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Regeneron Soars After Drug Clears Eczema, Sparks Market Size Debate

Big biotech Regeneron Pharmaceuticals ( REGN ) and its big pharma partner Sanofi ( SNY ) said Friday that their potential blockbuster eczema drug candidate sailed through late-stage trials and would be submitted for approval in Q3 of this year. Regeneron shares spiked Friday, headed for their best one-day percentage gain in years. Regeneron’s and Sanofi’s drug dupilumab cleared or nearly cleared the symptoms of atopic dermatitis (eczema) in more than a third of patients, compared with less than 10% of patients in the placebo group, in two clinical trials comprising a total of 1,379 people. Patients on dupilumab in general average around a 70% improvement in the Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI), whereas the placebo group improved in the 30% to 40% range. “There are no approved systemic therapies in the U.S. for people with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis, underscoring the clear unmet need,” Sanofi R&D head Elias Zerhouni said in a statement. “In the U.S., where dupilumab in AD (atopic dermatitis) has been granted Breakthrough Therapy designation by the U.S. FDA, we plan to submit a regulatory application in the third quarter of this year and will work to bring this innovative therapy to patients as quickly as possible.” Evercore ISI analyst Mark Schoenebaum wrote that analysts’ consensus peak annual sales estimate for dupilumab is $4 billion, but there’s quite a bit of variation between individual analysts. “We believe that the current debate for dupilumab is focused on the size of commercial opportunity — it is also in late stage studies for severe asthma (where dupilumab demonstrated high efficacy in phase two in an all-comers population) as well as chronic sinusitis with nasal polyps and eosinophilic esophagitis,” Schoenebaum wrote in an email to clients. “A/D is a relatively new market segment and dupilumab is one of the first therapeutic candidates that could address the high unmet need. … The commercial opportunity in severe asthma may be similarly attractive; however, dupilumab will be facing a more crowded competitive landscape in asthma.” Regeneron shares shot up 13.5% in afternoon trading on the stock market today  to about 409, moving over its 50-day moving average for the first time in 2016. Regeneron stock touched a 17-month low below 349 on March 17. Sanofi stock rose a fraction, above 40.

Microsoft Stock Gets Price Target Hike From Build Conference News

Microsoft ( MSFT ) demonstrated some impressive tech innovations at its Build conference this week in San Francisco, earning its stock a price target hike Friday from investment bank Cowen. Cowen analyst Gregg Moskowitz raised his price target on Microsoft stock to 59 from 57, but maintained his market perform rating based on valuation. Microsoft was down a fraction near 55 in early afternoon trading on the stock market today . “The level of innovation on display (at Build) was impressive, and updated metrics showed good progress,” Moskowitz said. “Still, at this valuation, significant further multiple expansion continues to look challenging to us.” The technology shown at the three-day Build conference, which ends Friday, is unlikely to have an impact on the company near term, he said. “Even by the standards of developer conferences, we found this year’s Build to be particularly forward-focused, with a slew of previews and (software development kits) made available for innovative new products and services, such as HoloLens, chat bots, and voice/image recognition AI,” Moskowitz said. “While there was little on display this week that is likely to have a meaningful impact on Microsoft’s financials in the near term, investors can take heart that the company under (CEO) Satya Nadella’s leadership has become a genuine thought leader, with the potential to create new platform categories around its fast growing Azure cloud. Thus, we came away from the event feeling incrementally more positive about the company’s future.” On Wednesday, Microsoft announced that its Windows 10 operating system is now on 270 million devices worldwide, up from 200 million at the end of January. Microsoft wants the OS to be on 1 billion devices by its fiscal 2018. The Redmond, Wash.-based company also said its Azure cloud computing platform now has 30 data center locations globally, up from 19 last year. Cowen’s report follows bullish notes on Microsoft Wednesday and Thursday from Pacific Crest Securities, RBC Capital Markets and Raymond James.

