You've probably heard by now that Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) once again hit the ball out of the park with its 2018 first-quarter results. Year-over-year revenue growth of 33% and adjusted earnings-per-share growth of 85% is the kind of performance that makes investors happy campers.
The bigger story, though, is what the biotech's management team had to say about those results and what's coming up next. Here are five things you'll want to know from Vertex's Q1 conference call.
Image source: Getty Images.
1. Symdeko is off to a great startOver one-fifth of Vertex's year-over-year revenue increase came from new cystic fibrosis (CF) drug Symdeko. The drug generated revenue of $34 million, and that's an impressive start. What's even more impressive is that Symdeko was only on the market for seven weeks during the quarter.
Hot Biotech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Amgen Inc.(AMGN)
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Max Byerly]
Hammer Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 16,988 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,136,000. Amgen makes up 2.7% of Hammer Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding.
- [By Logan Wallace]
Shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-seven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $193.19.
- [By ]
Even though ABBV has more than 100 patents covering Humira, and despite its 2017 patent win over Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN) requiring AMGN to wait until 2023 before issuing its own copy of Humira, the battle for generic Humira isn't over.
- [By Stephan Byrd]
Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Amgen (AMGN)
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- [By ]
Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN) -- Amgen is a leading global biotech developer with a diverse product portfolio and promising development pipeline. The company has special expertise in cancer research and renal failure (kidney disease) treatments. Its biggest blockbuster is the anti-inflammatory drug Enbrel, used primarily for rheumatoid arthritis, which is in the top-five worldwide with annual sales of nearly $8 billion.
Hot Biotech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: ArQule Inc.(ARQL)
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Stephan Byrd]
ArQule, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQL)’s share price rose 6.2% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $5.21 and last traded at $5.15. Approximately 955,706 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 23% from the average daily volume of 1,244,948 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.85.
- [By Stephan Byrd]
Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on ArQule (ARQL)
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- [By Maxx Chatsko]
Shares of development-stage biopharma ArQule (NASDAQ:ARQL) rose nearly 17% today after the company announced two appointments to its management team in two newly created positions. Dr. Marc Schegerin will serve as senior vice president, corporate strategy, communication, and finance. Dr. Shirish Hirani will serve as senior vice president, program management and product planning.
Hot Biotech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Biogen Idec Inc(BIIB)
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Chris Lange]
Short interest in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) increased to 4.00 million shares from the previous 3.91 million. The stock recently traded at $346.90, within a 52-week range of $249.17 to $388.67.
- [By Brian Orelli]
Data source: Ionis Pharmaceuticals.
What happened with Ionis Pharmaceuticals this quarter? Revenue increased thanks to $41 million in royalties from Biogen's (NASDAQ:BIIB) sales of Spinraza, up from just $5 million in the year-ago quarter. Because the tiered royalty rates reset each year, the royalties as a percentage of sales will end up being higher in the quarters to come this year. Despite the higher revenue, earnings turned negative on a GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) basis: Ionis and Akcea Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKCA) increased spending in preparation for the launch of Tegsedi for hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis (hATTR), and Waylivra for familial chylomicronemia syndrome, a rare disease that causes the buildup of lipids. Ionis is still the majority owner of Akcea, so its financials are incorporated into Ionis' financials. The Food and Drug Administration pushed back its goal for making a decision on the marketing application for Tegsedi (the new brand name for inotersen) to Oct. 6, 2018. Ionis provided additional data analysis that the FDA needs additional time to review. In April, Ionis signed another deal with Biogen to develop antisense drugs for neurological disorders. In the deal, Ionis gets $1 billion up front, including an equity investment, in exchange for Biogen having first choice of neurology targets on which to exclusively collaborate with Ionis. Biogen is paying for everything beyond the initial discovery stage, with Ionis eligible for royalties and milestone payments as the drugs advance.Image source: Getty Images.
- [By Benzinga News Desk]
A distillery in a small Spanish town has claimed it invented the original Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) recipe and now wants recognition: Link
ECONOMIC DATA Initial Jobless Claims For Week Ended May 25 221K vs 225K Economist Estimate, Down From 234K In Prior Week Personal Income Apr. Up 0.3%, Personal Spending Up 0.6% The Chicago PMI for May is schedule for release at 9:45 a.m. ET. The pending home sales index for April will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 12:30 p.m. ET. Fed Governor Lael Brainard will speak at 1:00 p.m. ET. Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan is set to speak at 8:30 p.m. ET. ANALYST RATINGS Canaccord upgrades Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB) from Hold to Buy Morgan Stanley upgrades Corning (NYSE: GLW) from Equal-Weight to Overweight Morgan Stanley downgrades Micron (NASDAQ: MU) from Overweight to Equal-Weight Cantor downgrades HealthEquity (NASDAQ: HQY) from Overweight to NeutralThis is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day — it's a look at everything happening in the market, in five minutes. To get the full version of this note every morning, click here.
- [By George Budwell]
The spark? Nightstar's shares are bolting higher in response to an $877 million buyout offer from biotech heavyweight Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB). Per the terms of the agreement, Biogen will pay $25.50 in cash for each share of Nightstar, which translates to a hefty 68% premium when compared to where the gene therapy company's shares closed on Friday. According to the two companies, this transaction should close by midyear.
Hot Biotech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc.(ALNY)
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Brian Orelli]
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY) released first-quarter results last week, but all eyes were looking forward as the company waits for a potential approval of its hereditary TTR amyloidosis (ATTR) drug, patisiran.
- [By Keith Speights]
I wrote three months ago that I viewed Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY) stock as a pretty good pick -- but with a couple of qualifications. First, I didn't think that the biotech would generate returns in 2018 nearly as great as it did last year. Second, I thought that there were even better stocks to buy than Alnylam.
- [By Max Byerly]
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.41) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.47) by $0.06. The business had revenue of $21.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.23 million. Alnylam Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 36.81% and a negative net margin of 565.20%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($1.25) earnings per share. equities analysts anticipate that Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -6.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
- [By Shane Hupp]
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Investment Research from a hold rating to a sell rating. According to Zacks, “Although we are pleased with Alnylam’s broad and promising pipeline, we note that most candidates are in their early or mid stages of development. These candidates still have a long way to go before hitting the market. Currently, Alnylam depends heavily on Onpattro for growth. We also note that gaining approval for pipeline candidates has become more difficult now. However, In August, Alnylam got a significant boost with the approval of Onpattro (patisiran), a first-of-its-kind RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutic, both in the United States and in Europe, for the treatment of the polyneuropathy of hereditary transthyretin-mediated (hATTR) amyloidosis in adults. This is the first approved candidate for the company and hence should drive revenues. Loss estimates have remained stable ahead of the Q3 earnings release.”
- [By Brian Orelli]
Earlier this week, Dicerna released promising interim phase I data for its lead drug, DCR-PHXC, in patients with primary hyperoxaluria type 1 and type 2. The company plans to start a trial to be used to support an FDA approval in the first quarter of 2019, but that'll put it behind Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY), which is about to start a phase 3 study testing its drug, lumasiran, in patients with primary hyperoxaluria type 1. Hopefully, Dicerna can use some of its new capital to help accelerate enrollment in its trial to try to catch up to Alnylam.
- [By Brian Orelli]
Shares of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY) were up 19% at 12:04 p.m. EDT on Monday after rival Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) released data for its transthyretin amyloid (ATTR) drug tafamidis at the ESC Congress 2018, which were also published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Earlier this month, Alnylam got its ATTR drug, Onpattro, approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) and Akcea Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKCA), which are jointly developing another ATTR drug, Tegsedi, are up 10% and 2.6% respectively.
