Arena (ARNA) Q3 Loss Lower Than Expected, Revenues Rise

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA) reported a loss of 5 cents per share in the third quarter of 2016, narrower than both the year-ago loss of 11 cents and the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 7 cents.

Total revenue surged 110% year over year to $19.2 million, which includes $11 million in milestone payments earned from partner Eisai for Belviq XR.

Belviq XR is a once-daily, extended-release formulation of Belviq (obesity), the only approved product in Arena’s portfolio, which received FDA approval in July this year and was launched this month.

Shares of the company rose more than 6% in after-market trading on Nov 7.

Quarter in Detail

During the third quarter of 2016, Belviq generated sales of $3.3 million, down 32% year over year.

Research & development (R&D) expenses declined 20.9% year over year to $17.4 million. Likewise, general & administrative (G&A) expenses were $8.6 million, down 4.9% year over year.

Pipeline Update

Arena’s pipeline consists of several early- to mid-stage candidates targeting different therapeutic areas. These include ralinepag (vascular diseases), etrasimod (APD334; autoimmune diseases), and APD371 (pain and fibrotic diseases). The company continues to enroll patients in the phase II trials on etrasimod and ralinepag, and expects data on etrasimod by 2017 end and on ralinepag by mid 2017. Meanwhile, the company plans to initiate a phase II trial on APD371 for the treatment of pain associated with Crohn's disease by early 2017.

Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider

Arena currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the healthcare sector include Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:INFI) , Anika Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ANIK) and Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) . Both Infinity and Anika sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while Exelixis is a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here

Infinity’s loss estimates narrowed from $3.84 to $3.79 for 2016 and from 87 cents to 86 cents for 2017 over the last 60 days. The company has posted a positive surprise in all of the four trailing quarters with an average beat of 67.62%.

Anika’s earnings estimates increased from $1.96 to $2.06 for 2016 and from $2.03 to $2.09 for 2017 over the last 60 days. The company has posted a positive surprise in all of the four trailing quarters with an average beat of 33.14%. Its share price has gained 16% year to date.

Exelixis’ loss estimates narrowed from 71 cents to 59 cents for 2016 and from a loss of 16 cents to earnings of a penny for 2017 over the last 60 days. The company has posted a positive surprise thrice in the four trailing quarters with an average beat of 38.52%. Its share price has skyrocketed above 100% year to date.

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