Agenus (AGEN) Reports In Line Loss In Q3, Revenues Lag

Agenus Inc. (NASDAQ:AGEN) incurred loss of 37 cents per share in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The figure came in narrower the year-ago loss of 47 cents.

Revenues of $3.4 million missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4 million. Also, the top line was down from $4.4 million in the year-ago quarter.

So far this year, shares of Agenus have declined 15.1%, as against the industry’s growth of 3.3%.

Quarterly Highlights

Agenus' third-quarter research and development (R&D) expenses were up 19.5% to $25.8 million. However, general and administrative expenses were down slightly by 0.7% to $8.1 million.

Pipeline Update

Agenus is progressing well with various candidates in its pipeline. The company expects to complete phase I dose-escalation, and generate safety and pharmacodynamic data for its anti-CTLA-4 antibody AGEN1884 later in 2017. Also, it is planning to start combination trials of AGEN1884 and AGEN2034 by the year end.

Agenus separate business entity -AgenTus, will help enhance business focus, speed and efficiency towards the realization of breakthrough immuno-oncology drugs designed to cure patients with advanced cancers.

Zacks Rank and Key Picks

Agenus carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).Some other top-ranked health care stocks in the same space include Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:LGND) , Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) and Adaptimmune Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ:ADAP) . While Ligand sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Exelixis and Adaptimmune carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Ligand’s earnings per share estimates have moved up $3.68 to $3.70 for 2018 over the last 30 days. The company pulled off positive earnings surprises in two of the trailing four quarters, with an average beat of 6.19%. The share price of the company has increased 44% year to date.

Exelixis’ earnings per share estimates have moved up from 26 cents to 45 cents for 2017 and from 63 cents to 70 cents for 2018 over the last 30 days. The company delivered positive earnings surprises in all of the trailing four quarters, with an average beat of 572.92%. The share price of the company has increased 78.3% year to date.

Adaptimmune’s loss per share estimates have narrowed from 96 cents to 76 cents for 2017 and from 90 cents to 74 cents for 2018 over the last 60 days. The company came up with positive earnings surprises in two of the trailing four quarters, with an average beat of 24.79%. The share price of the company has increased 101.7% year to date.

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