Update 4/25: Investors May See Value in Large Cap Biotech
Amgen (AMGN) up 1.68%.
Biogen (BIIB) holds Tuesday lows of $262 Up 2.78% today.
IBB flat at $103.26
More earnings tomorrow but it is all about technicals holding the recent bottom.
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Biotech Sector Watch on 2018 Earnings
Interest Rates at 3% Rising Too Fast?
Momentum Weakens For Industrials and Aerospace/Defense Stocks, DOW down 1.74%.
Stocks Sell-Off Despite Good Earnings, Healthcare (XLV) Down Only 0.75%, 2.18% YTD.
IBB down 1.45% today and 5.6% YTD.
Biogen (BIIB) Rallies 1.1% to $262 Despite Flat Spinraza Sales
First Quarter Revenue rose 11.4% to $3.13B short of $3.1 B estimates.Net Income rose 58% to $1.17 B, $6.05 per share above analyst estimates of $5.94 per share. Spinraza sales for Q1, the first FDA approved product,spinal muscular atrophy were $364M short of analyst estimates of $381.55M. The Biogen CFO Jeffrey Capello said, “We believe that the International opportunity for Spinraza is even greater than in the U.S.” Sales of Tecfidera hit $987M for Q1 below estimates of $1.02B. Biogen (BIIB) is trading down 21.55% YTD and down 5.31% over 52 weeks and we suggested in late March that investors should look at the worse performing large cap stocks (BIIB, CELG, REGN) as good buys for the long term after earnings reports. On the positive side for Biogen are low forward PE of 10.03, Gross Margins of 86.7%, EPS Q/Q growth of 38.5% and a technical bottoming process at the $262 level over the past month.
Biogen sees big opportunities in neuroscience and brain diseases with a big bet in Alzheimer’s Disease programs, with their lead program aducanumab, despite recent setbacks. Here is their pipeline.
Amgen (AMGN) Down After Hours to $172 Level On 3% Sales Rise and EPS Beat
First Quarter Revenue rose 2% to $5.54B with Sales up 3% to $5.34B . First Quarter adjusted earnings were $3.47 per share up from $3.15 per share a year earlier helped by lower taxes and fewer shares outstanding. Guidance for the full year was raised slightly with an EPS of range $12.80 to $13.70. Sales of the anti-inflammatory drug Enbrel fell 6% to $1.05B because of more competition while sales of Repatha are than doubled to $223 M compared to an average annual estimate of $104M. The U.S launch of Aimovig (erenumab) a first-in-class migraine prevention therapy is expected in Q2. AMGN is down 2.9% YTD and up 5.39% over 12 months. AMGN remains a hold in our portfolio. Forward PE is 12.16, pays a dividend of 3.17%, gross margins of 82.2%, but shows weak Q/Q sales growth of 2.7%.
Several large cap biotech companies will report later this week on 4/26 including ABBV, ALXN, BMY and VRTX.