What happened
Shares of Alkermes (ALKS -1.04%) were jumping 11.9% as of 12:25 p.m. ET on Wednesday. The solid gain came after the drugmaker announced its first-quarter results before the market open.
Alkermes reported Q1 revenue of $278.5 million, up 10.8% year over year. This result handily beat the consensus estimate of $252.6 million.
The company generated earnings of $19.6 million, or $0.12 per share, in the first quarter on a non-GAAP (adjusted) basis. The average analysts' estimate was for non-GAAP earnings of $0.01 per share. In the same period of 2021, Alkermes posted non-GAAP earnings of $17.8 million, or $0.11 per share.
So what
Investors tend to reward better-than-expected results. And Alkermes delivered the goods in the first quarter. However, the company's upward trajectory is more important than the snapshot of its performance in one quarter.
Alkermes CEO Richard Pops said the company is seeing early utilization trends and feedback from healthcare professionals for antipsychotic drug Lybalvi that are encouraging. That could bode well for the drug's commercial prospects. Lybalvi launched in October 2021 and raked in $13.9 million in Q1 sales.
The company's other two approved drugs also continue to perform well. First-quarter sales of Vivitrol, which is used to treat opioid and alcohol dependence, rose 14% year over year to $84.9 million. Sales of antipsychotic drug Aristada jumped 31% to $72.5 million.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
One key thing to watch with Alkermes in the near future is the outcome of the binding arbitration with Johnson & Johnson's Janssen unit that began earlier this month. Alkermes is contesting Janssen's partial termination of royalty agreements for several drugs that use the company's NanoCrystal technology.
