What's happening: Shares of the rare disease and RNAi therapeutics specialist Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY 2.34%) dipped by as much as 16% today, on heavier than normal volume, after the company released its second-quarter earnings report. The apparent catalyst behind this marked drop appears to be the fact that the company missed consensus for both earnings per share and revenue for the three-month period.
Specifically, the drugmaker reported a non-GAAP net loss of $71.8 million, or $0.85 per share, on both a basic and diluted basis. The Street, on the other hand, was expecting a narrower loss of $0.75 per share. On the revenue side, Alnylam generated $8.65 million during the second-quarter from its various research collaborations, missing consensus by $3.95 million.
Why it's happening: The market's extreme displeasure over Alnylam's second-quarter earnings is somewhat mystifying because the company's real value lies in its robust clinical pipeline, which is progressing nicely per today's status update:
Source: Alnylam
Management noted on the accompanying conference call, for instance, that they should end up reporting data from six different clinical programs before the end of 2015. Moreover, the company's lead experimental drug, patisiran, indicated for the treatment of AATR amyloidosis patients with familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy is on track for a regulatory submission by 2017 at the conclusion of its pivotal late-stage trial -- assuming the drug's impressive midstage results are replicated in this larger study.
That's why I think a broader look across the biotech/biopharma landscape today is more insightful into Alnylam's drop than its earnings report. After all, numerous companies are getting hammered on their second-quarter earnings today, suggesting that Alnylam is simply following the downward trend.
Although there's no guarantee the worst is over yet, my take is that investors with a long-term outlook may want to consider snapping up some shares in this promising developmental-stage biopharma on this hefty, and perhaps unjustified, dip.
