Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, biopharmaceutical company Vical (VICL +0.00%) has received a distressing two-star ranking.
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Vical and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Vical facts
|
Headquarters (founded) |
San Diego, Calif. (1987) |
|
Market Cap |
$312.1 million |
|
Industry |
Biotechnology |
|
Trailing-12-Month Revenue |
$7.6 million |
|
Management |
CEO Vijay Samant (since 1990) |
|
Return on Equity (average, past 3 years) |
(29.5%) |
|
Cash/Debt |
$72.4 million / $0 |
|
Competitors |
GlaxoSmithKline |
Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.
On CAPS, 14% of the 37 All-Star members who have rated Vical believe the stock will underperform the S&P 500 going forward.
Just last week, one of those Fools, zzlangerhans, showed skepticism over Vical's near-term prospects:
Topline data from the phase III trial of Allovectin-7 in melanoma is expected to be released this quarter. This is the closest we've come to topline data without a delay being announced since the trial began six and a half years ago. For those who believe that delays in topline data are a good thing in oncology trials because "somebody is living longer and it can't be the placebo patients", I point you to the outcomes of the Celsion and Oncothyreon trials among others. Delayed phase III topline data from small biopharma companies suggests to me that management knows results will be negative and they're dragging their heels to maintain their smoothly salaried lives as long as possible before the earthquake. ...
Allovectin-7 failure won't destroy Vical. They'll have about [$70M] in cash at the end of Q2, and clinical trials of CMV and HSV vaccines are in progress or about to kick off. I expect Vical's cap won't drop below [$150M] and could quickly rebound to [$200M], which corresponds to a share price of [$2.32].
