Protalix (PLX) To Report Q1 Earnings: What's In The Cards?

Protalix BioTherapeutics, Inc. (NYSE:PLX) is scheduled to report first-quarter 2019 results on May 6.

The company has surpassed expectations in two of the previous four quarters, the average earnings positive surprise being 22.50%.

Protalix’s share price has increased 36% compared with the industry’s growth of 4% year to date.

Let's see how things are shaping up for this announcement.

Factors to Consider

Protalix is focused on the development and commercialization of recombinant therapeutic proteins expressed through its proprietary plant cell-based expression system, ProCellEx. The company is developing its lead candidate Pegunigalsidase alfa (PRX-102) for the treatment of Fabry Disease.

The company expects to provide light on the revenues of its first commercial drug product, Elelyso, which marketed for the treatment of Gaucher Disease.

The company had a very productive meeting with the FDA to discuss the potential filing of an application for accelerated approval of PRX-102 and, at the FDA’s reques,t the company intends to hold a follow up meeting by the end of the second quarter of 2019 to discuss the data and content of the potential filing for accelerated approval.

In 2018, the company reported positive results from its phase II study of OPRX-106 for the treatment of ulcerative colitis.

We expect the company to throw more light other pipeline updates.

What Our Model Indicates

Our proven model does not conclusively show that Protalix is likely to beat on earnings in the to-be-reported quarter. This is because a stock needs to have a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) to be able to beat estimates. But that is not the case here, as you will see below.

Earnings ESP: Protalix has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: The company carries a Zacks Rank #3, which increases the predictive power of ESP. However, we need to have a positive Earnings ESP to be confident of an earnings beat.

Note that Sell-rated stocks (Zacks Rank #4 or 5) going into an earnings announcement are best avoided.

Stocks That Warrant a Look

Here are some stocks you may want to consider, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter.

Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:RARE) has an Earnings ESP of +6.36% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) has an Earnings ESP of +0.12% and a Zacks Rank #3. The company is scheduled to release first-quarter 2019 results on May 7.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:INO) has an Earnings ESP of +13.79% and a Zacks Rank #3.

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