What happened
Shares of BeiGene (BGNE -1.70%) were soaring 15.6% higher as of 3:38 p.m. EDT on Wednesday. The big jump came after the Chinese drugmaker filed a document to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) related to the proposed public offering of its stock and listing on the Science and Technology Innovation Board (referred to as the "STAR Market") of the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
So what
Investors already knew that BeiGene planned the stock offering and listing on the STAR Market. So why did the biotech stock pop today? Probably because of the details included in the SEC filing.
BeiGene revealed that its total revenue for the first six months of 2021 is estimated to be between $700 million and $800 million. It reported $106.1 million of revenue in the first quarter. The estimate for the first half of the year, therefore, means BeiGene probably generated upwards of $600 million in revenue in the second quarter. The consensus analysts' estimate was for Q2 revenue of around $215 million.
It's unusual, to say the least, when a company delivers quarterly sales that basically triple what analysts expected. Although BeiGene hasn't officially announced its Q2 results, today's SEC filing points to a really great quarter for the drugmaker.
Now what
BeiGene's primary growth drivers, for now, are Brukinsa, which is approved in the U.S. and several other countries for treating mantle cell lymphoma, and tislelizumab, which is approved in China for several cancer indications. The company hopes to soon win an additional indication for Brukinsa in treating marginal zone lymphoma, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration expected to make an approval decision by Sept. 19.