This is one of the world’s top biotech stocks now, and its market cap is around $91 billion. The company has made a new investment in a stem cell company in Australia, and 24/7 Wall St. wants to know if this is the sort of thing that can ever make a dent based on the size.
In biotech, and in other things, size can matter. So how does a $45 million investment get Celgene in a position to where it can move the needle?
Celgene spent $45 million to buy into a company called Mesoblast. The deal is said to give Celgene a first look at the Australian biotech’s stem cell candidate pipeline, which ultimately means that Celgene would be given preferential treatment in any future licensing opportunities.
If this works out, it seems that Celgene may be lining up for a grand payout potential, if the candidates result in actual products down the road. If not, well it has wasted very little in capital.
It is no secret that a strong dollar combined with a weak euro and foreign currency environment are acting to hurt U.S. corporate earnings. Many investors might think that biotech earnings growth is limitless because of what they can charge for their treatments. It turns out that even the hot biotech sector has to worry about U.S. dollar strength cutting into their earnings.
Celgene’s 2015 sales guidance was in the range of $9.0 billion to $9.5 billion in late January, when the currency exchange rate was $1.25 (the exact point in the month on which guidance was based has not been disclosed). The difference from that rate and the current rate could be as much as 15%. Celgene reported 42% of its sales were outside the United States in 2014, and this is expected to remain the same for 2015. Historically, Celgene reported a $12.3 million negative foreign exchange impact on revenues in 2014 and a $90.6 million negative impact in 2013. Celgene indicated that 30% of 2015 non-U.S. sales are exposed to currency fluctuations.
The company had its short interest increase only slightly for this settlement date, up to 14.68 million shares. The level for the previous settlement date was 14.60 million. Since March, Celgene has recorded two of its highest readings of the year, barring a spike last June.
24/7 Wall St. has also just a preview for rival biotech company Gilead.
Shares of Celgene were relatively flat at $113.68 on Wednesday afternoon. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $138.74 and a 52-week trading range of $71.32 to $129.06.
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