What happened
Shareholders of vaccine and antibody therapy specialist Emergent BioSolutions (EBS 1.40%) were feeling a bit queasy on Friday afternoon. That day, the company's stock fell by almost 4.9% after the release of the latest quarterly earnings.
So what
In its fiscal third quarter of 2020, Emergent BioSolutions enjoyed 24% year-over-year growth in total revenue, which landed at $385.2 million. Meanwhile, the company's non-GAAP (adjusted) net income nearly doubled to $119 million ($2.19 per share).
That top-line figure was disappointing, however, as analysts tracking the stock were collectively estimating $452 million. By contrast, they were anticipating only $2.05 in per-share, adjusted net profit.
Emergent BioSolutions saw a big revenue boost with sales of its two anthrax vaccines, Anthrasil and BioThrax. The company's take from the pair was almost $74 million during the quarter, an 83% year-over-year improvement. Another area where it did well was in its now-busy contract manufacturing business, which increased nearly eight-fold to just over $157 million.
Now what
As for the immediate future, the pharmaceutical company narrowed its guidance for full-year 2020. It now believes it will post $1.52 billion to $1.58 billion in revenue -- it previously forecast $1.50 billion to $1.60 billion.
As for adjusted net income, this should be in the $375 million to $405 million range; formerly this estimate was $340 million to $390 million. Happily, even at the low end of the new range, that would be more than double the 2019 result of $152 million.