Back to top

Image: Bigstock

HALO Withdraws Acquisition Bid for EVO, Reaffirms '24 View, Stock Up

Read MoreHide Full Article

Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (HALO - Free Report) announced that it has withdrawn its non-binding proposal to acquire Evotec SE (EVO - Free Report) for €11.00 per share in cash. The acquisition offer implied a fully diluted equity value of €2.0 billion.

Halozyme decided to withdraw the acquisition bid following the unwillingness of Evotec’s management to discuss the potential buyout offer. EVO maintained its desire to remain an independent company.

Besides withdrawing the buyout offer, HALO also reaffirmed its 2024 revenue guidance that was provided last month.

Shares of Halozyme were up 7.2% on Nov. 22 following the announcement of the news. The stock has rallied 32.6% so far this year against the industry’s decline of 8.5%.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

More on HALO’s Recent Acquisition Offer

Earlier this month, Halozyme submitted its non-binding proposal to acquire Evotec for €11.00 per share in cash. The offer represented a premium of 109% to EVO's undisturbed share price on Oct. 15, 2024.

Shares of HALO tanked on the buyout offer.

Per Halozyme, the acquisition of EVO would have created a global services company with a distinctive set of technologies and an innovative deep pipeline. The buyout would have complemented Halozyme's ENHANZE drug delivery technology as well.

The acquisition would have diversified HALO’s business operation and also likely extended Halozyme’s revenues and EBITDA into the next decade and beyond.

Despite the lucrativeness of the buyout offer, Evotec’s management was not open to further discussions, which eventually led to HALO withdrawing the offer.

HALO Maintains 2024 Guidance

Last month, along with its third-quarter earnings release, Halozyme raised its 2024 financial guidance.

Per the latest press release, the company maintained its 2024 financial guidance.

Halozyme expects total revenues in the range of $970 million to $1.02 billion in 2024, implying year-over-year growth of 13-22%.

Royalty revenues are anticipated in the range of $550-$565 million.

Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $595 million and $625 million in 2024, implying growth of 40% to 47% year over year.

The company expects adjusted earnings in the range of $4.00-$4.20 per share, indicating an improvement of 44-52% year over year.

HALO's Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks

Halozyme currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Some other top-ranked stocks from the biotech sector are Spero Therapeutics, Inc. (SPRO - Free Report) and Castle Biosciences, Inc. (CSTL - Free Report) , each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

In the past 60 days, estimates for Spero Therapeutics’ 2024 loss per share have narrowed from $1.59 to $1.13. Loss per share estimates for 2025 have narrowed from $1.54 to 54 cents during the same time. Year to date, shares of SPRO have declined 21%.

SPRO’s earnings beat estimates in two of the trailing four quarters while missing the same on the remaining two occasions, the average surprise being 94.42%.

In the past 60 days, estimates for Castle Biosciences’ 2024 loss per share have narrowed from 58 cents to 8 cents. Loss per share estimates for 2025 have narrowed from $2.13 to $1.88 during the same time. Year to date, shares of CSTL have surged 38.1%.

CSTL’s earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 172.72%.


Zacks' 7 Best Strong Buy Stocks (New Research Report)


Valued at $99, click below to receive our just-released report
predicting the 7 stocks that will soar highest in the coming month.


Click Here, It's Really Free

Published in