Tesla Stock Jumps As Model 3 Reservation Counter Spins To 180,000

Loading the player… Tesla Motors ( TSLA ) stock rose on Friday after Thursday night’s Model 3 launch party in Los Angeles tallied ramped-up reservations and revealed a good-looking design with glass on the back half of the roof clear all the way to the trunk. A reservations odometer actually spun at times during the event, moving past 134,000 while the afterparty was still going strong, outpacing the estimates of Tesla analysts. At $35,000 per car, that would amount to almost $4.7 billion in potential revenue when the Model 3 is actually delivered. The deposits are $1,000 a pop and said to be fully refundable. “According to management, reservation orders surpassed 150K during the evening (and presumably still growing beyond our two incremental reservations early this morning),” Stifel auto analyst James Albertine said in an overnight research note. That “is roughly 10x the 15-20K we expected in the first days of the launch and 50% greater than the 50-100K we expected by the end of this year.” He added: “Thoughts. We are simply awestruck by the demand surfacing for the Model 3.” Elon Musk tweeted out just past noon ET that reservations have hit 180,000. Model 3 orders at 180,000 in 24 hours. Selling price w avg option mix prob $42k, so ~$7.5B in a day. Future of electric cars looking bright! — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 1, 2016 Shares rose as high as 247.90 on the stock market today , the best since early October. But gains pared to 2.4%, at just over 235, by early afternoon. Tesla is not currently highly ranked by IBD, with a Composite Rating of just 28 out of a possible 99, factoring in its earnings growth record, stock market performance and other metrics. The Model 3 pre-order window opened around the world Thursday at Tesla stores. “Orders for the Model 3 in the last 24 hours have just passed 115,000,” Elon Musk, CEO of the electric car maker, announced at the 8:30 p.m. Pacific Time launch. Lines at some Tesla stores had stretched far. The rest of the Thursday reservations were racked up during the event, where a bevy of Tesla Model S, Model X and Roadster owners conversed over the din of a DJ. “Orders for the Model 3 in the last 24 hours have just passed 115,000,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk just said. $TSLA #Model3 pic.twitter.com/ZWWb9LmhGj — Donna Howell (@IBD_DHowell) April 1, 2016 Several people IBD spoke with also ordered a Model 3 at the launch party. PCs were set up to take reservations online, with the general window for online reservations opening shortly before Musk took the stage to introduce the new car. Sleek, fast (we took a test ride) and smaller than its siblings, the  Model 3 is slated to roll off the assembly line in late 2017. It’s seen competing with the BMW 3 Series and similarly priced entry-to-midrange luxury vehicles from Volkswagen ‘s ( VLKAY ) Audi,  Daimler ‘s ( DDAIF ) Mercedes-Benz and Toyota ‘s ( TM ) Lexus, as well as electrics like the General Motors ( GM ) Chevrolet Bolt and a variety of hybrids. Tesla’s challenge now is ramping up production to meet the better-than-expected demand on time, and pushing down battery costs enough to profit with a car half the price of its last two models. About half of the current Tesla owners that IBD spoke with at the launch event expect the Model 3 to come out on schedule. The others wouldn’t bet on it. Tesla’s last model unveiling, also at its design facility in Los Angeles, was the Model X crossover in February 2012. After delays, that finally started going to reservation-holders at the end of September 2015. Bob and Linda Ashmore of San Carlos, Calif., have a Roadster and a Model S, and just put in a reservation for a Model 3. “We ordered one today here, so we’re looking forward to seeing what it’s actually going to look like,” Bob Ashmore told IBD as the launch party was getting started. He expects it to be built on time, and he and Linda have visited the factory several times. “They’ve got plenty of capacity,” Bob Ashmore said. “This has been a dream and vision of Tesla from the beginning,” Linda Ashmore said. “To get an affordable car for the masses.” RELATED:  Tesla Motors Model 3 Revealed .