Alexion's (ALXN) Earnings Beat Estimates In Q1, Guidance Up

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXN) posted first-quarter 2018 adjusted earnings of $1.68 per share which were higher than the year-ago earnings of $1.38 by 22%. Earnings also beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.48. Strong product revenues drove the bottom line in the quarter.

Revenues rose 7% year over year to $930.9 million and exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $918 million. Revenues were driven by increased sales of Soliris, Strensiq and Kanuma.

Year to date, Alexion’s shares have declined 11.3%, compared with the industry’s fall of 9.9%.

Revenues in Detail

Soliris (paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (“PNH”) and atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS)) sales were up 2.1% to $800.1 million in the quarter driven by strong volume growth. While Strensiq (hypophosphatasia [“HPP”]) contributed $110.7 million to revenues, up 50.4% year over year, Kanuma (lysosomal acid lipase deficiency [LAL-D]) contributed $19.6 million (up 63.3%) to quarterly revenues.

Cost Summary

Adjusted research and development (R&D) expenses were $161.6 million, down 16.9% year over year.

Adjusted selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses were $220.4 million, down 2.5% year over year.

2018 Guidance

The company raised its earnings per share and revenue guidance for 2018. It expects earnings per share to be in the range of $6.75-$6.90 up from the previous range of $6.60-$6.80. It projects revenues in the range of $3.93-$3.99 billion up from its previous expectation of $3.85-$3.95 billion. Revenues for Soliris are expected in the range of $3.38-$3.42 billion compared with $3.33-$3.40 billion expected earlier. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings for 2018 was $6.90 per share while for sales it was $3.99 billion and both of them reflect the higher end of the guidance range.

The outlook assumes unfavorable Soliris revenue impact of $90 million to $110 million from ALXN1210 and other clinical trial recruitment versus prior year.

Alexion expects to incur additional restructuring and related expenses of approximately $15 million to $80 million related to the 2017 restructuring activities.

Pipeline Update

The company announced positive top-line results from the phase III study of its long-acting C5 complement inhibitor — ALXN1210 which showed that patients with PNH can be effectively and safely switched from treatment with Soliris every two weeks to treatment with ALXN1210 every eight weeks. The study showed non-inferiority of ALXN1210 to Soliris in patients with PNH who had been stable on Soliris based on the primary endpoint of change in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels, a direct marker of complement-mediated hemolysis in PNH. The study also demonstrated non-inferiority on all four key secondary endpoints.

In addition, ALXN1210 achieved non-inferiority on the primary and all four key secondary endpoints in the phase III PNH Switch study of ALXN1210 administered intravenously every eight weeks compared to patients currently treated with Soliris.

Alexion plans to file for regulatory approval for ALXN1210 in patients with PNH in the United States and EU in mid-2018, followed by Japan later in 2018.

Enrollment of ALXN1210 in phase III study for aHUS is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2018 and Alexion expects to report data from this study in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Acquisition

In April 2018, Alexion announced that it will acquire Sweden-based Wilson Therapeutics. Alexion has offered SEK 232 in cash for each outstanding share of Wilson Therapeutics which translates into a total transaction value of $855 million. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2018.

The acquisition will add a late-stage candidate, WTX101 to Alexion’s pipeline. The candidate is currently in phase III for the treatment of Wilson disease, a rare genetic disorder.

Alexion is looking to diversify its portfolio and reduce its dependence on Soliris. The deal will strengthen Alexion’s rare disease pipeline with a late-stage candidate.

Our Take

Alexion exceeded earnings and sales estimates in the first quarter of 2018. We expect growth at Alexion to continue being driven by Soliris. In the meantime, other new products — Strensiq and Kanuma — are doing well and should boost revenues.

We are also impressed by Alexion’s efforts to develop its pipeline and announced positive topline results from both the ALXN1210 phase III PNH Naive and Switch studies, and its announcement of the acquisition of Wilson Therapeutics to begin to rebuild the clinical pipeline.

Zacks Rank and Other Stocks to Consider

Alexion carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

A few other top-ranked stocks from the same space are Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) ,Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) and Catabasis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CATB) . Whlle Ligand and Protagonist sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Catabasis carries a Zacks Rank #2.You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Ligand’s earnings per share estimates have moved up $4.15 to $4.43 for 2018 over the last 60 days. The company delivered a positive earnings surprise in three of the trailing four quarters, with an average beat of 24.88%. The company’s shares have rallied 13% year to date.

Protagonist’s loss estimates narrowed from $1.68 to 66 cents for 2018 and from $2.43 to $1.26 for 2019, over the last 60 days. The company delivered a positive earnings surprise in three of the trailing four quarters, with an average beat of 24.95%.

Catabasis’ loss estimates narrowed from 92 cents to 90 cents for 2018 and from $1.48 to $1.43 for 2019, in the last 30 days. The company came up with a positive earnings surprise in all the preceding four quarters, with an average beat of 14.56%. The stock has rallied 8.1% year to date.

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