What happened
On a generally uninspiring day for the market, biotech MacroGenics (MGNX -4.46%) was a standout performer. The company's share price gained nearly 4% in value against a slumping S&P 500 index, on a new and quite bullish take from an analyst.
So what
That analyst was BMO Capital's Etzer Darout, who upgraded his MacroGenics recommendation. Darout now feels the cancer-focused biotech is now worthy of an outperform (read: buy), up from his previous estimation of market perform (neutral). Accompanying this, the prognosticator nearly tripled his price target on the stock to $16 per share from the previous $5.70.
Darout is particularly heartened by one of MacroGenics' leading development programs -- cancer treatment MGC018. He wrote in a new research note that while his view of the drug's potential remains "cautious," recent feedback has been positive, particularly in combination with another of the company's investigational treatments, lorigerlimab.
On the dollars-and-cents side, Darout wrote that the company's management "has also mitigated its financing risk, which was a concern for us, with cash on hand now to get to the Phase 2 portion of the MGC018 randomized study."
Now what
Darout isn't the only pundit or investor who's gotten more bullish on MacroGenics' future lately.
Earlier this month, the company published estimates-trouncing third-quarter results, which, by the way, featured significant revenue growth and a considerable narrowing of the net loss. In the wake of those results, several of Darout's peers raised their price targets on the stock, although so far, he's the only one to have upgraded his recommendation.
