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Big-cap biotech Biogen ( BIIB ) reported a mixed first quarter Thursday morning, and its depressed stock rose in early trading. Biogen posted Q1 earnings of $4.79 a share excluding one-time items, up 25% from the year-earlier quarter and 32 cents above analysts’ consensus, according to Thomson Reuters. Revenue rose 7% to $2.73 billion, about $20 million below Wall Street’s average estimate. Biogen did not change its full-year guidance of $11.1 billion to $11.4 billion in revenue. The shortfall came mainly in sales of multiple-sclerosis drugs, which is also Biogen’s core business. Oral drug Tecfidera grew 15% to $946 million, about $15 million short of consensus, according to Evercore ISI. Interferon products Avonex and Plegridy together sold $670 million, down 11% from Q1 2015 and more than $50 million below consensus. “The shortfall was increased by $40 million in channel inventory reduction, but also included the effect of further rebates to payers in an increasingly competitive category,” wrote Leerink analyst Geoffrey Porges in a research note. “The company’s reported EPS of $4.79 beat consensus … as the company trimmed their R&D expenses more than anticipated.” Biogen’s competition in MS comes mainly from Novartis ( NVS ) and Sanofi ( SNY ), and it might soon get more competition from Roche ‘s ( RHHBY ) ocrelizumab, which is nearing an FDA filing after performing well in clinical trials. Analyst Max Jacobs of Edison Investment Research was more blunt, calling Biogen’s Q1 “an awful quarter” that will likely bring a guidance reduction down the road. “While operating expense control helped save the quarter from an earnings standpoint, management will likely be under pressure from investors to do something drastic to right the ship,” he wrote in a research note. Biogen stock was nonetheless up 4% in early trading on the stock market today , near 277. It’s still down more than 40% from its lifetime high, hit in March 2015, as the company’s MS franchise first started showing weakness last year. Scalper1 News
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