Kamada (KMDA) Posts Q1 Loss Wider Than Expected, Sales Miss

Kamada Ltd. (NASDAQ:KMDA) reported adjusted loss of 11 cents in the first quarter of 2017, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 3 cents. The posted figure was also wider than the year-ago loss of 6 cents per share.

The company’s revenues were $11.6 million down 21% from $14.8 million reported in the year-ago quarter. In fact, revenues also missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 21 million.

Kamada’s share price has increased 31.2% year to date against the Zacks classified Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry’s gain of 2.1%.

Quarter in Detail

The company records its revenues from two segments: the Proprietary Products segment and the Distributed Products segment.

Revenues from the Proprietary Products segment decreased 40.5% to $6.6 million for the quarter. The decline was due to a delay in the company’s ability to ship product batches as it awaited validation of its filling process. Moving ahead, Kamada expects all delayed revenues from the first quarter to be recorded in the second quarter of 2017 after the shipments are made. Furthermore, distributed Products’ revenues were $5 million, which is an increase of 36% year over year.

Research and Development (R&D) expenses were $3.2 million, a 23% decrease from the year ago quarter. Selling, general and administrative expenses were $2.9 million, up 7% year over year.

Other Updates

Kamada is expecting a regulatory decision from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in the second half of 2017. The decision will be regarding its inhaled Alpha-1 Antitrypsin (AAT) for the treatment of Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency.

Additionally, it expects to agree on a regulatory path forward with the FDA for the inhaled AAT in the US.

The company also plans to submit a Clinical Trial Authorization application to the EMA for its G1-AAT IV product in acute Graft-versus-Host Disease (GvHD), in 2017.

Moreover, it looks forward to the PDUFA date of Aug 29, 2017 for the FDA to complete its review of the previously accepted Biologics License Application for its human anti-rabies immunoglobulin therapy in the U.S.

2017 Guidance

The company reaffirmed its revenue guidance for 2017 and projects it to be $100 million with Proprietary Products revenues in the range of $76 to $78 million and Distributed Products revenues in $22 to $24 million band.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Kamada currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in the health care sector include VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ:VVUS) , MEI Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:MEIP) and Aeglea BioTherapeutics (NASDAQ:AGLE) . While VIVUS and MEI Pharma sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Aeglea carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

VIVUS’ loss per share estimates narrowed from 50 cents to 39 cents for 2017 over the last 60 days. The company posted positive earnings surprises in all of the four trailing quarters, with an average beat of 233.69%.

MEI Pharma’s estimates narrowed from loss per share of 1 cent to gain of 1 cent per share for 2017 over the last 60 days. The company posted positive earnings surprises in three of the four trailing quarters, with an average beat of 66.56%.

Aeglea’s loss per share estimates narrowed from $3.64 to $2.48 for 2017 over the last 60 days. The company posted positive earnings surprises in three of the four trailing quarters, with an average beat of 20.75%.

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