What happened
Shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (BCRX -3.28%) were up 12% Wednesday afternoon, a day after the commercial-stage biotech released full-year and fourth-quarter earnings. The stock dropped as much as 17.1% on Tuesday after the earnings report, but Wednesday, it bounced back as much as 14% over the day before. The trigger? The stock closed at $8.64 on Tuesday, not far from its 52-week low of $7.61.
So what
Investors, after seeing the dip on Tuesday, saw an opportunity to get in on the biotech company at a lower price point. They were spurred, in part, because two analysts increased their positions or price targets on the stock after it tumbled on Tuesday. Needham upgraded the stock to "buy" from "hold," adding a $14 price target, and H.C. Wainwright analyst Andrew Fein set a price target of $30 on the stock and reiterated his buy rating.
So, what changed? Several investors saw the stock as oversold based on its earnings report because there were some positives to be taken from it. The biggest negative in the report was that the company is continuing to lose money.
Now what
The company focuses on oral therapies for rare diseases. Its lead therapy is Orladeyo (berotralstat) to treat hereditary angioedema attacks in patients 12 and older. Its other marketed drug is Rapivab (peramivir injection), a viral neuraminidase inhibitor to treat the flu.
In Q4, BioCryst reported a loss of $71.5 million, or $0.38 in earnings per share (EPS), a big jump from its loss of $17.8 million, or its EPS loss of $0.10 in the same period last year. For the year, the company said it lost $247.1 million, or $1.33 in EPS loss, compared to a loss of $184.1 million, or $1.03 in EPS loss in 2021.
The positive news is its revenues may eventually outpace its losses. In the quarter, the company reported $79.5 million in revenue, up 68% year over year, including $70.7 million from Orladeyo. The company's 2022 revenue was $270.8 million, up 72%.
