BioHarvest Sciences Q1 Earnings Call Highlights
BioHarvest Sciences (NASDAQ:BHST) reported higher first-quarter revenue and reiterated its 2026 outlook as management detailed a broader reorganization around two business lines: its direct-to-consumer VINIA products business and its contract development and manufacturing organization, or CDMO, platform.
The plant cell culture biotechnology company said revenue for the first quarter of 2026 rose 8% year over year to $8.5 million, compared with $7.9 million in the prior-year period. Gross profit increased to $5 million, or 59% of revenue, from $4.6 million, or 58% of revenue, a year earlier.
Net loss widened to $2.6 million, or $0.11 per basic and diluted share, compared with a net loss of $2.3 million, or $0.13 per basic and diluted share, in the same quarter last year. Adjusted EBITDA loss, a non-IFRS measure, was $1.2 million, in line with the year-earlier period.
Cash and cash equivalents, together with bank deposits, totaled $20.2 million as of March 31, 2026, up from $3.4 million as of March 31, 2025.
Company Emphasizes Two-Business Structure
Chief Executive Officer Zaki Rakib said BioHarvest is now managing the company through a “two-lens” framework, separating the operating view of its D2C products business from its CDMO services division. Rakib said the approach is intended to improve performance, capital allocation and execution.
Under that framework, the company reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of $904,000 for the CDMO services division and $286,000 for the products division in the first quarter. In the year-ago quarter, those losses were $953,000 and $235,000, respectively.
Rakib said the leadership transition announced in April was designed to support the different operating models of the two businesses. He said manufacturing, quality control, quality assurance and regulatory affairs have been consolidated under unified leadership as the company prepares for a new facility expected to operate in the second half of 2027.
CDMO Business Advances Fragrance and Saffron Programs
BioHarvest highlighted progress in its CDMO business, including a fragrance development program and a saffron collaboration with SaffronTech.
Rakib said the company completed what it believes was the first stable cell culture development of a rare scent-producing plant used in the global fragrance industry. The company subsequently signed a $1.2 million stage 2 contract tied to the program. Rakib said BioHarvest retains 20% ownership of the compositions developed under the stage 2 agreement, which the company expects could create a long-term royalty stream.
Rakib said the fragrance program moves BioHarvest closer to the premium fragrance market, which he described as a $23 billion opportunity within the broader $58.9 billion scents and fragrances industry. He said the company expects to be ready for production in the second half of 2027, aligned with increased manufacturing capacity from its second factory.
The company also announced completion of stage 1 of its saffron development program with SaffronTech. Rakib said BioHarvest created a stable saffron cell bank that demonstrated the molecular profile of saffron’s key active ingredients, including crocin, picrocrocin and safranal.
During the question-and-answer session, Rakib said the initial focus for saffron would likely be the dietary supplement segment, with potential health-related applications that could include cognition, ADHD and PTSD. He said the company is evaluating different compositions and expects to have more clarity in about another quarter on which indication it may target first.
Rakib said BioHarvest expects CDMO service revenue from existing and new projects to total $4 million to $6 million in 2026. total CDMO revenue, including intercompany VINIA production, is expected to be between $12 million and $14 million. The company also maintained its expectation for total adjusted EBITDA loss of $4 million to $5 million for the year.
VINIA Business Reset Marketing Strategy
For the D2C business, Rakib said BioHarvest now has more than 90,000 active users of the VINIA brand. He said VINIA Blood Flow Hydration remains the No. 2 contributor to incremental new customer sales, accounting for 20% of new customer revenue year-to-date on vinia.com and Amazon, behind only capsules.
Ilan Sobel, director of the board and co-founder, said first-quarter VINIA revenue growth was modest and below the company’s expectations. He characterized the quarter as a “reset” period, during which BioHarvest reviewed its marketing mix and reduced or paused spending across certain channels to better understand customer acquisition costs and conversion.
Sobel said the company began scaling investment again in March with a revised marketing mix that reduced reliance on television and shifted more toward digital channels. He said BioHarvest is focused on improving the ratio of customer lifetime value to customer acquisition cost, along with creative performance, offer structure, funnel conversion and retention.
The company maintained its 2026 D2C revenue guidance of $38 million to $42 million and adjusted EBITDA profit of $500,000 to $2 million. Sobel said BioHarvest expects second-quarter results to improve from the first quarter, with the full impact of the marketing changes expected to be more visible in the second half of the year.
In the Q, Sobel said VINIA Blood Flow Hydration was approaching $1 million in sales since its late-November launch and that the company expects to add a single chew product in the third quarter. He also said BioHarvest is working on additional products in large categories that would use what he described as the VINIA blood flow “dilation and delivery” system.
Pipeline and Manufacturing Capacity Remain Key Focus Areas
Analysts asked management about the CDMO pipeline, including whether 2026 guidance includes additional relationships. Rakib said BioHarvest expects to add at least three to four additional projects over the next three quarters, including the current quarter, and will announce agreements when signed.
Rakib said the company is being selective in evaluating CDMO opportunities. He described nutraceuticals and fragrances as the “sweetest spots” because of their margin profile and speed to market, while noting that nutrition opportunities generally require larger volumes and that pharmaceutical opportunities may have longer cycles.
Management also discussed the planned new manufacturing facility. Rakib said BioHarvest expects to begin producing in the new facility in the second half of 2027 and initially run it in parallel with the existing facility. He said capital expenditures should begin to build in the second and third quarters of 2026 as detailed engineering work and supplier decisions progress.
Rakib said the company believes it has sufficient funds for the first step required to start producing at the new facility, though he noted that additional capital could be considered later depending on capacity requirements, particularly for CDMO manufacturing under contracts.
About BioHarvest Sciences (NASDAQ:BHST)
BioHarvest Sciences Inc is a biotechnology company that specializes in the development and commercialization of plant-based active ingredients through proprietary cell-culture technology. By growing undifferentiated plant cells in controlled bioreactor environments, the company aims to produce full-spectrum phytonutrients and botanical compounds that are difficult to obtain through traditional farming methods. This approach is designed to deliver consistent, high-purity extracts with reduced environmental impact and supply-chain variability.
The company's product portfolio focuses on applications across the cosmeceutical, nutraceutical and health-and-wellness markets.
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