What happened
Horizon Therapeutics (HZNP), a biopharmaceutical company that specializes in rare, autoimmune, and inflammatory diseases, saw its shares jump 11.32% on Wednesday after the company released its third-quarter earnings. The stock closed on Tuesday at $63.18, then opened at $68 on Wednesday. It climbed to as high as $72.64 in the midafternoon before closing at $70.33 on Wednesday. The stock is down more than 34% so far this year and is still closer to its 52-week low of $57.84 than its 52-week high of $118.30.
What happened
It wasn't so much the company's earnings that boosted the stock but its increased annual guidance. Horizon's third-quarter numbers were mostly down year over year. It reported revenue of $925.4 million, down 11% compared to the third quarter of 2021. Net income was listed at $135.8 million, down 58% year over year, and earnings per share of $0.58 was down 58% compared to the same period in 2021.
However, the company, encouraged by the sales so far of thyroid eye disease treatment Tepezza and gout therapy Krystexxa, boosted its annual guidance. The company raised its annual revenue projection from $3.59 billion to $3.61 billion and its annual adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) guidance from $1.32 billion to $1.34 billion. It also said thanks to a label expansion, it expects full-year sales growth for Tepezza to be in the mid-teens and full-year Krystexxa sales to rise as much as 25% year over year. Through nine months, Tepezza's revenue was $1.472 billion, up 37% over the same period in 2021, and Krystexxa's revenue was $500.1 million, up 27% over the first nine months of 2021.
Horizon also updated clinical trial details for Uplizna, which is in phase 3 trials to treat lgG4-related disease, a genetic autoimmune disease, and myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune disease that typically affects the muscles of the face. The drug is being tested to see if it can deplete certain CD19+ B-cells that have a role in autoimmune diseases.
Now what
Investors will wait to see if the biotech company's guidance is correct and if the company can increase revenue. They also will look forward to the next stage for Dazodalibep. The company has reported solid phase 2 data regarding the therapy to treat patients with Sjögren syndrome, an autoimmune disorder that can leave patients with dry eyes and dry mouth. The therapy, like Uplizna, came over as of the company's $3 billion acquisition of Viela Bio, a spinoff company from AstraZeneca, in 2021.
