The Plan to Drive Amgen Shares Up Over 70%

Loeb has sent a letter to Amgen calling for the company to break itself up into two companies. One would be legacy and slower growth, while one would be a faster growth company focused on the drugs of tomorrow.

The activist’s view is that Amgen has the key hallmarks of a hidden value situation. Loeb called it as trading at a substantial discount to peers, despite having a compelling growth story. Loeb says there are several actions that Amgen could take but his first point is one that the company should break itself up. A second effort would be to streamline research and development and trimming its cost structure.

Loeb sees Amgen worth $249 if broken into two — a gain of more than 70% for a split. Loeb’s letter telegraphed the other actions as being worth $189 by the end of 2016 and $218 by the end of 2017.

Amgen issued the following statement regarding media inquiries concerning Third Point LLC’s equity position in Amgen:

Amgen maintains an active, engaged dialogue with all shareholders. Amgen has always appreciated the perspectives of all of its shareholders, including Third Point, and welcomes constructive input toward our common goal of enhancing shareholder value.  Amgen’s Board of Directors frequently receives input from shareholders, including ideas like those offered by Third Point. The Board and management continually assess Amgen’s strategic priorities – and, when appropriate, take action – to set the best path forward to increase shareholder value.

Amgen’s Board of Directors and management remain focused on addressing significant unmet medical needs for serious illnesses and driving value for all shareholders. We look forward to further updating our shareholders on Amgen’s strategic priorities and update on our restructuring plans at our business review on October 28th.

What Dan Loeb is saying is the same thing we have said for years. Amgen had become large enough and established enough that for many periods in time it was valued as a Big Pharma stock rather than as a great biotech growth story. To prove a point, Amgen has announced layoffs in a restructuring, as well has it having a dividend — and a lot of long-term debt.

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Apparently the stock market like’s Dan Loeb’s plan more than they like the standalone plan of Amgen today. Amgen’s close on Tuesday’s was up 4.8% at $144.09 against a 52-week range of $108.20 to $145.49. Amgen has a market cap of almost $110 billion, and the 52-week high was seen on Tuesday as well. Be advised that analysts in the Thomson Reuters universe have a consensus price target of $144.90.