What happened
Shares of Exscientia (EXAI 1.00%) were up 30.3% for the week as of Friday morning, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The artificial intelligence (AI)-driven precision medicine biotech stock is up more than 47% so far this year. It closed last week at $6.04 a share, then rose to as high as $8.60 on Thursday.
So what
One reason for this week's share growth was the company's first-quarter earnings report. Its reported revenue of $7.1 million was down 17.4% year over year, and its net loss was $46.6 million, 143% worse than the same period a year ago. But both of those figures were slightly better than analysts expected.
However, it wasn't so much the numbers, but the update that spurred investors' interest as Exscientia's AI exposure. When chipmaker Nvidia posted strong earnings on the back of AI growth, that helped lift other AI-associated stocks such as Exscientia, which uses AI to help it discover oncology therapies, frequently partnering with larger pharmaceutical companies.
Now what
On the company's earnings call, it said it now had six novel molecules in clinical trials, all generated from the company's AI platform. CEO Andrew Hopkins said he expects the company to have four money-producing products by 2024. It's important to note that as a clinical-stage company, even with all the AI excitement, there's no guarantee that any of the company's drug candidates will be approved. There's plenty of risk associated with the stock as it is not yet profitable. The most advanced of the company's therapies, EXS21546, is still in phase 1/2 trials to treat renal cell carcinoma (the most common form of kidney cancer) and non-small cell lung cancer.
