Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc.: ARIA Stock Squeezes the Shorts on Blowout Quarter

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Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARIA) stock is putting the shorts in a vise Thursday morning after reporting a substantial top- and bottom-line beat.

AriadAnalysts pegged the biotech firm’s earnings at a loss of 11 cents on sales at $60.6 million. But, much to the delight of ARIA stock holders everywhere, Ariad Pharmaceuticals hit a per-share gain of 59 cents on $68.1 million in revenue.

ARIA shares popped just over 10% in response.

ARIA Stock Earnings Rundown

Sales from Ariad Pharma’s Iclusig drug, a kinase inhibitor for the treatment of adults diagnosed with several chronic forms of leukemia were 65.3 million. That’s more than double the amount the drug brought in during the year-ago quarter. That puts total Iclusig sales just under $100 million for the first half of 2016.

Stateside sales of Iclusig totaled $32.6 million, a 50% increase over the $21.7 million in last year’s quarter. While in Europe, Iclusig brought in $32.7 million, a more than 400% gain year-over-year!

However, much of that revenue gain was due to a one-time charge of the shipping of its Iclusig drug to France, which padded the top line by $25.5 million.

Ariad President and CEO Paris Panayiotopoulos had this to say:

“We also strengthened our financial position through our agreement with Incyte and the strong sales performance of Iclusig. Our teams are focused on Iclusig growth, preparations for the potential launch of brigatinib in the U.S. and driving forward our promising pipeline.”

And we all know it’s not just the present that affects a relatively small biotech firm like Ariad Pharmaceuticals, but future pipeline growth. To that end, Ariad emphasized its plan to expand the market potential of Iclusig by treating earlier stages of leukemia. Further, ARIA initiated a new drug application for brigatinib, which will treat crizotinib-resistant patients suffering from ALK+ non-small cell lung cancer. Data from the clinical trials skewed on the positive side.

Helping ARIA stock move, aside from boffo earnings, were the shorts. Comprising 21% of the float, ARIA stock’s earnings beat sent short-sellers rushing to cover their positions.

At any rate, for a company that has disappointed investors in three of the last four quarters, it must be good to see ARIA stock spike on fundamental strength and not buyout rumors, which are common in the space.

As of this writing, John Kilhefner did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

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Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2016/07/aria-stock-ariad-pharmaceuticals-nasdaq-earnings/.

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