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United Therapeutics (UTHR) Q2 Earnings & Sales Beat Estimates

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United Therapeutics‘ (UTHR - Free Report) second-quarter 2023 earnings of $5.24 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.41. Earnings rose 117% year over year on the back of strong product sales.

Revenues in the reported quarter were $596.5 million, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $532.3 million. Revenues rose 28% year over year, driven by Tyvaso sales.

Quarter in Detail

United Therapeutics markets four products for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) — Remodulin, Tyvaso, Adcirca and Orenitram. It also markets Unituxin for treating pediatric patients with high-risk neuroblastoma.

Tyvaso sales totaled $318.9 million, up 59% year over year, gaining from higher sales volume, driven by the launch of Tyvaso dry powder inhalation (DPI) formulation last year. Net sales also rose on account of increased product uptake following label expansion of the drug in pulmonary hypertension associated with the interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD) indication in 2021.

Tyvaso sales beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $259 million and our model estimates of $278 million.

Shares of United Therapeutics were up 8.3% in response to the better-than-expected Q2 results and encouraging Tyvaso uptake. Yet, the stock has declined 13.7% in the year so far compared with the industry’s breakeven growth.

United Therapeutics developed Tyvaso DPI in partnership with MannKind Corporation (MNKD - Free Report) . Per anexisting commercial supply agreement, MannKind Corporation manufactures and supplies Tyvaso DPI to United Therapeutics.

The demand trends of Tyvaso remain strong and the company continues to see new patient growth. United Therapeutics is working with partner MannKind to increase DPI production capacity to meet this increased demand. Until the company meets the increased demand, it expects sales to be hurt due to fluctuations in Tyvaso DPI’s inventory levels held by distributors.

Remodulin (including Remunity Pump) sales declined 4% year over year to $127.2 million, while Orenitram sales rose 20% year over year, amounting to $95.1 million.

Unituxin sales were flat year over year at $44.3 million. Adcirca sales were $7.5 million, down 28% year over year.

Research and development expenses were $89.0 million in the quarter, down 5% year over year. Selling, general and administrative expenses fell 8% to $130.0 million in the quarter.

Pipeline Update

United Therapeutics is working on expanded indications for Orenitram and Tyvaso. Some phase III studies are ongoing across various forms of PH and pulmonary fibrosis indications.

Key phase III programs include Tyvaso in patients with various forms of chronic fibrosing interstitial lung disease (TETON studies) and oral ralinepag (PAH — ADVANCE CAPACITY and ADVANCE OUTCOMES studies).

The late-stage TETON 1 study in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) currently enrolls patients at sites in the United States and Canada. The second phase III study of Tyvaso in IPF patients, TETON 2, initiated in October 2022, is being conducted outside of the United States and Canada. If the drug is approved for the IPF indication, management expects Tyvaso sales in IPF to exceed the drug’s sales in the PAH indication. Enrollment is ongoing in the ADVANCE CAPACITY and ADVANCE OUTCOMES studies.

Last month, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld the District Court’s decision favoring the company in its patent litigations with Liquidia Technologies over the validity of a Tyvaso patent. As a result, the FDA cannot grant final approval to Liquidia’s Yutrepia until the Tyvaso patent expires in May 2027.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

United Therapeuticscurrently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A couple of better-ranked stocks in the overall healthcare sector include Johnson & Johnson (JNJ - Free Report) and Novartis (NVS - Free Report) , carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

In the past 30 days, estimates for J&J’s 2023 earnings per share have increased from $10.66 to $10.73. During the same period, the earnings estimates per share for 2024 have risen from $11.01 to $11.28. Shares of J&J are down 4.4% in the year-to-date period.

Earnings of J&J beat estimates in each of the last four quarters, witnessing an average earnings surprise of 5.58%. In the last reported quarter, J&J’s earnings beat estimates by 7.28%.

In the past 30 days, the estimate for Novartis’ 2023 and 2024 EPS have increased from $6.74 to $6.89 and $7.28 to $7.45, respectively. Shares of Novartis are up 13.9% in the year-to-date period.

Earnings of Novartis beat estimates in each of the last four quarters, witnessing an average earnings surprise of 6.56%. Novartis’ earnings beat estimates by 8.93%.

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