Fly Intel: What to watch in large-cap biotech earnings reports - InvestingChannel

Fly Intel: What to watch in large-cap biotech earnings reports

The earnings season for large-cap biotech companies is here with Biogen (BIIB) having reported last week and Amgen (AMGN) set to report tonight, July 28. Gilead Sciences (GILD) is scheduled for Thursday and Bristol-Myers (BMY) reports the first week of August. BIOGEN REPORTS AMID COVID: Biogen was the first of the mega-caps to report. The company reported quarterly earnings and revenue that were better than what analysts were anticipating, however a couple of red flags in the report got the investment community’s attention. Most importantly, Biogen said Wednesday that the submission of a U.S. marketing application for its Alzheimer’s drug aducanumab had been delayed until the summer. The biotech giant said the submission will happen in the third quarter, rather than an earlier date in 2020, following a scheduled meeting with FDA. AMGEN ‘PRUDENTLY NAVIGATING’ COVID: Amgen (AMGN) is set to report quarterly earnings tonight after declaring a quarterly dividend of $1.60 per share late last week. Oppenheimer analyst Jay Olson recently raised the firm’s price target on Amgen to $265 from $252 ahead of Q2 results, while keeping an Outperform rating on the shares. The analyst believes the company is prudently navigating through COVID-19 uncertainty ahead of several key upcoming catalysts. Amgen shares rallied in early July after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld patents for rheumatoid arthritis drug Enbrel, blocking a biosimilar version that Novartis (NVS) seeks to sell until 2029. GILEAD GETS UPGRADE: Gilead, set to report later this week, was recently upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse, with a price target of $75, up from $64. The analyst noted that remdesivir revenue can address some of its near-term growth issues. BRISTOL MAY SEE GOOD NEWS: Morgan Stanley analyst David Risinger sees “encouraging news” coming in near-term for Bristol-Myers. Risinger previewed what he expects to be “encouraging news in the near-term” coming for Bristol-Myers, including news about the Eliquis patent ruling. The analyst also expects Bristol to re-file for ide-cel by July 31 and for the FDA to grant Priority Review 60 days later, the analyst told investors. Risinger, who also sees Bristol-Myers having six “key” data readouts over the next six months, kept an Overweight rating and $64 price target on the shares.