A month has gone by since the last earnings report for Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRX) . Shares have added about 25.5% in that time frame, outperforming the market.
Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to the stock's next earnings release, or is it due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important drivers.
Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Posts Loss as Expected in Q1
Catalyst Pharmaceuticals reported a loss of $0.06 per share in the first quarter of 2017, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate but narrower than a loss of $0.07 in the year-ago quarter.
Being a development-stage company, Catalyst Pharma does not have any approved product in its portfolio yet.
Quarter in Detail
Research and development (R&D) expenses were $2.8 million, down 20.7% from the year-ago quarter. The decline was due to decreased costs for regulatory consulting, drug product manufacturing and clinical and pre-clinical activities.
General and administrative expenses were $1.9 million, down 36.7%. The decline was primarily due reduction in employee costs due to a low headcount, and a decrease in recruiting expenses as well as consulting costs for pre-commercialization activities.
Pipeline Update
Given that Catalyst Pharma does not have any revenue-generating product in its portfolio yet, investors are expected to focus on pipeline and regulatory updates. At present, Catalyst Pharma has two candidates under development – Firdapse and CPP-115.
In the quarter, the company announced positive top-line results from the study assessing Firdapse as a treatment for myasthenia gravis patients that are MuSK antibody positive (MuSK-MG). Also, it expects top-line results from Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS) and congenital myasthenic syndromes (CMS) trials trial on Firdapse, and looks forward to submit the new drug application (NDA) for Firdapse in the second half of 2017
Furthure, Catalyst Pharma is working on developing a generic version of Sabril (vigabatrin). The company is also exploring alternatives for further development of CPP-115.
How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then?
Analysts were quiet during the last one month period as none of them issued any earnings estimate revisions.
Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Price and Consensus
VGM Scores
At this time, Catalyst's stock has a poor Growth Score of 'F', a grade with the same score on the momentum front. However, the stock was allocated a grade of 'D' on the value side, putting it in the bottom 40% for this investment strategy.
Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of 'F'. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in.
Our style scores indicate investors will probably be better served looking elsewhere.
Outlook
The stock has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). We expect above average returns from the stock in the next few months.
Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (CPRX): Free Stock Analysis Report
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