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Arena Pharmaceuticals (ARNA) Posts Q4 Earnings, Revenues Up

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Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. reported earnings of 16 cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2016, as against the year-ago loss of 13 cents and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 9 cents. Higher revenues and lower costs boosted earnings in the quarter.

 

Arena’s shares has traded above the Zacks classified Medical-Biomed/Genetics industry so far this year. Its shares gained 19.7%, while the industry registered an increase of 10.2%.



Total revenue in the quarter was $85.4 million, much higher than the year-ago figure of $7.8 million. Revenues included $15.2 million in net product sales of Belviq, $1.3 million in milestone payments from Eisai and Ildong for Belviq and $66.1 million in the form of upfront Belviq payments.

Belviq is, the only approved product in Arena’s portfolio which was launched in Sep 2016 approved for chronic weight management in adult patients.

Quarter in Detail

During the fourth quarter of 2016, Belviq generated sales of $15.2 million, compared with $3.9 million a year ago.

Research & development (R&D) expenses declined 41% year over year to $11.9 million. Likewise, general & administrative (G&A) expenses were $7.3 million, down 24.7% year over year.

Pipeline Update

Arena’s pipeline consists of several early- to mid-stage candidates targeting different therapeutic areas. These include ralinepag (pulmonary arterial hypertension), etrasimod (a number of autoimmune diseases) and APD371 (pain and fibrotic diseases). Phase II trials on etrasimod and ralinepag are ongoing. The comapny expects to report data on etrasimod for ulcerative colitis by 2017-end and on ralinepag for pulmonary arterial hypertension by mid-2017. Meanwhile, the company initiated a phase II trial on APD371 for the treatment of pain linked with Crohn's disease during the quarter.

2016 Results

Full-year sales totaled $124 million, compared with $38.3 million a year ago. Sales beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $48 million by a solid margin.

Full-year loss of 9 cents per share was significantly narrower than Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 34 cents. The company had posted a loss of 45 cents a year ago.

2017 Guidance

The company expects net cash used in operating and investing activities in the range of $80 million to $100 million for 2017.

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Quote

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Arena currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Better-ranked stocks in the health care sector include Addus HomeCare Corporation (ADUS - Free Report) , The Advisory Board Company and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (BCRX - Free Report) . Each of these stocks carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Addus HomeCare’s earnings estimates increased from $1.38 to $1.41 for 2017 over the last 30 days. The company posted positive earnings surprises in two of the four trailing quarters, with an average beat of 10.10%.

The Advisory Board’s earnings estimates increased from $1.41 to $1.48 for 2017 over the last 30 days. The company posted positive earnings surprises in three of the four trailing quarters, with an average beat of 33.41%.

BioCryst Pharma’s loss per share estimates narrowed from 88 cents to 66 cents for 2017 and from a loss of 93 cents to 70 cents over the last 30 days. The company posted positive earnings surprises in three of the four trailing quarters, with an average beat of 20%.

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