Why Ariad Pharma Earnings Are So Great Despite a Loss

Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA) reported its third-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Monday. The stock saw a handy gain early on Monday even, though the company had a loss in the quarter. However, incredibly positive growth for its flagship drug, pulled this company through.

The company said that it had a net loss of $0.12 per share (EPS) and $46.0 million in revenue. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters called for a net loss of $0.19 per share and revenue of $42.93 million. The same period of last year reportedly had a net loss of $0.29 per share on $29.07 million in revenue.

U.S. net product revenue from sales of Iclusig were $33.6 million for the quarter, compared to $20.3 million in the third quarter of 2015, an increase of 66%.

In terms of guidance for 2016, Ariad expects to have global Iclusig net product and royalty revenue in the range of $170 million to $180 million with cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities in the range of $280 million to $290 million. So far this year, Iclusig has produced $91.2 million in sales alone.

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The consensus estimates for the full year are a net loss of $0.07 per share and $192.56 million in total revenues.

Paris Panayiotopoulos, president and CEO of Ariad, commented:

During the third quarter, ARIAD achieved several important milestones that further our commitment as a small, research-based biotechnology company to patients with rare cancers, including those with no other targeted treatment options available. Iclusig was approved in Japan and we received priority review from the FDA for brigatinib in crizotinib-treated ALK+ non-small cell lung cancer. We are continuing to invest heavily in R&D and to progress in enrolling in the OPTIC, OPTIC-2L and ALTA-1L trials for Iclusig and brigatinib, as well as our clinical trial for AP32788, a novel kinase inhibitor for a rare form of lung cancer involving mutations in the EGFR and HER2 genes, and for which there are currently no approved targeted treatments.

On the books, Ariad’s cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities totaled $314.7 million at the end of the quarter, up from $242.3 million at the end of 2015.

Shares of Ariad closed Friday at $8.88, with a consensus analyst price target of $13.05 and a 52-week trading range of $4.37 to $14.34. Following the release, the stock was up about 8% at $9.60 in early trading indications Monday.

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