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Amgen's (AMGN) Stock Rallies Almost 5% on Broker Upgrade
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Amgen (AMGN - Free Report) stock was up 4.6% on Wednesday after Leerink Partners upgraded the stock’s rating and increased its price target.
Leerink Partners upgraded its rating on the stock from Market Perform to Outperform and raised its price target from $267 to $318.
Per a Leerink Partner analyst, the rating change is a “multiple-expansion and earnings-upside call.”
The analyst expects accelerating pipeline news flow for Amgen, particularly for oncology, obesity and cardiovascular disease candidates. We believe Amgen has some key pipeline assets in obesity and inflammation, which indicate a large market opportunity. Several data readouts are expected in the next 12 months.
The analyst believes Amgen has three potential blockbuster oncology candidates in its pipeline. These are AMG 193, a PRMT5i inhibitor that targets MTAP-null tumors in phase I, xaluritamig (STEAP1xCD3), a potential first-in-class candidate for prostate cancer in phase I, and tarlatamab for small-cell lung cancers in phase III.
Amgen has outperformed the industry year to date. Amgen’s stock has risen 8% against a decline of 19.3% for the industry.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The analyst at Leerink Partner stated that the recently closed acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics is expected to boost Amgen’s near- and long-term EPS. The Leerink Partner analyst expects the Horizon Therapeutics acquisition to be accretive to earnings by 8% in 2024 and 15% in 2025.
In December 2022, Amgen announced a definitive agreement to acquire Horizon Therapeutics for $27.8 billion. In May, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) filed a lawsuit in Federal Court to halt the proposed merger Per the FTC, if the acquisition was allowed to go through, a large-cap giant like Amgen could leverage its position with insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers to entrench the monopoly positions for two of Horizon's key products — Tepezza (approved for treating thyroid eye disease) and Krystexxa (approved for treating chronic refractory gout).
In August, Amgen and Horizon Therapeutics resolved the pending FTC lawsuit. This cleared Amgen’s path to acquire Horizon for $28 billion. The acquisition closed on Oct 6. The acquisition has added several first-in-class early-in-lifecycle biologic drugs like Tepezza, Krystexxa and Uplizna to Amgen’s broad and diversified portfolio.
The upgrade came ahead of Amgen's third-quarter results, which are expected to be announced on Oct 31 after market close.
In the past 90 days, the consensus estimate for Alpine Immune Sciences’ 2023 loss has narrowed from $1.43 per share to $1.18 per share, while the same for 2024 has narrowed from $1.73 per share to $1.47 per share. Year to date, shares of Alpine Immune Sciences have rallied 47.3%.
ALPN’s earnings beat estimates in two of the trailing four quarters and missed the mark in the other two, delivering an average negative earnings surprise of 79.65%.
In the past 90 days, the bottom line estimate for Aurinia Pharmaceuticals for 2023 has narrowed from a loss of 71 cents per share to a loss of 58 cents per share, while the same for 2024 has narrowed from a loss of 43 cents per share to a loss of 27 cents per share. Year to date, shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals have gained 75.2%.
Earnings of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals beat estimates in all the last four quarters, delivering an earnings surprise of 45.61% on average.
In the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Corcept’s earnings per share has increased from 62 cents to 78 cents for 2023. The bottom-line estimate for 2024 has also improved from 61 cents to 83 cents during the same time frame. Shares of the company have rallied 35.8% year to date.
CORT’s earnings beat estimates in two of the trailing four quarters and missed the mark in the other two, delivering an average earnings surprise of 6.99%.
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Amgen's (AMGN) Stock Rallies Almost 5% on Broker Upgrade
Amgen (AMGN - Free Report) stock was up 4.6% on Wednesday after Leerink Partners upgraded the stock’s rating and increased its price target.
Leerink Partners upgraded its rating on the stock from Market Perform to Outperform and raised its price target from $267 to $318.
Per a Leerink Partner analyst, the rating change is a “multiple-expansion and earnings-upside call.”
The analyst expects accelerating pipeline news flow for Amgen, particularly for oncology, obesity and cardiovascular disease candidates. We believe Amgen has some key pipeline assets in obesity and inflammation, which indicate a large market opportunity. Several data readouts are expected in the next 12 months.
The analyst believes Amgen has three potential blockbuster oncology candidates in its pipeline. These are AMG 193, a PRMT5i inhibitor that targets MTAP-null tumors in phase I, xaluritamig (STEAP1xCD3), a potential first-in-class candidate for prostate cancer in phase I, and tarlatamab for small-cell lung cancers in phase III.
Amgen has outperformed the industry year to date. Amgen’s stock has risen 8% against a decline of 19.3% for the industry.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The analyst at Leerink Partner stated that the recently closed acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics is expected to boost Amgen’s near- and long-term EPS. The Leerink Partner analyst expects the Horizon Therapeutics acquisition to be accretive to earnings by 8% in 2024 and 15% in 2025.
In December 2022, Amgen announced a definitive agreement to acquire Horizon Therapeutics for $27.8 billion. In May, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) filed a lawsuit in Federal Court to halt the proposed merger Per the FTC, if the acquisition was allowed to go through, a large-cap giant like Amgen could leverage its position with insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers to entrench the monopoly positions for two of Horizon's key products — Tepezza (approved for treating thyroid eye disease) and Krystexxa (approved for treating chronic refractory gout).
In August, Amgen and Horizon Therapeutics resolved the pending FTC lawsuit. This cleared Amgen’s path to acquire Horizon for $28 billion. The acquisition closed on Oct 6. The acquisition has added several first-in-class early-in-lifecycle biologic drugs like Tepezza, Krystexxa and Uplizna to Amgen’s broad and diversified portfolio.
The upgrade came ahead of Amgen's third-quarter results, which are expected to be announced on Oct 31 after market close.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Amgen currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Amgen Inc. Price and Consensus
Amgen Inc. price-consensus-chart | Amgen Inc. Quote
Some better-ranked drug/biotech companies worth considering are Alpine Immune Sciences (ALPN - Free Report) , Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (AUPH - Free Report) and Corcept Therapeutics (CORT - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
In the past 90 days, the consensus estimate for Alpine Immune Sciences’ 2023 loss has narrowed from $1.43 per share to $1.18 per share, while the same for 2024 has narrowed from $1.73 per share to $1.47 per share. Year to date, shares of Alpine Immune Sciences have rallied 47.3%.
ALPN’s earnings beat estimates in two of the trailing four quarters and missed the mark in the other two, delivering an average negative earnings surprise of 79.65%.
In the past 90 days, the bottom line estimate for Aurinia Pharmaceuticals for 2023 has narrowed from a loss of 71 cents per share to a loss of 58 cents per share, while the same for 2024 has narrowed from a loss of 43 cents per share to a loss of 27 cents per share. Year to date, shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals have gained 75.2%.
Earnings of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals beat estimates in all the last four quarters, delivering an earnings surprise of 45.61% on average.
In the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Corcept’s earnings per share has increased from 62 cents to 78 cents for 2023. The bottom-line estimate for 2024 has also improved from 61 cents to 83 cents during the same time frame. Shares of the company have rallied 35.8% year to date.
CORT’s earnings beat estimates in two of the trailing four quarters and missed the mark in the other two, delivering an average earnings surprise of 6.99%.