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4 Drug, Biotech Stocks Poised to Beat Q4 Earnings Estimates

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As we near the end of the ongoing earnings season, the scorecard for the Medical sector is pretty decent. The sector primarily comprises pharma/biotech and medical device companies.

Per the Earnings Trends report, as of Feb 22, 87.5% of the companies in the Medical sector, constituting nearly 97.1% of the sector’s market capitalization, reported earnings. While 73.5% beat estimates on earnings, 71.4% beat the same for sales. Earnings declined 1.3% year over year but revenues increased 5.5%. Overall, fourth-quarter earnings for the Medical sector are expected to decline 6.4% on a 4.8% sales increase.

Most of the large drug and biotech have already reported their fourth-quarter results. While the results for the quarter have been mostly good, the guidance for 2023 has been a dampener. Bellwether Johnson & Johnson and Swiss pharma giant Novartis beat on earnings but missed on revenues. Merck, on the other hand, beat on both sales and earnings.  Among the biotechs, Amgen, Regeneron, Gilead Sciences and Bristol Myers beat estimates for both earnings and sales. Biogen too reported better-than-expected results as it topped both earnings and revenue estimates.

Zeroing in on Winners   

Maximum big shots from the drug/biotech sector have already announced results. Of the ones left to report, there are a few companies poised to surpass fourth-quarter estimates on earnings.  Here we have highlighted four drug/biotech companies, Theravance Biopharma, Inc. (TBPH - Free Report) , FibroGen, Inc. (FGEN - Free Report) , Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (AUPH - Free Report) , and Cytokinetics, Incorporated (CYTK - Free Report) . which are expected to deliver an earnings surprise in their upcoming quarterly results.

Earnings ESP is our proprietary methodology for determining the stocks with the best chance to deliver an earnings surprise. Earnings ESP shows the percentage difference between the Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

According to the Zacks model, the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. The selection can be made with the help of the Zacks Stock Screener.

Our research shows that for stocks with this combination, the chance of an earnings surprise is as high as 70%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

4 Drug/Biotech Stocks That Match the Criteria

Theravance Biopharma

Theravance Biopharma is a biopharmaceutical company primarily focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing respiratory medicines.  It earns profit-sharing revenues from Viatris for the development and marketing of Yupelri, its nebulized therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Theravance Biopharma has an Earnings ESP of +33.33% and a Zacks Rank #2. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the fourth quarter stands at a loss of 20 cents per share.

TBPH beat estimates in two of the last four quarters and missed in the other two, delivering an average negative earnings surprise of 26.36%.  The company is scheduled to report fourth-quarter results on Feb 27.

Theravance Biopharma, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

 

FibroGen

FibroGen, has an Earnings ESP of +4.86% and a Zacks Rank #3. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the fourth quarter stands at a loss of 95 cents per share.

FibroGen is a biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing a pipeline of first-in-class therapeutics.  FGEN beat estimates in two of the last four quarters and missed in the other two, delivering an average negative earnings surprise of 23.81%.  The company is scheduled to report fourth-quarter results on Feb 27.

FibroGen, Inc Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

 

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company focused on delivering therapies to treat targeted patient populations that are impacted by serious diseases. The company’s Lupkynis (voclosporin) is the first FDA-approved oral therapy for the treatment of adult patients with active lupus nephritis (LN). The drug is approved in the United States, the United Kingdom and across the European Union.

AUPH has an Earnings ESP of +8.57% and a Zacks Rank #3. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the fourth quarter stands at a loss of 26 cents per share. Aurinia beat estimates in two of the last four quarters and missed in the other two, delivering an average earnings surprise of 13.26%.  The company is scheduled to report fourth-quarter results on Feb 28.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

 

Cytokinetics

Cytokinetics, a late-stage biopharmaceutical company, has an Earnings ESP of +3.19% and a Zacks Rank #3. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the fourth quarter is pegged at a loss of $1.22 per share. CYTK beat estimates in two of the last four quarters and missed in the other two, delivering an average earnings surprise of 30.05%.  The company is scheduled to report fourth-quarter results on Mar 1.

Cytokinetics is focused on discovering, developing and commercializing first-in-class muscle activators and next-in-class muscle inhibitors as potential treatments for debilitating diseases in which muscle performance is compromised. The company is gearing up for the potential commercialization of omecamtiv mecarbil, its cardiac muscle activator, following positive results from GALACTIC-HF, a large, international phase III clinical trial in patients with heart failure.

Cytokinetics, Incorporated Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Cytokinetics, Incorporated Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Cytokinetics, Incorporated price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Cytokinetics, Incorporated Quote

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