What happened
Shares of MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ: MNKD), a commercial-stage biopharma focused primarily on inhaled insulin, were up as much as 12% in afternoon trading on Tuesday. Shares had risen about 9% as of 3:45 p.m. EST.
So what
Investors can thank Robert Hazlett and Brian Marckx for today's jump.
Hazlett, an analyst at BTIG, initiated coverage on MannKind today and called shares a "buy." He also set a price target of $3, which is more than 150% higher than Monday's closing price. Hazlett told his investors that he believes that Afrezza will continue to grow and could eventually reach more than $350 million in peak sales in the U.S. That's a huge number when compared to MannKind's current market cap of about $250 million.
Marckx, an analyst at Zacks, was even more bullish on the company's near-term potential. He published a report stating that MannKind is worth $4 per share today.
Image source: Getty Images.
Traders bid up shares in response to the bullish sentiment.
Check out the latest MannKindearnings call transcript.
Now what
MannKind's most recent results were decent enough. Sales of Afrezza rose 49% to $5.1 million, and revenue from its collaborations totaled $12.4 million. That shrank the company's net loss to $14.9 million.
If MannKind can grow Afrezza so that its peak sales eventually reach $350 million and pull in additional money from partnership payments, its future is certainly looking bright. However, there's still a long road ahead of this company, and it will probably continue to post big losses in the meantime. That's a situation that I want no part of, so I'm content to keep my capital invested in more promising opportunities.
