | 19,809 | | | 16.2 | % | | $ | (9,834) | | | (49.6 | %) |
Revenue. The decline in revenue was primarily due to lower herd health screening revenues related to reduced live animal imports by China, partially offset by higher realized prices and, to a lesser extent, higher volume in swine, poultry, and ruminant testing in North America, Europe, and South America. The impact of foreign currency movements was immaterial to revenue.
Gross Profit. The decrease in LPD gross profit was primarily due to lower sales volumes and a 570 basis point decrease in the gross profit margin. The impact from foreign currency movements decreased the gross profit margin by approximately 460 basis points, including the impact of lower hedge gains in the current year compared to the prior year. The remaining decrease in the gross profit margin is primarily due to higher product costs and unfavorable sales mix, partially offset by higher realized prices.
Operating Expenses. Sales and marketing expense increased primarily due to increases in personnel-related costs. General and administrative and research and development expenses were relatively constant compared to the prior year. The overall change in foreign currency exchange rates was not significant to operating expense growth.
Other
The following table presents the Other results of operations:
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| | For the Years Ended December 31, | | Change |
Results of Operations (dollars in thousands) | | 2023 | | Percent of Revenue | | 2022 | | |