What happened
Now this is how a stock finishes the trading week in style. On Friday, commercial-stage biotech MacroGenics (MGNX 1.32%) surged 22% higher. That was thanks to its latest earnings report, which was greeted very warmly by investors.
So what
For its third quarter, MacroGenics earned $41.7 million in revenue, well up from the $15.6 million it booked in the same period of 2021. The bottom line also saw a notable improvement, with the net loss narrowing considerably to $24.8 million ($0.40 per share) from the year-ago quarter's nearly $53 million.
According to Zack's, analysts were collectively expecting a deeper per-share net loss of $0.49. The company also beat on the top line by nearly 84%.
As is typical for biotech companies, in its earnings release, MacroGenics included an update of its pipeline programs. The cancer drug developer said that a planned phase 2 clinical trial of a leading candidate, MGC018 (also known under the new name of vobramitamab duocarmazine), should begin by the end of this year. The drug targets a variety of cancers, including squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.
Now what
One caveat here: Since biotech companies mainly concentrate on developing drugs and other treatments, their fundamentals can be very up and down.
That being said, MacroGenics' revenue and bottom-line improvements are quite dramatic and impressive, and its pipeline is clearly progressing well, particularly in regards to MGC018. It's hardly surprising, then, that investors reacted the way they did to the company's latest developments.
