Harmony Biosciences beat quarterly expectations Tuesday, but the biotech stock crumbled amid a barrage of commercial concerns for analysts.
During the December quarter, adjusted Harmony earnings climbed 102% to $1.01 per share. That was well above forecasts for 61 cents to 89 cents per share, Mizuho Securities analyst Graig Suvannavejh said in a note to clients.
Sales of narcolepsy treatment Wakix, Harmony's bread-and-butter product, came in at $128.3 million, just above the Street's expectations for $127.4 million to $127.7 million, according to analysts' reports. Wakix sales climbed about 40%.
"We came away less impressed by the overall print, hoping to see a stronger top line and also higher net patient adds, particularly when the fourth quarter. seasonally speaking, is supposedly Harmony's strongest quarter in terms of Wakix performance," Mizuho's Suvannavejh said.
But he kept his buy rating and 70 price target on the biotech stock.
Biotech Stock: No Outlook Or CEO Plans
On the stock market today, the biotech stock toppled 11.1% and closed at 43.81.
But Suvannavejh said he's waiting on the company's explanation for a few items. Harmony added 300 new patients using Wakix during the quarter — meeting the floor of Suvannavejh's expectations.
Further, the company didn't offer a financial outlook and didn't outline any plans for its permanent chief executive. Former CEO John Jacobs recently took the helm at Novavax.
"We expect qualitative commentary on Wakix expectations for 2023 to be the main focus of the call, as well as any updates regarding a permanent CEO appointment," Needham analyst Ami Fadia said in her note to clients. She has a buy rating an 70 price target on the biotech stock.
Highly Ranked Harmony Stock
Harmony ranks third among biotech stocks, an industry group of more than 800 issues tracked by Investor's Business Daily. Harmony shares have a strong Composite Rating of 98, putting them in the top 2% of all stocks when it comes to fundamental and technical measures, according to IBD Digital.
The biotech stock is currently consolidating with a buy point at 62.19, MarketSmith.com shows.
Further, Harmony ranks on the Tech Leaders list.
Follow Allison Gatlin on Twitter at @IBD_AGatlin.
