What to Expect From Baxalta Q4 Earnings

Baxalta Inc. (NYSE: BXLT) is scheduled to report fourth-quarter and full-year results before markets open on Tuesday. The hematology and immunology focused biopharmaceutical company is expected to post earnings per share (EPS) of $0.56 and revenues of $1.71 billion for the quarter, as well as full-year EPS of $2.07 on revenues of $6.17 billion.

Baxalta, which was spun out of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX) last July, reported per-share earnings of $0.56 back in the third quarter, which handily exceeded analysts’ expectations. Guidance at the time called for EPS of $0.55 to $0.57 for the fourth quarter.

The big news for Baxalta is that last month it finally agreed to merge with U.K.-based Shire PLC (NASDAQ: SHPG) in a deal worth around $32 billion. Shire first made a bid for Baxalta on August 4, but Baxalta said that bid was too low. The deal now is expected to close in mid-2016.

Back in December of 2015, Baxalta announced it had received a key U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its drug that treats von Willebrand disease, a rare inherited bleeding disorder that results from a missing protein. The company plans to launch the drug under the brand name Vonvendi, expanding its portfolio of treatments for bleeding disorders, led by the hemophilia treatments Advate and Feiba.
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In November, Baxalta won FDA approval for Adynovate, a long-acting version of Advate poised to contend with a new therapy from Biogen and in-development products from Bayer and Novo Nordisk. Baxalta set a very ambitious goal of launching 20 new products by 2020, with the intent to grow its annual revenue to $8.5 billion in the process.

Shares of Baxalta closed most recently at $38.67, in a 52-week trading range of $29.83 to $42.38. The consensus price target is $46.50, yielding an implied upside of almost 17%.